chef
A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a k ...
and restaurateur known as one of 12 co-founders (along with Sam Choy, Roy Ambel Yamaguchi, Peter Merriman,
Hawaii Regional Cuisine
The cuisine of Hawaii incorporates five distinct styles of food, reflecting the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the Hawaiian Islands.
In the pre-contact period of Ancient Hawaii (300 AD-1778), Polynesian voyagers brough ...
. They came together to form an organization to create a new American regional cuisine, highlighting Hawaii's locally grown ingredients and diverse ethnic styles. In 1994 they all came together and compiled a cookbook, ''The New Cuisine of Hawaii'', to be sold for charity. Wong and Choy are alumni of the Kapiolani Community College Culinary Arts program. Wong had several restaurants in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
, as well as one in Japan.
In 2009, Wong cooked a luau at the White House for President Obama at the annual White House Congressional picnic for members of Congress and their families.
In 2004, Wong appeared as a guest judge on the television cooking competition ''
Top Chef
''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional che ...
'' (the episode, part one of the
season two Season 2 may refer to:
* ''Season 2'' (Infinite album)
* ''2econd Season
''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk.
Release
It was released on November 4, 2008.
Guest Performers
The album features gue ...
Gourmet
Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...
'' ranked one of his restaurants number six in a listing of America's Best Fifty Restaurants. In 1996, he was awarded the
James Beard Award
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awa ...
for Best Chef: Pacific Northwest. In 1994, Wong was recognized by ''Robert Mondavi Winery'' as one of 13 Rising Star Chefs in America.
Other interests
Currently all of Wong's restaurants have closed. The first to open and last to close, Alan Wong's King Street (Honolulu, HI) closed November, 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Alan Wong's Restaurants web site Retrieved November 11, 2020. His other ventures that have closed include The Pineapple Room (2017), Honolulu, HI, Amasia (2014), Grand Wailea Resort, Maui, Alan Wong's Shanghai (2017) China, and Alan Wong's Hawaii, which was located in Tokyo Disneyland in Maihama, Japan.