Taormina Sicilian Cuisine

Always wonder what goes on behind the scenes at your favorite restaurant? Well, much credit goes to the many chefs, owners and managers who work diligently day in and dayut to ensure Hawaii’s diners have a top-notch dining experience.

This week, Dining Out got the inside scoop from Taormina Sicilian Cuisine’s executive chef Hiroyuki Mimura, who gave us a little taste of Taormina and shared just what fuels his culinary drive.

Name: Hiroyuki Mimura
Title: Executive Chef
Training/Education: Trained by Chef Luca Pecorini
Years at Taormina: Since opening five years ago

Who or what inspires you as a chef?

I fell in love with Italian culture and history. I lived in Florence and Sicily, Italy, for a combined four years, and being around that style of cuisine just made me fall in love with it all.

What’s your most popular dish?

Uni pasta (sea urchin pasta) and Nero pasta (squid ink pasta).

Is there a dish that you created that’s not on your menu, but available upon request?

Cabanara with pancetta. Southern Italian cuisine has no cream sauce, but to provide our guests with this option we can create a San Danielle Cabanara upon request.

What is the biggest compliment you’ve ever received as a chef?

I have had many tourists from Italy come to the kitchen window to express their compliments. Since I speak Italian, it is always much more special when hearing it in Italian and hearing how much they enjoyed our cuisine. Many of them have told us that we have the best Italian and most authentic Sicilian cuisine Oahu has to offer.

If you could serve food to a celebrity, who would it be and why? What dish would you serve?

We have served many local celebrities as well as stars on the big screen. To name a few, Jeffrey Rush, cast member of Pirates of the Caribbean; Michael Cain and the cast of Hawaii Five-0, including Daniel Dae Kim. I like to serve everyone any dish that catches their eye … the best I can possibly create it.

Taormina Sicilian Cuisine

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