Approachability and fun were the recurring themes of a discussion about Senia, the long-awaited Chinatown restaurant from renowned local chef Chris Kajioka and his buddy, British chef Anthony Rush, set to open in the fall. Approachable for diners, fun for the duo and their staff.
Of course, this is “fun” as defined by chefs with ambition and outsized talent who have already navigated the upper echelons of the culinary world. They met eight years ago while employed at Per Se, the three-Michelin-star New York restaurant owned by Thomas Keller. Kajioka went on to lead the kitchen at the uber-fine-dining Vintage Cave restaurant, while Rush served as head chef at Simon Rogan’s Fera at Claridge’s in London.
In their worlds, fun means unfettered creativity.
“We plan to change things up often,” Rush said. “That’s the great thing about being our own boss — we can change things as often as we want. We don’t want to be bored; we don’t want our staff to be bored.”
Their flexible approach also allows them to adhere to a standard of using only the best ingredients, whatever the quantity.
“If farmers have small quantities of something, we’ll take it,” Kajioka said.
“We’re ingredient-driven people, we’re locally driven chefs,” Rush said. “We’re committed to local, but we don’t limit ourselves to that.”
That begs the question, What kind of cuisine will they serve?
For such inspired professionals, answering that question has been a tough nut to crack. Defining their menu improperly could limit its scope. So they have opted for the broad-based.
“Regional American cuisine,” they answered almost reluctantly, their eyes meeting, wry smiles forming.
“My background is Asian, Anthony’s is European, we were both trained in a European manner. The cuisine reflects that and our place here, in Hawaii. But we don’t want (the Hawaii factor) to dominate,” Kajioka said. “We’re an American restaurant that’s regional, reflecting California and the Pacific Rim. We’re not like Andrew (Le, of The Pig and the Lady) next door, who does Vietnamese, though we will probably serve something with Vietnamese influence at some point.”
“Their food is not so disparate,” said Katherine Nomura, Senia’s general manager and Rush’s wife. “There is cultural intersection and their food reflects that.”
The chefs haven’t yet decided on what exactly will be on their menu, but their list of possibilities is extensive.
“There is no shortage of ideas,” said Nomura. “It’s a dynamic process to watch.”
It’ll all be whittled down once the space, still under construction, is finished and the kitchen is accessible.
Kajioka doesn’t think the process will be so difficult. Conceptualizing a dish mentally doesn’t always translate well to the plate.
“Once you do it, you say, ‘Oh my God, that’s terrible!’ There’s a high percentage of failure.”
But the chefs have developed a few dishes and concepts that they know will make it onto Senia’s menu:
>> A deboned fish baked in a salted edible dough, served with a dipping sauce.
“This is a signature dish for sure,” said Rush, who developed the recipe.
“It’s a dish that when it comes to the table, people will spend the first five minutes taking pictures of it,” Kajioka said.
>> Wellington dishes — their incarnations thus far have meats wrapped with vegetables such as spinach or mushrooms, then wrapped in puff pastry and baked. While Rush calls Wellington “a very British thing,” he’s already localized it using pork belly and venison.
>> While neither a concept nor a specific dish, Kajioka is committed to making fresh pasta.
“I want to do real, craft, handmade pasta because I love eating it and making it,” he said.
Their ideas will be executed in both casual dishes and fine-dining tasting menus.
The men want their enjoyment of their work to translate to the customer experience. The team has been tackling a full build-out of the space to create a fun, comfortable venue. The restaurant is divided into several areas: a main dining area with upholstered chairs and a large glass chandelier created by local artist Jonathan Swanz; a nook near the kitchen for patrons of the tasting menu; and a private dining room for about a dozen, situated on the second floor.
The main space, with its casual menu, will best reflect that approachable vibe.
“We envision it as a place where people can come to eat multiple times a week,” Rush said.
Diners at the back of the restaurant will enjoy refined dishes using luxe ingredients such as caviar, foie gras and truffles. The menu will allow Rush and Kajioka to execute the kind of gourmet cooking they were trained in.
Yet even Senia’s everyday dishes will reflect the chefs’ fine-dining backgrounds.
“‘Casual’ is our casual. The environment and the formality of service is casual. The food is approachable and affordable. But we’re meticulous in sourcing and how we cook,” Kajioka said. “I think when people go out to eat, they want to eat something they cannot make at home. If we made a fried chicken, the brine would be different, the bird would be different, the cooking would be different” from a more humble version.
And no matter what the dish, it will be plated aesthetically. Presentation matters.
“Even a fried chicken must be beautiful,” Rush said.
