Alfredo Lee Cooks Up New Dishes At Sergio’s
Friday - September 07, 2007
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Chef Alfredo Lee
Sometimes the easiest way to understand what’s going on in a restaurant is to know a little about the chef. When I went to take a look at the new menu at Sergio’s last week, I was impressed by a sampling of chef Alfredo Lee’s food, but more impressed by his pedigree and the fact that he seems to have a genuine love for Hawaii, our produce and our discerning palates. And if ever a chef was suited to our melting pot, Alfredo Lee is he. Born in Tuscany to a Mexican Chinese mother, he says he felt called to Hawaii because it seemed to be a culture where he would fit. I sat down with chef over some appetizers of prosciutto de Parma with melon, ricotta cheese with roasted peppers and some splendid bruschetta rubbed with garlic and oil, topped with local heirloom tomatoes and arugula. Between mouthfuls of his newest dishes, we chatted about his love of food, salsa dancing and his life in Hawaii.
Lee’s been here for a while. He was the chef at Spada, a short-lived restaurant on Bethel Street that nevertheless gained an enthusiastic following; and he worked at Buon Amici before moving earlier this year to Sergio’s, a restaurant that has struggled these past 5 years to keep up it’s aim of serving ‘authentic’ Italian food.
Growing up in Tuscany, Lee watched his grandmother cooking and bartering produce she’d grown in exchange for wine and cheese. “We had a chestnut farm so my grandma would trade our chestnuts with other farmers at about 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning when they were setting up the market. She would trade for cheese and wine in jugs. At home she cooked all day long. I remember chestnuts with pasta and sausage and tomatoes that was wonderful,” he says.
Alfredo’s family name is Conti, but when he was 8, his mother moved the family to Mexico city and changed their name to Lee. “My mom was an artisan who painted plates in Sicily,” he says, “That’s how she met my dad. She’s Chinese Mexican so when we moved she changed our name.”
He appreciates the influence that Mexican food has had on his cooking, but admits that Italian food is his main passion. “They’re both fresh and simple styles,” he says, “but Italian comes more naturally to me.”
Chef Alfredo Lee’s panzanella at Sergio’s
Next week a series of tasting menus will debut, giving guests a sampling of dishes from Alfredo’s Italy. Baby greens tossed with walnut vinaigrette, candied walnuts, gorgonzola and grilled pears; homemade angel hair pasta tossed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, local tomatoes and fresh mozzarella; free range chicken breast filled with ham, Fontina cheese and served with mashed potatoes are all part of a tasting menu that also includes beef tenderloin topped with gorgonzola fondue on a Tuscan grilled ciabatta, and mango sorbet with zabaglione sauce and wild berries.
There are plans for more wines by the glass, regional varietals to complement the food, and a series of menus that change often.
“ Whatever I’ve learned in my life in cooking, I want to share it,” says the Mexican-Chinese, Tuscan-born chef. “ And I feel such a connection to Hawaii that I want to share it with the people here.”
Sergio’s Italian Restaurant
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Honolulu
951 6900
Dinner served nightly from 5 – 10 p.m.
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