Featured Chef Series

Wade Ueoka and Michelle Karr-Ueoka

Chef Wade Ueoka was born and raised on Oahu and graduated from the culinary program at Kapiolani Community College. From his humble beginnings as a fry cook at Zippy’s Restaurants, he became chef de cuisine at the nationally recognized Alan Wong’s Restaurant. Ueoka has worked under various gastronomic leaders, including The French Laundry in Napa Valley, Calif., and Alex in Las Vegas. He has been recognized nationally as a Rising Star Chef and has received numerous local awards for being one of Hawaii’s leading chefs. 

Chef Michelle Karr-Ueoka is one of Hawaii’s premier pastry chefs and was born and raised in Honolulu. While attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, she discovered a love for cooking after working at Alan Wong’s Restaurant. She attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and later worked at various award-winning restaurants, including Daniel and Per Se in New York, and The French Laundry in Napa Valley, Calif. In over a decade as a pastry chef, she has been recognized as a semi-finalist of the prestigious James Beard Award and received the Rising Star Chef Award as a pastry chef.  In 2013, Ueoka and Karr-Ueoka opened Oahu’s MW Restaurant, which was nominated by the James Beard Foundation in the category of Best New Restaurant in 2014. In 2015, the couple opened Artizen by MW in downtown Honolulu.

Mark Sekita

After a career in securities and banking, Chef Mark Sekita made the switch to the kitchen to follow his dream of cooking, a passion instilled by his Japanese father and Italian-America mother. After attending culinary school, he went on to work at New York’s Michelin-starred Gramercy Tavern. Mark is the owner and executive chef of Mark's Tokyo, a chef's table style modern American restaurant, serving a creative blend of Japanese, Italian, and Hawaiian-inspired dishes, all derived from Chef Mark's history and heritage.

Keaka Lee

Chef Keaka opened Kapa Hale in December 2020, a neighborhood eatery in Kahala serving brunch, lunch and dinner. Kapa Hale has a modern take on Hawaii Regional Cuisine, boldly highlighting our local farmers and ranchers while sharing stories of Chef's inspirations and local favorites. He is born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and received his pastry and culinary degrees from the Culinary Institute of the Pacific. He has worked for Alan Wong’s & 3660 On the Rise before moving to New York City to train at Gramercy Tavern, Le Bernardin, Eleven Madison Park, and Cafe Boulud.

Mark Pomaski

Born and raised in Hilo, Mark Pomaski worked as a sushi chef in the kitchens of Chefs Roy Yamaguchi in Honolulu and Nobu Matsuhisa in NYC before opening Moon and Turtle with with his wife Soni and his brother Tedd in 2013. Soni and Mark have served their community since then while attracting local and national attention, including selection as a James Beard Award semi finalist for Best Chef Northwest and Pacific.

Robynne Maii

Chef Robynne Maii was born and raised in Honolulu and began her culinary adventure at 3660 on the Rise and Padovani’s Bistro and Wine Bar on Oahu. In 1999, she moved to New York City, where she worked at Union Pacific and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in their pastry banquet kitchen. Maii worked for Gourmet magazine, City University of New York (CUNY), and has been a cookbook judge for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards since 2004. In 2015, she and her husband opened Fête in Honolulu’s bustling Chinatown. In 2018, Maii partnered with Hawaiian Airlines to debut LunchBox by Fête, a café-style restaurant at the airline’s Honolulu headquarters.