CULINARY Q&A

Chef Bruce Bromberg

story KRYSTAL KAKIMOTO images STEVE HILL

Speaking with celebrity chef and half of the fraternal team behind the Blue Ribbon restaurant group, what shines through is the passion that Chef Bruce Bromberg has for locally sourced ingredients and the family spirit infused through all his ventures.

Raised in New Jersey and trained at Le Cordon Bleu, he and his brother Eric Bromberg translated their love of food into their first restaurant, Blue Ribbon Brasserie. Since the opening of their first location in 1992, the brothers have continued down the path of success by creating dining experiences authentic to the neighborhoods their restaurants are nestled within. This year, Chef Bruce is a leading force behind the Mauna Lani Culinary Classic, a three-day food celebration highlighting the best in gastronomy, wine and mixology.

Looking back on your childhood, what are some fond memories you have that are centered around food? Well, there’s an awful lot of them! I would have to say that we grew up in a very food-centric household. It was always centered around what my dad would bring home that night and what he would cook for us. It didn’t matter what he was making, but there was always a story behind everything we would eat. I would have to say that one of the most exciting memories that I had around food was when my father held a political fundraiser back in the 70s at our house. I must have been eight or nine years old, and it was a Maine-style lobster bake. I remember being a little kid seeing hundreds of lobsters being cut up and dished up and remember standing right next to the guys who were cutting the lobsters all night.

Being raised in a household where food played such a significant role, do you think you always wanted to be a chef?

Yes. My brother and I are co-chefs, and we started Blue Ribbon Restaurants thirty years ago. The crazy thing is we were pretty obsessed with Benihana as children and would dress up as Benihana chefs. I think for Eric’s thirteenth birthday, I got him a chef knife, knife holster and Benihana hat. We would practice slicing shrimp and things like that to the point where I think we kind of destroyed our mom’s kitchen trying to recreate the Benihana dishes. But, you know, I don’t think I knew exactly that I was going to be a chef, but I knew my brother and I loved creating things together and were always coming up with different recipes.

What drew you to the islands and made you realize you wanted to call Hawai‘i home?

I came to Hawai‘i for the first time for a James Beard event. It was a celebrity chef tour, and we prepared a dinner at the Mauna Lani eleven years ago. Somehow, the island resonated with me; the people and the culture resonated with me. I loved the fact that there was this strong culinary culture that existed, and I fell in love with the products that were on the island. I think the islands also drew my wife in, who is from South Africa. She has gotten incredibly close and comfortable here, even though it is on the opposite side of the planet. I think it was really the chefs and farmers we met and just the overall family structure that seems so solid and culturally deep. That’s what made us feel comfortable in Hawai‘i and made us want to raise our child here.

What are some of your favorite local ingredients to work with?

Well, I am obsessed with hearts of palm that come from Puna Gardens. It is an extraordinary product. I sent some to Tiffany Derry, who is one of the visiting chefs of the Culinary Classic. She immediately said that it would be the star of her dish. We are also close with a lot of the local farmers, and I’m always excited about the various products and love the seasonality in the produce.

What would your perfect day off look like?

Strangely enough, it might involve some cooking! The perfect day might be paddling or spending time in the water with my family followed by hanging out with family and friends. I have a great outdoor kitchen set up in my home in Hawai‘i. We would probably end the night with a Hawaiian-style BBQ.

What are some ingredients that you always have in your kitchen?

I always have different sea salts from Hawai‘i, and I think they are great building blocks for bringing out the flavors in fresh products. I always try to buy locally and fresh and try to create cool dishes with what I find in the markets.

How did you get involved with the Culinary Classic event?

I did the event back in 2012 and then we ended up moving to Hawai‘i. When Auberge Resorts took over at Mauna Lani, I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to revive what we had built all those years ago with the James Beard Foundation. I reached out to the Mauna Lani team and proposed this idea, which also falls on the 30th anniversary of Blue Ribbon Restaurants. I wanted to do something special and thought nothing could be better than bringing together local chefs with mainland chefs to highlight Hawai‘i’s amazing bounty of seafood, meats and produce to celebrate Hawai‘i.

Chef Bruce notes that what originally started as a oneday dinner has evolved into a poignant event. Between live food demonstrations and cocktail walkarounds with chefs on the beach, each event is aimed at bringing the attention of the culinary world to the Big Island. With the Mauna Lani Culinary Classic, he aims to “bring the community together and take advantage of this exciting opportunity to honor everything we have.”

The Mauna Lani Culinary Classic

August 31 - September 2, 2023 at Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection

Mauna Lani presents the inaugural Mauna Lani Culinary Classic, a three-day food celebration featuring the best in gastronomy, wine and mixology. Showcasing award-winning local and national talent as well as an unbeatable line-up of experiences, the Culinary Classic connects chefs, sommeliers, mixologists, friends and neighbors in the name of culinary creativity. For tickets and more information, visit aubergeresorts.com/maunalani/culinary-classic.