Ever 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 day out to make sure Hawaii’s diners have a top-notch dining experience.
This week, Dining Out gets the inside scoops from Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizza owner and pizza chef Kyle Okumoto, who gives us a little taste of Inferno’s and shares just what fuels his culinary drive.
NAME Kyle Okumoto
TITLE Owner/Pizza Chef
TRAINING/EDUCATION Self-taught
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- Guava Smoked Pork Pizza. Photo: Leah Friel
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- Sopressata Pizza. Photo: Lawrence Tabudlo
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- Kyle Okumoto. Courtesy photo
Who or what inspires you as a chef/manager/owner? I owe all of my inspiration to my friends. I used to make pizzas for parties to share with everyone, and got really great responses from them. My friends encouraged me to use my skills and recipes to open up the Inferno’s Pizza mobile business that I actually started with, and the rest is history. They still inspire me to create new pizzas and try new things all the time.
If you could serve food to a celebrity, who would it be and why? What dish would you serve? I really enjoy watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on Food Network, so I would be pretty thrilled to serve pizza to Guy Fieri. I’d want to serve him our signature Guava Smoked Pork Pizza. I know how much the guy loves barbecue, and the local guava wood-smoked Shinsato pork, locally made Kilauea barbecue sauce and sweet Maui onions are a pizza combination I’m sure he’d be pretty happy with.
What is your favorite dish on the menu? Why? I’m a simple guy when it comes down to it, so my favorite has to be the Sopressata Pizza. It’s basically a pepperoni pizza, but with Italian sopressata sausage instead.
Is there a dish that you create that’s not on your menu, but available upon request? Technically no, but whenever my friends and I see a really awesome-looking pizza on TV or in magazines, I use the kitchen to try them out right here at Inferno’s. Recently I made one for fun, which consisted of pepperoni with a pile of tater tots, homemade chili and nacho cheese in the center. It went pretty fast.
Inferno’s Wood Fire Pizza
1344 Kona St., Honolulu (additional location at Newtown Golf Driving Range in Aiea)
375-1200
Monday-Saturday, 5 p.m.-3:30 a.m.
Sunday, midnight-3:30 a.m.
Honolulu, HI 96814
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