Under the guidance of host Sheldon Simeon — Hawaii-born chef and restaurant owner, as well as current contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef — Eater’s video series Cooking in America returns for its second season, focused entirely on the culinary traditions and food history of Hawaii. On the first episode, Simeon invites the Cooking in America crew to his family’s kitchen in Hilo, where he prepares a Filipino feast for his relatives and friends and introduces some of his favorite places to find fresh fruit, vegetables, and fish on the island.
Simeon’s cooking style is a mix of the Filipino traditions he picked up from his parents and the seafood- and produce-heavy dishes classified as Hawaii food (which itself is a blend of cultures and practices). Watch the video above to get to know this season’s host in his natural environment: cooking with his father using native Hawaiian ingredients, from ho’i’o fern shoots to Moana Kali, a local fish.
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