 and I'm excited to journey with you as we learn how to take your health back. Today we will hear from Chef Chai, who is keeping a healthy environment while creating the best culinary experience for all of Hawaii. Chef Chai creates not just another great culinary memory, but a memory of great friendships, family, and flavors. So let's welcome Chef Chai. Aloha, Chai. Hi, Aloha Wendy. How are you doing? Thank you so much for having me on your show again. Yes, I know you have the best food, and I love sharing with you your food with everyone, so why not share it on our show and just tell people of Hawaii how you maintain and manage through this COVID time and staying healthy and happy and making Hawaii happy and bringing happiness to all of your customers is keeping them healthy. So it goes hand in hand, right, Chai? I'm trying my best. I try my best. And you do a great job. So Chef Chai, since the last time I had you on my show, which was last year, May 2020, what's new and what have you been up to? Well, what's new? Well, recently we just opened another restaurant in Waikiki called Kahlo Hawaiian Food. Wow, so where is it? Where is it located, Chai? In the courtyard by Marriott on Puhil and Royal Hawaiian. It's a small restaurant, but it's very beautiful. This is well done and the food is phenomenal. Wow, so when many businesses in Hawaii are closing, you go and open up a new restaurant. What makes Kahlo so different from Chef Chai's or even Sing Ha? Well, do you know if you think again, as a visitor, if I'm going to Japan, at least I want to try Japanese food one day. But if you come to Hawaii, don't you want to try Hawaiian food at least one night a week? I wish there are no Hawaiian restaurant in Waikiki. We are the first and the only who serve traditional Hawaiian food. Wow, and so that's your thought. So when people come to your restaurant, do they eat and do they try the Hawaiian food? They do, they do. And we always interact with the guests have they tried Hawaiian food before and we try to educate the visitor also about Hawaiian food, not just let them try without explaining to them why is this one is more influenced by when we have the Chinese immigrant, this is a traditional Hawaiian and this one is when the missionary coming from the West Coast. So our staff is very knowledgeable about the food, about the culture and that's a very, very important to me. Wow, so you're giving them not only a culinary experience but a cultural experience as well. Oh yeah, definitely. Job well done Chai. So we know that Kahlo is located in Waikiki. So do you offer any specials like to attract the locals or just any type of specials that you would like to share with us? You know, if you mentioned you Kamayana you get 20% discount for your whole bill. Anytime you go, you just mentioned that as a Kamayana show them the ID and you get 20% discount. Okay, so you heard that locals come out of this town 20% Kahlo. And we all are looking for that discount and I know your parking is very easy there. I drove right up and the valet guys are nice and local boys took my car and it's just a couple steps to your restaurant. And right in the hotel they're married they're courteous like married have the valet parking, lots of parking so you don't need to worry it's always empty parking. So easy. So I also know that you serve one of my favorite Hawaiian type dishes. Can you please share with our audience what this special dish is and how is it that you can prepare it there at your restaurant? One at the Kahlo. Yes. You have the right. The sea bass. Yeah. The bass is one of my favorite fish because the fish itself contains so much fat which is a good fat. So it makes the fish very moist and then we serve it a little bit of the lobster reduction mashed potato and some greens. So it's very tasty and very healthy. Right. And so now that's my favorite seafood dish and you have another beef dish that you have the rights to use at your restaurant there. Yes. We also serve our popular oxtail soup at Kahlo also. So if you're not into Hawaiian food because not everybody, you know, if you have a party of 10, I mean, not 10 of you may want to try all Hawaiian food. So you can try some Hawaiian food and some of my signature dishes over there also. And one more dish. One more dish, Chai. I know you're holding out and you don't want to reveal all the secrets. But my favorite beef dish that you have the rights to make is? My beef dish. Yes. What a beef pipicala. Oh my God. Yes, sir. Mm-hmm. Have you, you know, this pipicala is made with a short rib bone in and it's almost an inch thick. So we... Big cut, big cut, guys. Delish. We dry and we age it and when we fry it, it's nice and tender. Right. I mean, and you know, I don't need a whole lot of meat, but I, those are the two things that I would eat is the pipicala, which he just nails and you can just eat that with poi or his rice. I usually have that and then also the kawai prans, but spot on, love that dish, Chai. So thank you. If you think of a Hawaiian food, traditional Hawaiian food is very healthy because all they do is they use all the natural stuff. I think more later on, that when local people add more, the Japanese and stuff, when we add more, show you. So the only thing I'm concerned about, Hawaiian food or local food is sodium. But the traditional Hawaiian food, sodium is not the issue because they all use natural. Like do you know the pocket? They just use a little bit of old gold, a little bit of sesame oil and onion and that's pretty much, you know, a lot of them are gluten-free. Like if you look at the squid luau. The poi, the lomi salmon, yeah. Gluten-free, so it's better for your digestion. Right, I mean, who doesn't love Hawaiian food and you're doing such a great job for to introduce our guests from the mainland and internationally. What real Hawaiian food is all about and how yummy it is. Yes, definitely. Thank you so much for bringing Hawaiian food to Waikiki in your restaurant called Kalo. So I know you're so into the Hawaiian culture as well. Some things remain the same no matter what, Chai. And for all the years that I've known you, I always say to people, you are one of the hosts, your restaurants always host the finest of Hawaiian musicians. And I just wanna talk about a special friend that you've always been supporting and you feature him during the night of the full moon. So I want you to share with us a little bit about who this special guest is that appears at your place on full moon and what is the tradition behind this performance? You know, to me, Robert Casamiro is one of the greatest, one of the best Hawaiian entertainer. And we know him for a long time, he's in Aloha Tower days. So when we moved to Kapilani, we say, you know, Robert, I still want to offer Hawaiian music and then, you know, would you support me? And, you know, luckily he agreed and he performed for us every full moon. But in December, he wants to do a Christmas show so we can feature him for the whole week. And, you know, put it this way, the restaurant is only half of about 15 tables that you can see the show. So no matter where you sit, it's very up close and personal. He's singing on a piano. You got two hula dancer dancing around. It's very intimate. It's very personable. And combined with our great food, I think it's what a great evening that you will enjoy. Yes, and you know, I actually saw your little flyer out for that. So I know Robert performs every full moon concert and that's yay. And it's, I know it's always sold out. He brings his hula dancers in and just everybody wants to just jump in and kind of capilla with him. So I know that you honor him and your customers that request him. So thank you for continuing that great tradition. But I also know that you've asked him for biggest favor, like you mentioned. So the month of December, he will be performing with you at your restaurant on the 15th, the 16th, the 17th, 18th and the 19th. I don't know how the heck you got him to say yes to all those nights, but you must be very special because I know that people have to get in there early on time because you start serving dinners at 5.30 and then he starts singing and he's playing at 6.30 and he just goes for it until pretty much he runs out of wind and his dancers run out of songs but everybody boasts how much fun they have. And all I can see is Facebook blowing up with all the scenes and the dances and the singing that Robert is doing in your place. So thank you for continuing to bring him in every month and then many like for the whole week, pretty much in December. You know, I just had a thought too, if people are thinking ahead now that they know the dates, they should actually go ahead and make reservations and purchase these night outs for somebody special for Christmas gift or a company gift or company gatherings because you're gonna do all the work, you're gonna make all the food. Robert is gonna be singing his heart out, the dancers will be dancing and yeah, all they have to do is make reservations, pay in advance and then they have a special night with your great food and great entertainment. Is that amazing? Because if you're gonna host a private event, hiring an entertainer can cost you a lot of money. But this way, you know, it's only $95 per person for the dinner and the show. Just come in, relax and enjoy, no cleaning, no setting up and let us do all the work. That's right Chai, you do all the work and you guys do all the great cooking. So what a combination and I did look at the menu and I just wouldn't know which entree to choose because they're all my favorites that you have listed there. So I might even yeah, consider coming out for one of those nights. But as I said, so many people, if they're thinking ahead, if you, like you said, if you wanted to even get some entertainer of this caliber, you really, really couldn't afford it because it's not affordable and to have that little amount of people come. So you might as well let Chai do everything. He's already arranged with Robert to take care of all the singing and entertainment and then of course all the best food. So just call and call early because we'll talk about the seated capacities in a little bit. But I'm just so grateful that you still have Robert coming to sing and perform for us. Actually call us soon, like the 18 already sold out. So I think we still have a lady with under 15 and a lady with under 16 and 17 already sold out. Whoa, okay guys. All right, thanks. Thanks for the heads up. So, Jeff, I know we're talking about all the things that you used to do and all the new things that are coming up for you. But I just had to throw this one photo in. You are so well known in the community for all the many, many years, Chai, for your great catering events and your generosity when working with all the nonprofits here in Hawaii. But since COVID appeared, I know that many large events have been canceled. Do you miss these large events? Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, many of our events have canceled, but luckily, we come up with a wiki-wiki box and many nonprofits use our box to sell to make a fund, to do a fundraiser. Like Pacific Aviation Museum make a wish and coming up with things next week on the 10 we have one of. Yeah, you have one coming up. I didn't even notice that one until I just popped up on Facebook just before we went on air. Yes, yes. So, tell us about that one. So, well, that one is for the Hanoi Professional Foundation. So, same thing, you buy the box and they have an entertainer like Nathan Avriel and some other great entertainer and you can just log on and pick up the food or deliver it to you. You go home, turn on the join in toward the webinar. Like just like what we do now and you can listen to the music and enjoy the dinner. I show you in the video, we also show you how to plate your dinner. So, when you receive the box, you will know how to dress it up, how to make your food more fancy. Wow, that's very thorough. So, people won't mess up and they'll just have a great experience as if you cooked everything from scratch, warmed it up and served it to them. Exactly. So, you know, at the last event that we did, I remember that was a big one and you asked for some assistance. So, I know my girlfriend flew in from the Big Island Jail and Cassandra came. We all were there to just help and participate. It was like five or 600 meals that you were plating and preparing for. That was crazy. But, you know, I think it was like, it wasn't we prepared an ox tail soup for I think like 500 guests. And you know, it's so good. His ox tail soup is so good. Even my cousin Lily and auntie Sarah were visiting last week from San Francisco. And I said, you guys got to try this ox tail because they were going around town trying ox tail. And I said, no, you haven't tried anything like Chai's ox tail because he has a little spin on his ox tail. So, Chai, tell us what's different about your ox tail soup. I think when you come to our restaurant, our ox tail soup is more concoction because you know, when you order ox tail, you get a lot of meat in there. But we also trim out all the fat and we season with galangal, lemon grass, ginger, lots of garlic. That's why that dish is so good for you. We don't put any sugar. The sweetness in the broth is all come from the garlic and onion. And that's why we make it healthy and tasty. Right, right. And you know, I mean, you mentioned healthy and then everyone's thinking, ox tail soup, how is that so healthy? But let me just tell you, my daughter is a plant-strong, vegetarian type person, but she goes to uncle Chai's and requests the ox tail soup because it's so tasty, but it also gives her the value of knowing that she's putting collagen into her system and other goodness that she missed as a youngster, but she loves uncle Chai's ox tail soup the most. In fact, we just had it the other night as well with her. So thank you Chai for making such a pure ox tail soup, which is clean and pretty much, it's clear and it's clean. So that's why I like it the best. It's a good broth with great taste. And if you saw all the ingredients that he put in there, he didn't even mention everything, but it's all in there. And then that's why the flavors are just even more robust than anything else that you would try here in Hawaii. So you all got to try his ox tail. Now everyone's gonna come and get that. That's our best off tail soup. I do too. I do too. And then plus your rice that you use is like, is it a Thai rice or the jazz rice? You use a Thai brown rice. So it's a coconut milk ginger brown rice. Again, it's very healthy. It's very good for you. Can ginger always good for your body and then? Wow, yes. Very good. Especially when you're eating the ox tail, you need that ginger to help to cleanse and keep you warm and all the nutritional values of ginger. But I know that, I know you mentioned the wiki-wiki boxes and you know, Chai, God bless you because that's through all the lockdowns and throughout last year, your niche was the wiki-wiki box. And I know that you knew your guests couldn't come to dine in with you. So you certainly found a way to allow them to still enjoy your great dishes and your wiki-wiki boxes was is and was. And I hope we don't have to do, you don't have to do so many more wiki-wiki boxes because when you have wiki-wiki boxes, that means people are shutting down or being mandated to stay in. So we want them to come to your restaurant. But if they can and if they feel more comfortable at home, you have the greatest solution within your wiki-wiki boxes because I remember I even bought a couple of times, but for me, I would split with a friend and she would get four main entrees and I would get four main entrees and two desserts. So she'd get one, I'd get one and we'd get salad. But everything in your box, Chai, when I looked at it, when I took it home, it looked just like the pictures. It tastes just like when we're in the restaurant and they were always colorful and you always managed to use locally grown veggies and gave us a lot of the right textures and varieties to make it even a better experience at home. So in other words, when I tried your curry, your veggies were al dente, they were crisp, they were crunchy and the sauce was around it. So everything you did, you got the extra mile. Is that- Yeah, I think that come from experience and come from, you know, understand the food a little bit. If I cook all my food all the way, well done and then you go reheat it the next day, it would be all soggy. So we undercook our vegetables. So this day, when you reheat it at home, it's still called al dente. The colors do bright and beautiful. Wow. So I mean, I truly appreciated going to pick up a box, having my dinners in my fridge. I don't have to think about what I'm gonna be cooking and it's always just there. And the best part too is after I eat all that great food, I have the containers and I reuse the containers and every time I reuse my containers, which everybody should be doing, I use my containers and then it reminds me that I'm having more of Chi's great food in there, no matter what I put in there. So I love just the whole experience of dining in and out with the food that you prepare, and which brings me to the point where I know you're gonna be offering it for Thanksgiving and for Christmas, because they're coming right along. And I know that you really wanted to offer your wiki-wiki boxes again, because some people are still more comfortable at home and for the ones that are, then of course you're gonna be ordering your boxes so of course they can come. Are you open on Thanksgiving, Chi? Well, we open for the pick-up wiki-wiki box early and then only and then I let my staff enjoy the evening with their own family. Wow. We will be closer dining on Thanksgiving. But you know, one thing about what I like to mention about our Thanksgiving wiki-wiki boxes, you know, if you're for two people, it's hard for you to cook the whole turkey at home and cook to all the fuss and the cleaning. These are, you know, four-cost dinner with the jumbo shrimp cocktail, the pumpkin-based turkey dinner and it's only $55 per person. Yes, it makes a lot of sense. I'm going to be ordering one because I have, I'll let you a secret, okay? Give you a secret. I have never roasted a turkey. Oh my God. I have never roasted a turkey and only because when I ran the Chocolate Factory, Chi, I didn't have time to cook that. And then every Thanksgiving, my children and I would be volunteering at the River of Life mission. From eight in the morning to three or four and we serve over a thousand turkey meals. So we really didn't want to eat more turkey when we came home. So we'd go out. But now that I'm not working, I still will order because it's only me and my daughter doesn't eat turkey. So I'm not going to roast the whole turkey for just the bones. So I will be ordering one as well. Thank you. It's so much work. So it's a day that you should just relax and enjoy. Exactly. And that's what I'm going to be doing and everybody will come. They'll bring their vegetables and everything and their foods. But we're going to have turkey and the fixings from Chi's. That's our tradition. How stuffing is your favorite? Is the Thai sticky rice with the... Yes, yes. Who do you like that one? Yes, yes, yes. So I really like that. So I didn't notice. Did we show the audience the picture of the turkey plate already? Oh yeah. That's the one. Yeah. That's my favorite. The sticky rice. Yum. But even if you're not doing weeky, weeky box, I know you're going to be closed on Thanksgiving Day. But of course, everyone can still come in and enjoy your beautiful dining room. It's so classy and comfortable. So what is the current seating capacity with mandates and all as of today? What can you hold in your restaurant, Chi? The whole restaurant can still hold almost 100. It used to be about 150. So we have a private room in the back that can hold two table of 10 with six feet apart. The main dining room we can hold about depending on the size of the table, 30 to 50. So perfect place for you to host your company party and in our private room is so perfect. Right. I mean, I've had many private parties in the private dining room. And even when I'm dining in your restaurant, when that door opens up, the secret door to the private dining opens up and then all the who's who of Hawaii comes walking out because they have to walk past us to go to the restroom. So it's kind of like, oh, who's behind the door tonight? And it's kind of like a world, where's Waldo kind of idea, but we're all wondering when we hear all the laughter in the back room, who's back there? Who's back there? And they come out and they actually act like VIPs because they're walking into the other restaurant, going to the restaurant. I love that feeling. And when I'm sitting back there, I love popping through the private doors as well. But Chai, you also have the outdoor seating and I love the outdoor seating as well, because I feel like I'm sitting in, you know, in a mainland restaurant where they have a lot of outdoor seating, but I love sitting out there, where they're permitting. So you're going to be using that as well? Yeah, because after the pandemic, we feel like people want to enjoy outdoor seating. So we put in a full private gazebo. So each gazebo only have one table. So you have your own table in the gazebo. So only have a few tables available out there. So when you make a reservation, if you want to sit outside, please make sure you mention that, you know, we want a patio seating. Yeah, because it's very limited, but it's very, very lovely. And it's, you know, I mean, if you have the right date, I would think it would be quite romantic as well. Even though we're right on Kapiolani, there's something about being outdoors in the good Hawaiian air that just is exciting in itself. A nice breeze and you can enjoy. It's never too hot and never too cold in Hawaii. Yes, perfect. That's why I'm glad you took advantage of that outdoor concept. That's great. Thank you. So I know that sometimes when we pop into your restaurant, it's like a family affair in there. I know your sister Joy works with you. I see her popping in and out. So what are her specialties when she's there with you? My sister mostly, she helped me a little bit under book and she make a lot of dessert for us. Like right now she make a baked Alaska. She make her famous bread pudding and hollow hollow. So, you know, she just come, she, she doesn't work a full time cause she take care of my mom. So she do mostly the bookkeeping and some of the dessert. She make the coconut cake. That's so good. That's my favorite. That's right. Yeah, she does a great job with sweets. So what a good combination to have you both there working together. And then of course when she's not, she's looking after your mom and then it gives you a piece of mind that you know your mom is being looked after. That's great. Yeah. So Chai, we have a question from the audience. One of the viewers, they wanna know what inspires you Chai to create new dishes? I think when I put myself, when I go to the restaurant, you know, sometimes after a while you get tired of certain things. So I always, I think my cousin who come to my restaurant must have the same feeling. So I always try to think of them and, you know, we don't change the whole menu completely but we always have a few items, you know, new and see how the guests respond. If they like it, we keep it. It's not as popular then we change it all the time. But I know that you had a very great childhood in Thailand and you grew up in a restaurant environment, didn't you? Yeah, yeah. So our parents own a restaurant in Bangkok. So I grew up in the restaurant, I was six, seven years old and that's how I learned all my cooking is for my mom. I go to the open market with her in the morning, help her carry stuff and do all kinds of stuff. I'm a mama voice. Oh, and you still are a mama's boy because you still have her very close to you. Yeah. And again, another admirable trait of Chai. Oh, thank you. And I know you have some days off and I know your focus is to make sure that your mom is healthy and well and you take her about. And I think you even disappeared a few days and you guys went on a trip with your mom and your sister. We weren't anywhere, but it was in Spain. No, no, no, we just take a time off to serve at her 90th birthday. Yes. So that was fun. Good boy, good mama's boy, right? So I know you have so many of my favorite dishes because I can eat there every, I can eat there every week as I do sometimes. And you keep saying, how come you're here so often? I said, Chai, I says a lot of your customers, I see a lot of them there every time I go there too. But you also have another signature dish that I think is pretty outrageous. And I always like, love sharing this with everybody. And I know everybody that comes to your restaurant, they love ordering it and enjoying it. And it's the Cotypy Tiger prawn. Okay, okay. Yeah, that was our signature dish. Yes. It creates that dish when we were at the Tesa Honolulu. That must be, I think what, oh my God, over 20 years ago. So when Tesa Honolulu first opened, we created that dish and we want best seafood. And we saw so many of that shrimp. I mean, the line is so long and everybody just come back and more and more. Yes, that's definitely our signature. Well, you have many of my favorites there and not to mention the Mongolian lamb chops. I can eat that every week, but we won't talk about that right now. But, so Chai, unfortunately, our time for now has come to an end. You've been watching. Yeah, it's all done already. It's like almost half an hour that we've been talking story while you've been talking, I've been missing. So we have to leave for now. You've been watching Taking Your Health Back on Think Tech Hawaii. Mahalo to Chef Chai and just congratulations to enduring the last year and this year and next year she'll be bigger and brighter and we're just praying for all success, for all businesses and just keep creating all the great food and all the great community service that you get involved with throughout the many, many years that I've known you. And thank you for talking story with us and making my tummy so happy every time I dine with you. So for now, I'm Wendy Lowe. We'll be back in two weeks with another edition of Taking Your Health Back. Hope to see all of you at Chai's on Kapi Lani Boulevard. Aloha Chai and Mahalo. Thank you Wendy, aloha mahalo.