He honed his skills at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore. in the early 1990s. Now, Kaua‘i native Blaise Aki hopes to bring his knowledge and sizzling fare to the “New” Palms Restaurant located in the Aloha Beach Resort.
He honed his skills at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore. in the early 1990s.
Now, Kaua‘i native Blaise Aki hopes to bring his knowledge and sizzling fare to the “New” Palms Restaurant located in the Aloha Beach Resort.
“I let my emotions flow through the food,” said Aki who has been the Executive Chef of the establishment for the last four months.
Aki brings 15 years of culinary experience to the Palms restaurant as well as an enthusiasm to help make the restaurant a better operation.
“If I put out a good dish, I am going to know right away if it was good or not,” Aki said. “That feels good. It just gets me to want to do it even better. That’s my personality. I want to be even better the next time. There is no such thing as the best. You can get better every time you do it.”
Aki graduated from Kapa‘a High School in 1988 before moving on to the Marine Corp. After leaving the military in 1990, the chef chose to move into the food industry.
He worked at various restaurants while attending Western Culinary Institute. After graduating, he moved on to several smaller hotel restaurants.
He helped start a sushi bar in the Hilton Corporation in Portland. The success of that venture allowed Aki to help start up a sushi bar in San Diego with the Embassy Suites company.
After choosing to move back to Kaua‘i for family reasons, Aki was hired on at the Aloha Beach Resort.
“When I grew up here, this was the Kaua‘i Resort,” Aki said about the hotel. “This was the place where all the best entertainers came. This was the place to be at. Then all of these other companies came in this place (the Palms) became a smaller restaurant. I want to restore this place to what I remember as a kid. I want to bring that back.
“This place was always about local people. I am trying to keep things relatively inexpensive and have food that the locals will eat.”
Aki’s chief concerns are offering the best value and service for customers.
“Kaua‘i deserves the best,” said Aki who is always looking to expand his menu to keep things fresh. “The food that I put out is going to be the best that they can get for the price that they pay. We want to be able to give them better quality, service and more food than at other places that charge more.
“That’s one thing that I forgot about this island. I guess that I had forgotten how expensive things are here. People don’t get value for their dollar. In a sense, I am trying to give value back to them.”
Among the top items on the entree list that Aki recommends are the guava BBQ baby back ribs, New York steak combo and the seafood penne pasta.
The seared ‘ahi and babyback wontons are two of the more highly recommended appetizers.
In the future, Aki intends on offering Sunday brunch which should begin on October 19.
Also, the chef plans on adding a full sushi bar within the next few months.
Aki would like to hold Christmas parties for companies as well.
Finally, the chef is pushing the Kahanu Bar and Grill for Lydgate Park enthusiasts who would like to indulge in a snack or beverage while at the beach.
For more information about the Palms restaurant or Blaise Aki, call 823-1643.
Business Editor Barry Graham can be reached at 245-3681 Ext. 251 or mailto:bgraham@pulitzer.net
