HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Five chefs showcasing modern Korean cuisine will headline the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival\u2019s annual Halekulani Gala Sunday night.<\/p>\n
Chef Alex Kim, one of the participating chefs, joined Hawaii News Now Sunrise ahead of the gala to discuss his approach to cooking and the influences behind his food.<\/p>\n
The gala, titled \u201cBTS: Beyond the Seoul,\u201d will feature a five-course, wine-paired dinner exploring Korean cuisine, known as hansik. The menu will draw on traditions such as fermentation, seasonality and balance while highlighting modern interpretations of Korean food.<\/p>\n
Kim, chef and co-owner of Five Sails by Alex Kim in Vancouver, blends his Korean heritage with ingredients and influences from the Pacific Northwest. He won the 2025 Canadian Culinary Championship and was a finalist on season 12 of \u201cTop Chef Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in South Korea and raised in a farming family, Kim developed an appreciation for seasonal ingredients at an early age. His cooking incorporates traditional Korean fermented condiments known as jang, which add depth and umami to his dishes.<\/p>\n
Kim prepared the dish he plans to serve at the gala: charcoal-grilled beef tenderloin with his take on \u2018ssambap,\u2019 a Korean rice and lettuce wrap. His version includes chopped pork jowl, braised burdock and mushrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, it\u2019s a fresh lettuce with rice and some grilled K-barbecue pork or beef,\u201d Kim said. \u201cBut I\u2019m doing a little bit more refined version.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim said his goal is to create food with a strong identity that is also approachable.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy cuisine is really influenced heavily by my background, Korean background, and my experience in the culinary world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kim said the festival gives chefs an opportunity to learn from one another and \u201cshowcase the evolution of Korean cuisine while respecting its roots.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information about the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival, visit here. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Five chefs showcasing modern Korean cuisine will headline the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival\u2019s annual Halekulani Gala Sunday night. Chef Alex Kim, one of the participating chefs, joined Hawaii News Now Sunrise ahead of the gala to discuss his approach to cooking and the influences behind his food. The gala, titled \u201cBTS:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[765,5,521,486,12883,21,4023,12886,12885,12887,8933,3423,12884,2546,263,12888,667,760],"class_list":["post-13626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-canada","tag-chef","tag-cooking","tag-fine-dining","tag-five-sails","tag-food","tag-foodie","tag-hansik","tag-hawaii-food-and-wine-festival","tag-jang","tag-korean-cooking","tag-korean-food","tag-modern-korean","tag-pacific-northwest","tag-restaurant","tag-ssambap","tag-top-chef","tag-vancouver"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117583038576399815","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}