BIG ISLAND
HOPS
T E X T B Y J e f f S mith I M A G E CO U RT E S Y O F F o ur S e as o n s R e s o rt H ua l a l ai
Back To Basics
with Executive Chef James Babian Pahu i‘a Restaurant, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka‘ūpūlehu
Seated across the table from executive chef James Babian in his critically acclaimed Pahu i‘a Restaurant at Big Island’s famed Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, I am faced with a fairly nerveracking moment. This culinary mastermind is not a behind-the-scenes kind of chef. Babian has appeared on the popular Today Show and Food Network, he has cooked at the prestigious James Beard House, and he currently champions the number one restaurant on the Big Island. Moreover, he pioneers the farm-to-table movement that aides local farmers and produces regionally inspired cuisine on a daily basis. A chef for 33 years, Babian has spent half of his culinary life here in Hawai‘i. He is known for developing cuisine based on three simple pillars: seasonal, regional and artisanal. “A couple
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hundred years ago, that’s the only way you did it,” says Babian. “We just went back to basics and let the food do the talking.” We leave the restaurant en route to the Garden Lawn, where the Four Seasons Hualalai cultivates its own food culture by growing herbs and fruits, even maintaining an active moi pond. Babian breaches the grassy path to pick and crush a leaf between his fingers, the vibrant scent of Kaffir lime filling the air. Babian explains that the leaves and its freshly picked fruit will be used to enhance the resort’s traditional Thai dishes. “We have 13 climate zones here, so there’s almost nothing we can’t grow,” says Babian, addressing what sets Hawai‘i’s food culture apart from the rest of the world. Walking into the main pantry area for the entire
Four Seasons Hualalai property is impressive and astonishingly immaculate. Everything has a place and is clearly labeled with the local farm from where it originated. The vibrant colors and fresh smells of a farmers market fill the room. Tomatoes from Wow Farms, watermelon radishes and edible flowers from Adaptation Farms, Swiss chard, lettuce and hearts of palm from Kekela Farms – and the list of local produce from local farms goes on. Babian opens the large meat locker filled with racks of premium-aged beef, fresh abalone, jumbo shrimp and pork loin, which will all be used at dinner service. Grass-fed and aged for 21 days, cattle from Kulana Farms is brought directly from Hilo to be served in the resort’s restaurants. After 14 years on the Big Island, Babian continues to propel and support local farmers