Alan Wong Is A State-Of-The-Art, Award-Winning Honolulu Chef

The best chef of the Northwest wears an aloha shirt, passes palm trees on his drive to work and is an expert at preparing freshly picked pineapples.

Alan Wong, chef/owner of Alan Wong's restaurant in Honolulu, is a regional winner of this year's best chef competition in the James Beard Foundation awards. Through some creative geography, Hawaii is lumped with competitors from Washington and Oregon.

Looking at maps, it's hard to figure why Hawaii isn't grouped with the cooking talents from the Southwest.

Wong, however, is too busy creating dishes to please crowds at his restaurant - a relative newcomer, but already one of Honolulu's hottest eateries - to worry about geography lessons. Besides, he has plenty of good feelings about the Northwest.

"I almost went to Seattle University instead of the University of Hawaii," Wong says. "My lawyer is in Seattle, and I visited there not long ago, eating at three restaurants -Dahlia Lounge, Kaspar's and Wild Ginger - all in less than 24 hours. I love the seafood - the salmon and the Riaska Spot Prawns."

Other finalists for the James Beard award were three Seattle-area chefs, Kaspar Donier of Kaspar's, Jim Lock of Wild Ginger, Jerry Traunfield of The Herbfarm, and another Hawaii chef, Jean-Marie Josselin of A Pacific Cafe. Wong says he is enjoying doing some traveling and promotion work after the intensity of opening his restaurant in 1995.

"I made a decision to work seven days a week for the first year to make sure everything operated smoothly," he says. "Luckily, I'm not married. I feel like I'm married to the restaurant and have about 50 kids."

Wong's friend and lawyer, Craig Kobayashi, one of three Seattle investors in the restaurant, describes the chef as low-key and somewhat reserved, with an incredible work ethnic.

Before returning to Oahu, Wong built his reputation as chef at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows on the Big Island - Hawaii.

Most of the top chefs in Hawaii are transplants from the mainland and Europe who have "discovered" the bounty of foods in the islands. Wong is an example of a new breed of locals who grew up with the fresh produce and seafood that Hawaii chefs are featuring.

Wong, 39, was born in Tokyo and raised in Hawaii. He grew up on Oahu near pineapple fields.

He received the "most outstanding student" award when he graduated from the two-year culinary program at Kapiolani Community College on Oahu. Among other experiences, he worked threeyears at Lutece restaurant in NewYork City under famed chef AndreSoltner.

Wong enjoys mixing and matching many cuisines to create his dishes, making the most of his Asian heritage, classical French training and island upbringing.

Noted for his bold flavors, Wong says cooks need to experiment more with ingredients. For example, there are so many soy sauces on the market - some sweeter, some saltier - that you have to adjust to the flavor you want. Play with ingredients, he suggests. Make substitutions until you're happy with the way it turns out.

Budd Gould, owner of Anthony's Restaurants, and members of his creative team dined at Alan Wong's and other Hawaii restaurants to get inspiration before setting menus for the new Anthony's Pier 66 restaurants on Seattle's waterfront.

Visitors to Hawaii are much more eager to try local foods than they were a few years ago, Wong believes.

What does Wong like to eat after work? Comfort foods, simple stuff like a bowl of noodles.

His favorite food memories are of meals prepared by his Japanese mother, and luckily it's more than a memory. She helps out in the kitchen at Alan Wong's every weekend.

To sample Wong's cuisine during a visit to Honolulu, make reservations: Alan Wong's restaurant, McCully Court, 1857 S. King St., Fifth Floor, Honolulu, Hi 96826, (808) 949-2526.

To sample Wong's cuisine at home, try his recipes on page . -----------------------------------------------------------------

Larry Brown, a former reporter for The Seattle Times, lives and writes on Maui.