I’ve often fantasized about my dream date: a golden Kona sunset while waves caress the shore of Kahuwai Bay. As my husband leaned over the railing of the high-end Japanese concept restaurant, whales began to grace us with their dances. I asked my husband to pinch me, and to my surprise, it hurt. This experience was real indeed, and it would only get better.
Captivated by the sights, our senses attuned to the sound of knives being removed from their sheaths—plates and bowls gently being set out to form an exceptional presentation. As Chef Nuri finalized his preparations and clasped his hands behind his back, we understood it was time to settle in. We were invited into a serene initiation.
Our private seating began, and Chef Nuri offered us our first dish. We were introduced to the evening with an element of surprise. I began to understand that Chef Nuri is a storyteller who follows the primary aspects of narrative; the introduction set the tone and expectation for the rest of the evening. An unassuming bowl containing scallop tartare and truffle aioli, garnished with dried kelp and crushed fish bones made into salt, arrived. I immediately turned to my menu for help to read what I was about to experience.
“What we have right in front of us is not on the menu,” Chef Nuri said.
Unlike any other culinary service, I was not the one choosing what I was going to eat, which made this experience a joint adventure—exploring a thoughtfully curated menu designed just for us, just for that night. We didn’t have to worry about deciding what we wanted; we could fully surrender to the experience Chef Nuri has spent years honing and perfecting.
“I've pretty much been cooking for as long as I can remember,” Chef Nuri said. Growing up with a single mother whose time and energy were limited, he took on kitchen responsibilities. “I learned it (sushi making) by accident.”
After his first semester of culinary school, Nuri was disengaged and on the verge of quitting. One afternoon, he missed his bus home. As he stood in the cold, he caught glimpses through a classroom window next to the bus stop. A Japanese chef was demonstrating how he processed fish. Nuri instantly decided that he wanted to do just that. He waited for the chef to come outside so he could talk to him, purposefully missing his next bus.
The chef told Nuri he would not learn the art of sushi if he stayed in his current school. Downcast, Nuri made his way to a local sushi counter. There, he spoke with another chef.
"Will I be able to do your craft if I stay in this school?" Nuri asked.
The chef laughed and reminded him it was a French culinary school.
Months later, Nuri’s family moved to Maui after his mother's engagement to his stepfather. There, he worked in the industry and began to shadow chefs for free. He dedicated his time and passion to his craft, even spending nine months in Kyoto learning “old-school" traditions and the brutal, disciplined life of a traditional kitchen.
Each bite was a technical symphony, displaying elaborate flavor profiles created with intention. The rice was a blend of Hokkaido and Nagano grains, combined to create the ideal texture—one that smoothly dissolves in the mouth.
NOIO offers exclusive ingredients, anchoring luxury into Kona’s culinary scene. The restaurant buys an entire year's worth of soy sauce from a tiny, exclusive brewery. Other highlighted products were Oʻahu farm-raised oysters and Kauai’s Hanapēpē salt, an ingredient that cannot be purchased but can only be acquired through trade.
My husband's jaw dropped to the floor as Chef Nuri sliced through an A5 Wagyu ribeye steak.
“Is that beetroot?” I guessed, eyeing the other component lying next to the Wagyu.
“Okinawa sweet potatoes and bamboo shoots!” Chef Nuri corrected me, swiftly continuing his description of what became my husband's favorite dish of the night. “Bafun uni—a higher grade of sea urchin from Hokkaido—on top of the steak. This uni is on the buttery side, and it will act as the butter for your steak. Everything is brushed with a sauce of a reduction of port wine, which we call Port Kabayaki. And lastly, Perigord truffles shaved on top.”
Our server, the knowledgeable Jeremiah, paired our Shokuji Omakase course with three different kinds of sake. He instructed us to begin drinking them in the order he placed them in front of us. I liked best the one farthest from me, the Iwa 5.
“A passion project from Dom Pérignon's previous cellar master,” Jeremiah said. “He went the sake route and wanted to marry both worlds between wine and sake, utilizing both yeast strains in a white Burgundy style.”
I intended to take a conservative approach to how much food I ate at each course. However, those intentions were gone after the first two courses. It was simply too delicious not to bask in the glory of each bite. Or as my husband said between bites: “Insane!”
Reserve a table at Kona’s most exclusive sushi restaurant at FourSeasons.com.