Ravi Kapur Is Redefining Hawaiian Cocktail Tradition

Because the proprietor of Liholiho Yacht Membership and Good Good Tradition Membership, two eating places that thoughtfully draw inspiration from his Hawaiian upbringing, chef Ravi Kapur is bored with leaning into stereotypes in regards to the island’s meals and tradition.

When Ravi Kapur opened Liholiho Yacht Membership in 2014, he discovered himself strolling a tightrope: Deliberately drawing inspiration from the cultures he grew up in — Kapur was born in Hawaii to Indian and Hawaiian Chinese language dad and mom — with out jamming collectively flavors was no small feat. “I didn’t wish to simply say, ‘Oh, I like this spice. I feel I’m simply going to throw it into this dish,’” he explains. 

However Kapur struck the steadiness, and Liholiho turned recognized for dishes that honored totally different points of the cuisines he grew up round, like caviar with fluffy furikake-topped brioche, and deep-fried nori crackers topped with spicy mayonnaise and tuna poke. In 2016, it earned him the title of Meals & Wine Finest New Chef. As a substitute of resting on his laurels, Kapur saved pushing to search out methods to spotlight undersung substances and flavors from his heritage.

“In 2018, I had an uncle cross at his dwelling in Maui, and the evening earlier than the funeral, my household and I have been simply decompressing with tropical drinks and beers by the pool,” he says. “My palate received exhausted from these scrumptious however very sugary, sort of cloying drinks.”

Trying down on the vista and ocean from his aunt’s dwelling, Kapur realized that the candy, tropical drinks many individuals affiliate with Hawaii did not showcase the island’s indigenous substances. The day after the funeral, he headed to the native farmers market and felt impressed by piles upon piles of recent turmeric. After a number of rounds of testing again in San Francisco, Kapur fell in love with a vivid, shiny yellow mixture of ginger- and turmeric-infused vodka. He named the spirit Olehna, which mimics the Hawaiian phrase for turmeric.

Herbaceous, citrusy, floral, and bittersweet, Olehna is a spirit that appears and tastes not like every other, and Kapur is all in. He runs manufacturing from a devoted craft distillery on San Francisco’s Treasure Island and makes use of California-grown turmeric and ginger. Initially made utilizing a impartial corn spirit, Kapur is now highlighting one other side of the island’s tradition by transitioning Olehna over to a sugarcane base.

“The cultural ties of turmeric and ginger hint again to the Polynesians 1000’s of years in the past, who introduced these crops with them on their voyages of discovery to Hawaii,” he says. “Sugarcane was one other of these substances.”

Regardless of the shift to a sugarcane base, Olehna isn’t candy, neither is it a liqueur; at 80 proof, it packs a boozy punch much like gin or vodka. In truth, Kapur likes to make use of it instead of gin to make a Negroni, however he additionally reaches for it to shock and delight martini drinkers. It additionally shines in a easy spritz. At Liholiho Yacht Membership, it’s the visible and taste star of the Ginger Sundown cocktail, which additionally consists of Japanese vermouth and ginger liqueur.

“That is about having one thing that, to me, felt consultant of my background, which I don’t really feel is at all times current on the again bar,” he says. “This isn’t a challenge that got here out of the restaurant — it is a private challenge.”

Olehna is on the market for $37 at bittersandbottles.com.