Chef Joseph
Chef Joseph Dirks is making great progress in bringing members up to Ke ‘Olu, something that his predecessors often tried to do, and just as often failed. So who is this guy? Where did he come from? What’s his background? What are some of his ideas for the future?
At the age of nine Joseph left his home country of South Korea and traveled to the U.S. to the home of his newly adoptive parents who lived in the town of Huntington on Long Island, New York. The second youngest of six siblings, Joseph didn’t really think much about food or about being a chef through grade school and high school. Once out of high school he joined the Marine Corps and was stationed in California, North Carolina, and Japan. He left the Corps after four years and decided to go to business school, but when his father passed on suddenly, he left school and floated around a bit, wondering what he was going to do with his life.
In 2002 he took a bartending job for a number of months, then was offered a job through a friend managing a restaurant on Long Island. Joseph took the job and discovered he really liked hanging out in the kitchen. He began his culinary education there and then took it home, so he could impress a date with a tasty dinner.
Next came a call from one of his cousins, who was managing Persian Square, an upscale 4-star restaurant across from Grand Central Station in New York. Joseph decided to join him and truly learn how to be a chef. After being at Persian Square for a year, Joseph knew he had found his career and really wanted to learn more. The next step for him was to attend the Culinary Arts Institute (CAI), but in order to get into the Institute he had to be recommended by one of its graduates. He took a job at Indigo where he had many rôles in the kitchen and after a year received the recommendation to get into the CAI.
For two years Joseph attended the Institute and after graduating he found a job at the Union Square Café, a Michelin 2-Star restaurant, as a Line Cook. With that experience under his belt and the good wishes of Kerry Heffernan he joined the South Gate Restaurant at the Essex House as Sous Chef. He was moving up in the of culinary world.
In 2008 Joseph joined the Gotham Bar and Grill and then made the decision to expand his repertoire by training at Nobu to learn Asian fare, including becoming a Sushi Chef. In 2010 he took a job at Morimoto in Chelsea Market.
Then in 2011 an opportunity suddenly opened for Joseph when he was asked to open a restaurant in Dubai. The restaurant, Nomad, was in the Creekside Hotel, one the properties owned by the Jumeirah Chain. Nomad seated 200 people inside and another 160 outside and served a fusion of European and Asian food. Joseph spent 2 ½ years at Nomad and during his stay he visited one of Jumeirah’s operations in the Maldives. It was there that Joseph met another chef, Nancy Andrede Cortes. It wasn’t long before Nancy became Joseph’s wife.
In December of 2013, after marrying, the couple made the decision to return to the US and traveled all the way to Hawaii to join us at Hualalai, where Joseph was the Sous Chef at the Beach Tree and also filled in at Ulu and the Banquet Department.
In August of 2015, Massimo Falsini (our Executive Chef) offered Joseph the kitchen at Ke ‘Olu. At the time Joseph didn’t even know what the “Hualalai Club” was, let alone being aware of such a thing as “members.” All he knew about Ke ‘Olu was that he’d helped out a couple of times at Rock the Rock-type events. With a little convincing from Florian, Joseph took the job. His instructions were to make the members happy.
Joseph did very little the first two months. He watched and listened. He listened to his kitchen staff; he listened to the dining staff; he listened to the members and then slowly he started to make changes. He continues to want to hear from the members as to what they would like to see at Ke ‘Olu. What kind of events they would enjoy? What kind of food? Joseph says when he hears five members making the same suggestion he knows he really needs to focus on making it happen.
It is now 2016 and many of us have enjoyed Joseph’s changes at Ke ‘Olu. It’s now open four nights a week, and there is a buzz on many of those nights when Joseph has served everything from hot dogs to lobster. He instituted hot breakfast during the market day on Wednesday. He teaches cooking to up to 6 people on Wednesday at 11:30 AM. You can see them, wearing aprons and chopping, sautéing, boiling, breading and perfecting other cooking techniques and then the students and their teacher eat their creation for lunch. Cost is $35. He also uses this time to hear what his members want in terms of dining experiences at Ke ‘Olu.
Joseph has also expanded his cooking lessons to bring them into members’ homes. With some planning time he will arrange a dinner at your home where you (and your guests) will learn some cooking techniques and then be served a 4-course meal. Cost? Between $95 and $135 per person. Or, if you want a special private dinner at Ke ‘Olu, he’ll organize it for you. If you are interested in this contact Shelbie Sanoria (808.325.4716) or contact the Residential Concierge.
What else is he thinking about? How about home delivery directly to your kitchen? Or a romantic, sunset dinner by the fire feature—5 courses with matching wines? Or how about a private Chef’s table where Joseph designs a menu of up to six courses? He toys with expanding our wine offerings and making them less expensive and wonders whether it would be worthwhile to offer to sell some of his unique ingredients to members—a sort of small stall of olive oils, vinegars, etc.
What else is on Chef Joseph’s mind? Well, he is obsessed about making the absolutely primo/best/winner burger. He has been working on that for quite awhile. He wants it to be the best burger ever. Hopefully some day he will serve it to us.
When asked what he enjoys cooking the most, his answer is Pasta. “It’s fun to create really perfect pasta and then add the ingredients to make it sing.”
Right now, Joseph and his team are concentrating on serving us “Contemporary Bistro” cuisine. He describes this as high-end contemporary food, focused on technical execution rather than simply serving up whatever is trendy at the moment.
And who is on his team? Well it includes Brendan who takes over when Joseph is not present. Kuzu-an is the sushi chef, Marc (cook #2), Gavin (cook #3—handles the lunch specials) Donald (cook #4—fryer…he makes that delicious fried chicken in the evening), Jeff (Grill chef—is moving to Four Seasons in Oahu) and Ziggy (the desert maestro). Working right alongside his team is the bakery department (ohhh those scones!). Chef Lisa is the pastry chef; Dustin is her baker while a second Lisa and Grace are pastry cooks.
When Chef Joseph is not working he and Nancy and their 3-year-old son, Tyler, are in Kona awaiting their second child.
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