{"id":10318,"date":"2012-08-15T00:05:10","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T10:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/?p=10318"},"modified":"2012-08-15T08:08:33","modified_gmt":"2012-08-15T18:08:33","slug":"philip-ippy-aiona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/","title":{"rendered":"Philip \u201cIppy\u201d Aiona"},"content":{"rendered":"
[media-credit name=”Photo courtesy Ippy Aiona” align=”alignleft” width=”358″]\"Philip[\/media-credit]

"Next Food Network Star" contestant Philip "Ippy" Aiona Executive Chef, Solimene's, Waimea.<\/p><\/div>\n

Executive Chef,
\nSolimene’s, Waimea.<\/p>\n

It seems that everybody knows your history since your recent run on “Food Network Star,” so no need to ask where you were born, raised … inspired. <\/strong><\/em>I think a lot of people know by now that I grew up on the Big Island with my dad, who’s Hawaiian and ran a plate lunch restaurant, and my mom, who’s Italian and an incredible cook.<\/p>\n

What dishes does your mom do best? <\/strong><\/em>She cooks a lot … and everything is so good, but at Christmas she makes crab and lobster and clams, mussels, shrimp – you know, the traditional Italian seven-fish dishes – in this incredible diavolo sauce.<\/p>\n

Do you compete with each other at the restaurant, just for fun? <\/strong><\/em>(laughs) We do. We have soup wars. Her soups are traditional, mine are really out there and different, so we’ll have contests. Hers are usually better than mine.<\/p>\n

How do you describe your food? Your Hawaiian-Italian background and exposure to great food and ingredients has created something really interesting. <\/strong><\/em>My food is whimsical, I think. It’s creative. And I use classic European techniques because of my Cordon Bleu training and because of my mom. And then, through growing up around my dad’s restaurant, I appreciate local ingredients. So it’s a combination of that.<\/p>\n

What’s always in your fridge? <\/strong><\/em>Shoyu, I use it in everything!<\/p>\n

What local ingredient are you using most right now? <\/strong><\/em>Hearts of palm from the Big Island. My friend has a farm over here. I like how it tastes of roasted corn but has almost a root vegetable kind of texture … I love experimenting with it.<\/p>\n

Where’s your favorite place to go for dinner? <\/strong><\/em>My back porch. My favorite thing is to throw oysters on the grill, with beer and sriracha. And I love to throw Maui onions on the grill – just simple, good stuff. My girlfriend Genna makes the best tacos. So home is a good place to eat.<\/p>\n

Do you have food wars with Genna? <\/strong><\/em>No. I couldn’t compete. She’s a Cordon Bleu-trained pastry cook. I don’t do pastry.<\/p>\n

National TV exposure, particularly on FOOD NETWORK, can change lives really quickly. Did your Twitter network go nuts as soon as you started appearing on the series? <\/strong><\/em>(laughs) I didn’t even have a Facebook page when this all started. I’m from a small town on the Big Island. Everybody knows everyone. I didn’t even use my cell phone … so that’s all changed. I have a Facebook page now. But I still don’t have a Twitter account.<\/p>\n

If you hadn’t been a chef, what might you have been? <\/strong><\/em>Well, from my altar boy days, the only thing I really wanted to be was the pope – or maybe a marine biologist. I guess the pope thing wasn’t that realistic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Executive Chef, Solimene’s, Waimea. It seems that everybody knows your history since your recent run on “Food Network Star,” so..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":10319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-beverage-focus","category-hawaii-food-dining"],"yoast_head":"\nNext Food Network Star - Philip "Ippy" Aiona<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Next Food Network Star - Philip "Ippy" Aiona\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Executive Chef, Solimene’s, Waimea. It seems that everybody knows your history since your recent run on “Food Network Star,” so..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MidWeek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-15T10:05:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-08-15T18:08:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2012\/08\/fbf.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"565\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Philip \u201cIppy\u201d Aiona\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-15T10:05:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-08-15T18:08:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":521,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/fbf.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Food & Beverage Focus\",\"Food & Dining\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next Food Network Star - Philip \\\"Ippy\\\" Aiona\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/fbf.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-15T10:05:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-08-15T18:08:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/fbf.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/12\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/fbf.png\",\"width\":\"450\",\"height\":\"565\",\"caption\":\"\\\"Next Food Network Star\\\" contestant Philip \\\"Ippy\\\" Aiona Executive Chef, Solimene's, Waimea.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/philip-ippy-aiona\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Philip \u201cIppy\u201d Aiona\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/\",\"name\":\"MidWeek\",\"description\":\"Hawaii's Favorite Newspaper\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/midweekpro\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Next Food Network Star - Philip \"Ippy\" Aiona","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Next Food Network Star - Philip \"Ippy\" Aiona","og_description":"Executive Chef, Solimene’s, Waimea. It seems that everybody knows your history since your recent run on “Food Network Star,” so..","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/","og_site_name":"MidWeek","article_published_time":"2012-08-15T10:05:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-08-15T18:08:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":565,"url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2012\/08\/fbf.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Philip \u201cIppy\u201d Aiona","datePublished":"2012-08-15T10:05:10+00:00","dateModified":"2012-08-15T18:08:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/"},"wordCount":521,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2012\/08\/fbf.png","articleSection":["Food & Beverage Focus","Food & Dining"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/","name":"Next Food Network Star - Philip \"Ippy\" Aiona","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2012\/08\/fbf.png","datePublished":"2012-08-15T10:05:10+00:00","dateModified":"2012-08-15T18:08:33+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2012\/08\/fbf.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2012\/08\/fbf.png","width":"450","height":"565","caption":"\"Next Food Network Star\" contestant Philip \"Ippy\" Aiona Executive Chef, Solimene's, Waimea."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/philip-ippy-aiona\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Philip \u201cIppy\u201d Aiona"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/","name":"MidWeek","description":"Hawaii's Favorite Newspaper","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}