Jon Matsubara

The Climb

Jon Matsubara trained at French Culinary Institute and University of Puget Sound before stepping into a career defined by a steady rise through celebrated kitchens. Those early foundations led him into a wide-ranging path, where he worked as chef at Plaza Club in San Diego, chef at Alan Wong’s in Hawaii, chef at Tabla in New York City, chef at Jean-Georges in New York City, chef at Stage in Hawaii, chef at Azure in Hawaii, chef at Bloomingdale’s Forty Carrots in Hawaii, and chef at Merriman’s Honolulu. Each stop added another layer to the craft—refinement, pace, rigor, and the kind of quiet confidence that comes from repetition done well. Today, Jon is chef/owner of Feast by Jon Matsubara.

Today

At FEAST, the cooking leans on haute cuisine technique without losing sight of local ingredients or the reference points that give the menu its shape. The food reads as polished, but not airless: familiar flavors are tightened, clarified, and set down with enough restraint to keep their original character intact. His chicharrones at FEAST are more like pork belly roulade, built through a three-day preparation that inspired the dish on the menu. The detail matters, because the dish carries both patience and nostalgia in equal measure, and Matsubara has described the roast-pork memory behind it with candor: “One of my favorite foods is Chinese roast pork. It was always the unicorn dish—people can make it, but how many people really know how to make it good?” The quote captures the spirit of his cooking: reverence for a beloved flavor, and an insistence on doing it properly. That same sense of memory and technique runs through fried rice with roasted bone marrow and garlic; smoked salmon bone chazuke; and pork hash stuffed with crab, then topped with ginger, scallions and housemade sambal. These dishes carry an inviting complexity, but they also remain anchored in something intimate and personal. Matsubara has put the idea plainly: “Every dish has had an impact on my life, and offers a taste of the Hawaiian Islands, using pristine ingredients from our local sources.”

Signature

Jon's signature dishes include chicharrones, fried rice with roasted bone marrow and garlic, and smoked salmon bone chazuke.

In Their Words “One of my favorite foods is Chinese roast pork. It was always the unicorn dish—people can make it, but how many people really know how to make it good?” “Every dish has had an impact on my life, and offers a taste of the Hawaiian Islands, using pristine ingredients from our local sources.”

Recognition

Jon's honors include HONOLULU Magazine Hale Aina Award for Best New Restaurant (2010).