Chilled out at Roys...

Make a Wish - A night of fundraising and Tozai Living Jewel at Roy's Hawaiian. Vine Connections - who imports premium Japanese Sake and Argentine Wines had the honor of sponsoring the Sake ice bar at Roy's annual Make a Wish night in Austin.

I can't decide who enjoyed the sake more...the guests or the chefs and Roy Yamaguchi himself! I'll have the tally in soon on how much was raised last night.

Here's a little background... In 1984, he opened his own restaurant in Los Angeles called 385 North. However, the desire to further expand his culinary horizons while getting closer to his roots led Yamaguchi to move to Hawaii in 1988 and open Roy's. Soon after the original Roy's opened in Honolulu, Food & Wine Magazine dubbed it the "crown jewel of Honolulu's East-West eateries," and it was named one of Conde Nast Traveler's "Top 50." Gourmet acknowledged Yamaguchi as "the father of modern East-West cooking" while the New York Times described him as "the Wolfgang Puck of the Pacific." Yamaguchi is now regarded as a pioneer who mastered a distinctive style, which brought his cooking to the forefront of contemporary gastronomy.

As testimony to his success, there are now 37 Roy's, including 28 in the Continental US, 7 in Hawaii, 1 in Japan and 1 in Guam. Honored early in his career with the prestigious James Beard "Best Pacific Northwest Chef" award, Yamaguchi has hosted six seasons of the PBS-TV show, Hawaii Cooks with Roy Yamaguchi seen on more than 300 stations in all 50 states, as well as in over 60 countries. Equally notable, he was a featured chef on the acclaimed TV Food Network program, My Country, My Kitchen which takes viewers back to his roots in Japan.

Yamaguchi has also published three cookbooks, Roy's Fish and Seafood, Roy's Feasts from Hawaii and Hawaii Cooks: Flavors from Roy's Pacific Rim Kitchen.
Two locations in Texas:

Roy's - Plano
(972) 473-6263
2840 Dallas Pkwy
Roy's - Austin
(512) 391-1500
340 E. 2nd St and the Tozai Living Jewel can be found at Whole Foods, The Austin Wine Merchant, The Whip Inn - just ask your favorite shop for a bottle! A 720ml is around $20 bucks...oh yeah! Cheers - Ali