Sam Choy

Sam Choy

“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”.

“Made good” is an obvious understatement for chef Sam Choy. 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. Having authored nine 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 and A Hawaiian Luau with Chef Sam an d the Makaha Sons), Sam also partnered with Hyperion Publishing to release a national compilation of his local books in 1999 titled, Sam Choy’s Island Flavors. Sam partnered with Hyperion Publishing once again and released Sam Choy’s Polynesian Kitchen in September 2002.

Sam’s restaurant employees always 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. He and his brother and sisters all learned to cook in their father’s restaurant, The Hukilau Café. His Chinese father, Hung Sam Choy was known to make the best pot roast in the neighborhood. On the weekends, the family would help prepare traditional Hawaiian luaus for large groups of tourists. Sam’s Hawaiian-German mother, Clairemoana enrolled Sam in the local Kapiolani Community College hoping that Sam would stay out of trouble. Sam’s favorite past time besides fishing and football was eating. 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 finally opened his first stand-alone restaurant in 1991 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Today, Sam Choy has 4 restaurants that bear his name, including one in Tokyo and one in Guam.

Sam’s television cooking show, Sam Choy’s Kitchen, garners high ratings on the local NBC affiliate. Sam films his show in a custom designed “Food Network-style” kitchen located in his flagship Sam Choy’s Diamond Head Restaurant. “I keep myself busy,” Sam says modestly. When he’s not filming his weekly cooking show or traveling to make special appearances or cooking demonstrations, Sam oversees his talented team of executive chefs for his restaurants. He handpicks each executive 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. In 1999, Nation’s Restaurant News publication named Sam one of 50 tastemakers influencing America’s $360 billion food-service industry. Sam has also been featured in numerous national publications among such as The Wall Street Journal, Sunset Magazine, Bon Appétit, and Gourmet Magazine. Food Network appearances on Extreme Cuisine, Emeril Live!, East Meets West with Ming Tsai as well as recent tapings with David Rosengarten and Sarah Moulton(Cooking Live!) give Sam a chance to talk about Hawaii and the extraordinary island cuisine. Sam’s most recent appearance on the Food Network being Iron Chef America. Other recent television appearances include Live with Regis and Kathy Lee, Great Chefs on the Travel & Discovery channels, Good Morning America, Wild on the Islands! On E! Entertainment and the Today Show.

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!”