A chef who came up in Hawaii in the 1970s, at the exact moment French technique first met the flavors of Asia and the Pacific. He was cooking fusion before it had a name.
Steven Russell came of age as a chef during one of the most exciting periods in Hawaii's culinary history. Long before "fusion" became a buzzword, he was in island kitchens where the question was never simply whether a dish was French or Asian, but how different traditions could make one another better.
French technique brought discipline: sauces, structure, classical preparation. Hawaii brought an extraordinary array of Asian and Pacific ingredients and traditions. Steven learned to cook where the two met, cooking alongside chefs like Russell Siu of Honolulu's celebrated 3660 On the Rise, in the same culinary world that would later produce Roy Yamaguchi and Hawaii Regional Cuisine.
Steven formed a gourmet club where monthly dinners rotated between chefs, each built around a chosen region. The region's wines were paired to the dishes, its music played through the night, and a short book report explained its culinary bounty. Cooking as travel, without leaving the table.
He built a website, The Galactic Palate, to document the food: Steak Diane flamed in cognac, braised leg of lamb, chicken piccata, and the famous Keo's Thai dishes from Honolulu, photographed at catered events and dinner parties. This site is its continuation.
Spanish cooking, with a real love of paella. Italian classics: long, slow braises, ragus like bolognese, osso buco with Milanese risotto. German heritage folded in alongside the Asian and Pacific flavors of Hawaii. Not fusion for its own sake, but each dish cooked with the technique and character it deserves.
The islands were a crossroads of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Thai, Hawaiian, Portuguese and European traditions. Steven was in the kitchen as they started speaking to one another.
Chef of 3660 On the Rise. Cooking alongside him gave Steven a firsthand connection to Hawaii cuisine as something distinctly its own.
Whose cooking helped put Hawaii's regional cuisine on the national map, part of the same transformation Steven witnessed and took part in.
The famous Thai dishes of Keo's became part of Steven's repertoire, sitting easily beside French sauces and island seafood.
The dishes that show up again and again at his table.
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