Chef Vitaly Paley Celebrates Local Ingredients at the Mauna Lani Culinary Classic

by Anna Staropoli

Photo courtesy of Mauna Lani, Auberge Resort Collection

Chef Vitaly Paley may spend more time in a canoe than in the kitchen.

The Iron Chef champion and James Beard Award recipient left Portland in 2022 for Hawaii’s Big Island, embracing all facets of island life. “My idea of morning traffic is waiting for two pods of dolphins to pass so that we can cross,” said Paley, who canoes three to four times a day through a local canoe club. “It helps inspire the rest of the day; your thoughts kind of refocus.”

It’s not just Paley’s thoughts, however, that have undergone a reset.

Since moving to Hawaii with his wife Kimberly, Paley has experimented with different ingredients and techniques. Given the Big Island’s multitude of growing zones and microclimates, Paley has access to produce from the mainland — strawberries, peaches, radishes, fennel — as well as pineapples, citrus, mangoes, and guava.

“After probably 35 years of cooking, I am learning a new culinary vocabulary because of some ingredients that I've never had access to,” said Paley.

As the culinary ambassador for sustainable kanpachi fish farm Blue Ocean Mariculture, Paley has homed in on the state’s ancient practice of fish farming. Come Labor Day weekend, he’ll cook kanpachi-based dishes at this year’s Mauna Lani Culinary Classic: a second-year food festival that features both Hawaii-based chefs and visiting experts like Andrew Zimmern, Nancy Silverton, and Stephanie Izard.

For the festival, Paley plans to take full advantage of both Hawaiian kanpachi and Mauna Lani’s wood-fired oven. He’s making two dishes, one of which he likens to a “Hawaiian, modern take on old-school Wolfgang Puck’s smoked salmon pizza” — but not without a callback to Paley’s Portland past; a previous employee of Paley’s is bringing the sourdough starter from one of his Oregon restaurants. For his other dish, Paley will roast the kampachi’s thin, fatty belly with a green garlic aioli and wood-fire charred fennel, among other additions.

These dishes echo a pathos Paley has long supported; his previous Portland restaurant, Paley’s Place, helped usher in the farm-to-table movement — with the caveat that “Back in the day, it wasn't called the farm-to-table,” said Paley. Now, ocean farm-to-table may be the more apt description for Paley’s cooking, though he and his wife aren’t planning to open any more restaurants. Even so, Paley wants to stay involved with the local chef community and the people who are making a difference.

So, when Bruce Bromberg of Blue Ribbon Sushi — who is also based in Hawaii — invited Paley to partake in last year’s Culinary Classic, Paley jumped at the chance. He doesn’t call himself a local, but he feels strongly about the island’s land, and the ways in which food honors it. 

“Sharing with people what we grow and being able to prepare it in such a way that people can understand … I think that's what people come here for,” said Paley. “I think the stories with the food, if they mean something to us and people can relate to them, that's a win-win.”