Roy Yamaguchi ’76 is the founder of numerous restaurants, executive director of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiʻolani Community College, and a co-founder and chair of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival. He is the first from Hawaiʻi to receive the prestigious James Beard Best Pacific Northwest Chef Award amongst other notable honors.
Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, his Hawaiʻi roots are tied to his grandfather who opened a tavern and the Yamaguchi General Store on Maui. In 1984, Yamaguchi opened his first restaurant, 385 North, in Hollywood. In 1988, he opened the first Roy’s Restaurant in Honolulu.
Yamaguchi hosted the PBS series Hawaii Cooks with Roy Yamaguchi and competed on Top Chef Masters and Iron Chef. He launched a cookware line on the Home Shopping Network and published four cookbooks.
Dedicated to giving back, Yamaguchi established the Tom and Warren Matsuda Scholarship Fund and the Roy Yamaguchi Golf Classic. He served as guest lecturer for the School of Travel Industry Management and serves on numerous nonprofit boards including the U.S.-Japan Council and Go For Broke National Education Center. He previously served on the boards of the Culinary Institute of America and Brand USA.
Chef Roy Yamaguchi majored in Culinary Arts at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. He is a member of the inaugural class of CIA’s Alumni Hall of Fame.