Le Bistro's lobster with black chia seeds. --Craig T. Kojima / ckojima@staradvertiser.com
Good luck and hard work pay off for Le Bistro chef
By Joleen Oshiro / joshiro@staradvertiser.com
Chef Alan Takasaki knows the value of life experience, of patience and loyalty and recognizing opportunity when it comes one’s way.
Early in his career in the mid-1980s, Takasaki worked in big cities such as New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Those experiences led to opportunities in France and Germany, with a stint in Italy to follow. It looked as though the young chef was to build a career in Europe.
But misfortune in 1990 brought Takasaki back to Hawaii.
“In Paris on my way to Brussels, everything I had was stolen. I arrived in Brussels with just the pants and shirt I wore,” he recalled. “I tried to finish out my obligation in Germany the best I could, but instead of going to Italy I came home.”
Takasaki’s initial hard luck turned into a stroke of luck for Hawaii diners when he opened Le Bistro in 2001 in the Niu Valley Shopping Center.
The venue offers French-inspired food, “some classic, some more modern -it’s a balanced menu,” Takasaki said. “We try to keep it like a neighborhood bistro, with a nice variety of seafood and meat.”
Perennial favorites include a beef quartet of Wagyu slider, rib-eye steak, filet mignon and Le Bistro’s classic short rib; onaga; sea bass; veal chop; and Kurobuta pork chop.
An “a la mode” section of the menu gives Takasaki the space to try out new contemporary dishes.
“We want a balanced menu because we have a wide spectrum of customers, young and old and in between. We have
regulars and folks who come for special occasions.”
Takasaki said that with “a peek out at the dining room,” he can tell what type of clientele is filling his restaurant. If he sees the right crowd, he’ll tell his kitchen crew to come up with something modern to serve as a special.
“Now is such a good time to be a chef in Hawaii,” he said. “In 2012 I can serve basically anything. The palate in Hawaii has become advanced.”
Chef Alan Takasaki carefully constructs a dish of lobster with black chia seeds in the kitchen of Le Bistro, the choice of Star-Advertiser food writers as this year's best restaurant. --Craig T. Kojima / ckojima@staradvertiser.com
HAWAII KAI is Takasaki’s old stomping ground; he grew up in Kuliouou and attended East Honolulu schools.
After he returned to Oahu in 1990, he got married and decided to settle here. He worked in restaurant management, as executive chef for Sam Choy’s Diamond Head restaurant, and even tried his hand at fast food.
Takasaki got a break in 1997 when he took over the Honolulu Club’s restaurant. The experience taught him about running a business and allowed him to save up for his own venue.
After a few more bumps in the road, a friend took him for a meal at Swiss Haus (the old Swiss Inn) in Niu Valley in 2001, and “we saw the ‘for sale’ signs next door.”
“The person I was eating with said, ‘There’s your restaurant. Go for it.’”
Two months later Takasaki was scrambling to get the space ready for its opening. Carpet needed to be ripped out, the lighting wasn’t right, the air conditioner was broken and kitchen burners were working at 50 percent.
“It took hours to boil pasta,” Takasaki recalled. “We were renovating until the 11th hour.” The menu was the last thing on his
mind. In fact, he wasn’t even sure what kind of cuisine to offer. Initially he intended to serve yakitori, then switched to salad and pasta before settling on a classic bistro menu of confit and cassoulet, something he knew intimately from working in Auch, France, “the heart of cassoulet, confit and foie gras.”
“But as the time got closer, I realized I didn’t even like cassoulet, and I couldn’t bring myself to put something on the menu that I didn’t really feel for,”
Takasaki said. French-influenced cuisine prevailed,
the “bistro” name stuck and Takasaki opened in late August 2001 -”about a week and a half before 9/11.”
“I turned on the TV that day and thought, ‘Uh oh.’ But you know, the community was so gracious. A lot of people looked at us and said, ‘That couple’s really down right now,’ and came in to support us.”
That’s one of the reasons Takasaki keeps his core menu intact.
“We gotta be fair to the diners who are loyal, who have favorite dishes after coming here for more than 10 years,” he said.
“Overall, I just want this to be someplace that’s friendly and comfortable, a place where people can come in and feel taken care of,” Takasaki said. “We’re not trying to be too formal or elegant. We’re casual, but not too casual, because our clientele is well dressed even when they’re casual. We want to fit the community we’re in.”
Recommended: wine-braised short ribs, roasted fig salad, beef quartet, Colorado rack of lamb, apple tarte tatin.
Niu Valley Shopping Center, 5730 Kalanianaole Highway; 373-7990. Dinner (closed Tuesdays). $$$$
–Chosen by Honolulu Star-Advertiser dining and food writers