Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai will follow the footsteps of another formidable competitor from kitchen stadium, Masaharu Morimoto, who opened Morimoto Waikiki just over a year ago.
Sakai's restaurant will be called Sakai of Hawaii, and will be located at the DFS Galleria in Waikiki.
We Japanese really love Hawaii and chef sakai really loves hawaii very much," says Miho Makimura, Sakai of Hawaii.
It will be the first restaurant outside of japan for chef sakai. he has four in his native country and they are all high end. but this latest venture will be a bit more casual, meaning the menu prices will also be more palate-able for the casual diners.
We'd like the customer to visit, casual, relax, and no need to worry about the price," says Makimura.
Chef Sakai is known for french cooking, classically trained and highly technical. Those skills will be showcased in his new restaurant but the idea with this one is to highlight the fresh ingredients from Hawaii as much as possible.
Makimura calls it French Hawaiian cuisine.
For example...
Normally crepe is whipped cream and chocolate, banana, but we are thinking french buttercream and local flavors, coconut, papaya, mango," says Makimura.
Sakai of Hawaii will be about 3500 square feet and will seat 150 people. It will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with afternoon tea.
While visitors from Japan will likely flock to the restaurant during their visit, Makimura says the place also plans to lure the locals in with its unique cuisine, masterfully done by one of the original iron chefs.
Opening date is scheduled for July.
