Brian Hirata

The Path

At Hawai‘i Community College in Hilo, Hawai‘i, Brian Hirata worked as a culinary instructor in a setting that asked for technical control and clear instruction in equal measure. In classroom and kitchen, the work centered on repetition, discipline, and the steady transfer of skills, with teaching and cooking reinforcing each other. Since 2019, Brian Hirata has also been chef/owner of Na‘au, carrying that same discipline into a more personal format. The title of owner adds another layer of responsibility, but the throughline stays consistent: a focused approach, careful attention, and a point of view shaped by teaching as much as service.

The Work Today

As a culinary arts instructor and program coordinator at Hawai‘i Community College, Brian Hirata moves between professional kitchen work and classroom instruction. The split is practical: one side demands pace and execution, the other time and repetition. Across both, the work asks the same thing—clarity in how food can carry identity, geography, and memory.

In Their Words “We live in one of the most isolated land masses in the entire world. And there are unique things that grow here that don’t exist anywhere else.” In craft terms, that points to place as a constraint and a resource. For Brian Hirata, isolation is part of the frame, and what grows there becomes the basis for a more specific way of cooking. “Food is more than sustenance. It connects us to the land—and tells us where we come from.” The line lands as a working principle rather than a slogan: food as a record of place, and the kitchen as a site where that record can be made legible.

Acclaim

Brian's honors include James Beard Foundation Emerging Chef semifinalist (2022).