A unique festival that combines fire, iron, steel and carbon — plus food — is coming to Deck, a restaurant with sweeping views of Diamond Head on the third floor Queen Kapiʻolani Hotel Waikīkī Beach on Sunday, June 29.
Seisuke Knife, which sells handcrafted Japanese kitchen knives, is holding its first festival in Hawaiʻi this week. Each year, Seisuke Knife hosts two festivals across the Pacific Rim. Admission for the one-day event on Oʻahu includes dishes from participating restaurants, as well as the ability to purchase limited-edition knives. Tickets are $90.
The event features a sushi demonstration by chefs Yoshiki Hatano of Sushi Tonari, and Angie Lee of Tsuki Maki. For the demonstration, Lee will make oshizushi, or pressed sushi.
“I'm going to be slicing some fish at the demonstration and then teaching how to make it — and also serving it,” Lee told Aloha State Daily. “You want to have a really sharp knife because when you're slicing the fish you don't want to break too many of the cell walls, because it will damage it, and then the taste of the fish won't be as good and fresh.”
Tsuki Maki is an omakase-style concept featuring temaki, or hand rolls, and oshizushi, or pressed box sushi, with events in Hawaiʻi and Japan. In August, she plans to do additional pop-ups in California and Oregon.
Lee had not been planning a career as a chef. She went to the Tokyo Sushi Academy in Japan “just for fun,” she said. While in Japan, she went to Hakkoku in Ginza, where she tried rice vinegar sushi rice for the first time. It was so good, she asked the chef if she could work there. She started work the next day — and stayed a year.
The festival will include a knife forging fire demonstration and will feature master craftsmen Yu Kurosaki of Kurosaki Knives, Yoshimi Kato of Kato Knives, and Takumi Ikeda of Anryu Knives, as they perform knife testing and sushi-making demonstrations. There will also be music by Liam Moleta and performances by Hawaiʻi Hula Company.
Here is the current schedule:
4:15 p.m. Music by Liam Moleta
4:30 p.m. Entertainment by Hawaiʻi Hula Company
5 p.m. Craftsmen and chef showcase
5:30 p.m. Knife forging fire demonstration
6 p.m. Sushi demonstration
7 p.m. Knife raffle and giveaway
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Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
