2003 Ivy Awards - Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu-Kona

By Allison Perlik, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/15/2003

If hospitality is an art form, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Ka‘upulehu, Hawaii, ranks among the masters. The idyllic ocean-side property is a haven where every guest wish is the staff’s command. Even the brilliant sunsets seem made to order as a guest amenity.

“We have a word in Hawaii, mana, which means spirit. This resort has that spirit, and it’s contagious,” says Bill Miller, director of food and beverage. “Everybody wants to do the best job for guests.”

Nestled along the lava-born land of the North Kona Coast, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai pairs its own unique island charms with Four Seasons’ characteristic style of uncompromisingly high standards and impossibly gracious service. Nowhere is this combination more evident than inside the property’s three full-service restaurants: casual al fresco spot The Beach Tree Bar & Grill, specializing in two themed buffet evenings; the more upscale Hualalai Club Grille, overlooking the 18th hole of the resort’s sprawling golf course; and signature restaurant Pahu i‘a, featuring an ambitious array of fresh local seafood and other specialties prepared in Asian-accented Hawaiian style.

The warmly exotic Pahu i‘a is the main showcase for Four Seasons’ diverse culinary team. Housed in a two-story, mahogany structure alive with the sounds of the surf and the strains of a strolling guitarist, the restaurant’s airy dining rooms, seating 118, are sleek and efficient. Coveted tables on the patio, or lanai, sit just yards from the resort’s private beach, and guests enjoy exclusive private dining upstairs on the Makai Terrace.

Executive Chef James Cassidy, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and 15-year Four Seasons veteran, collaborates with Chef de Cuisine Ahmad Sleiman and Sous-Chef Ryan Vargas on all menu creations, each drawing on his own wide-ranging experiences. The result is contemporary Pacific cuisine that marries Asian influence and tradition with Hawaiian products and flavors.

“We try to find a niche in the industry that’s for us,” says Cassidy, who started his Four Seasons career in Newport Beach, Calif., and spent six years working in Singapore and traveling throughout Asia before arriving at Hualalai in 1999.

The contemporary Pacific style Cassidy created for Pahu i‘a is evident in such entrées as steamed Pacific snapper “Oriental style,” served with shiitake mushrooms, cilantro and ginger-shoyu sauce; and crispy whole moi (Pacific threadfin), accompanied by Asian slaw and black-bean-and-sweet-chile-lime vinaigrette.

The style suits nonseafood items as well. Menu favorites include macadamia-nut-crusted lamb rack served with roasted-shallot mashed potatoes, spicy Asian eggplant, Chinese black vinegar and fresh berry sauce; and the signature braised beef short ribs, alongside Molokai sweet-potato gnocchi and Szechuan sauce.

“People come to Hawaii for that [island] experience, to get products they don’t normally find on the mainland,” Miller says. “Our guests are very much into the flavors of the islands but without getting too contrived and confusing.”

The three resort restaurants make a point of emphasizing products born and bred of the island. Many ingredients come from Four Seasons’ own gardens, among them bananas, sweet potatoes and Hawaiian chiles. An abundant herb garden yields

fresh lemongrass, basil and rosemary, while four man-made fish ponds provide seafood including moi, kampachi, Mexican white shrimp and Kumamoto oysters.

Often, Cassidy brings guests to the ponds so they can select their own fish for dinner, which he then catches and prepares to order. Such personalized service is the norm rather than the exception at the Four Seasons, where guests’ needs always take precedence over job-related tasks.

“The other day [when] I was slammed busy, some guests called and said they would like to go fishing for moi next time I went. I said, ‘OK, how about right now?’ I spent the next two hours fishing, giving them the kitchen tour, showing them how to fillet the fish and how to cook it.

“That’s what we’re here for: to take care of the guests,” Cassidy says. “If there’s something they want, we go out of our way to do it.”

For the culinary team, that can mean anything from flying in a courier from Honolulu to deliver kosher wine for a guest’s Sabbath meal to bringing a teen-age would-be chef into the kitchen to observe the baker preparing the day’s scones. No request is too big or small.

This guest-centered philosophy, ingrained in all employees, sets the Four Seasons apart from competitors and cements its place in the hearts of guests. The company’s commitment to high-quality staff starts with the strict hiring process (a minimum of four interviews), extends throughout training and continues in everyday operations. It’s a standard few others in the business have been able to match.

“You have to be in that mindset; you have to look at every guest [and ask yourself], what do they want, what can I do?” Cassidy says. “There’s no greater feeling in the world than when it works out—and, God’s honest truth, 99.9% of the time it does.”