“Hawaii’s Culinary Ambassador” is the official honorary title bestowed upon Chef Sam Choy by the Big Island mayor. In the islands where school kids rush up to give him bear hugs and the name alone “Sam Choy” is fast becoming an ingredient to the national branding of Hawaii’s image. Sam prefers to think of himself as “just a local boy who made good”. Sam is a four-time nominee for the James Beard Best Pacific Regional chef award and in 2004, Sam Choy’s Kaloko Restaurant was the recipient of the James Beard/Gallo of Sonoma American Classics Award. Sam has authored eleven top-selling cookbooks with Mutual Publishing, a local publishing company (Cooking From the Heart with Sam Choy, Sam Choy’s Cooking, The Choy of Seafood, Sam Choy’s Kitchen, Sam Choy’s Poke, Hawaii’s Soul Food, Sam Choy’s Sampler, Sam Choy Woks the Wok, Sam Choy’s Cooking with Kids, A Hawaiian Luau with Chef Sam and the Makaha Sons, Aloha Cuisine and POKE). Sam also partnered with Hyperion Publishing to release a national compilation of his local books in 1999, Sam Choy’s Island Flavors and released Sam Choy’s Polynesian Kitchen in September 2002. Sam’s employees smile when people come into the restaurant and recall, “I knew Sam way back when…..”. Sam grew up in the small town of Laie on the North Shore of Oahu where he learned to cook in his father’s restaurant, The Hukilau Café. On the weekends, the family would help prepare traditional Hawaiian luaus for large groups of tourists. Sam’s mother, Clairemoana enrolled Sam in the local Kapiolani Community College. He enrolled in the culinary arts program with food on his mind and instead discovered that he loved cooking. After honing his skills in major hotels and receiving increased recognition for his talent, Sam opened his first stand-alone restaurant in 1991 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Today, Sam Choy has 3 restaurants that bear his name, including one in Tokyo and one in Guam. When he is not filming his weekly cooking show, Sam Choy’s Kitchen or traveling to make special appearances or cooking demonstrations, Sam oversees his talented team of executive chefs for his restaurants. He handpicks each chef and collaborates together to develop a diverse menu for the different restaurants. The result culminates in perennial awards of excellence for the restaurants and a carefully honed roster of loyal local customers. “Word will spread if you take care of your customers,” says Sam. Word about Sam Choy has extended well beyond the islands indeed. Food Network appearances include Extreme Cuisine, Emeril Live!, East Meets West with Ming Tsai, Sarah Moulton’s Cooking Live, Iron Chef America, The Food Network’s Luau Challenge and most recently Dinner Impossible. Sam summarizes his success simply, “I think of my cuisine as a melting pot ---- of gathering the freshest ingredients from every culture on these islands.” He is exuberant when talking about Hawaii, the local people, the aloha, “You heard that saying, ‘Lucky you live Hawaii’? I say that everyday!”
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