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Chef Philip \u201cIppy\u201d Aiona first appeared on the national food scene as the youngest contestant on Food Network Star. Back in 2012, the Big Island native\u2019s winning smile and enthusiasm for Hawai\u2018i\u2019s cuisine caught the eye of celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the first thing I ever auditioned for,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI was 23, drinking at my house with my friend, and Bobby Flay comes on TV saying, \u2018Do you think you have what it takes to be the next Food Network Star?\u2019 You know how you answer your TV, \u2018Yeah, I do!\u2019 And your buddy sitting next to you goes, \u2018But do you really, though?\u2019 And you go, \u2018Yeah!\u2019 And he goes, \u2018OK, let\u2019s send something in then. Let\u2019s do it!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
When Ippy got the callback and met with De Laurentiis, he put anchovy at the top of his list of favorites \u2014 then whipped up an anchovy-based dish on the spot to secure a place on her team.\u00a0
\nTheir shared heritage may have also helped. De Laurentiis is famous for her Italian cuisine. Ippy\u2019s father is Native Hawaiian\/Chinese and owned a Hawaiian plate lunch shop; his mother grew up in an Italian family in New York and ran an Italian restaurant in Waikoloa.<\/p>\n
Although he didn\u2019t quite make it to the finale of Food Network Star, Ippy impressed the judges \u2014\u00a0 in the final episode, judge Susie Fogelson confesses to crying when he was on the chopping block.
\nIppy says he has no regrets because putting himself out there opened so many other doors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He made Forbes magazine\u2019s 30 Under 30 list for the food and wine category and, memorably, won the International Iron Chef title in Canada in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI got my first restaurant, The Three Fat Pigs, which I had for six years,\u201d he says. \u201cI was just 23 at the time. There\u2019s no way Kings\u2019 Shops (inside Waikoloa Beach Resort) would have given a 23-year-old a lease, but I had done all of these things and that gives you some credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lot has happened since then. Now 35, Ippy is a husband and a father to two young daughters, Grace and Poppy. He cut his long, curly locks \u2014 \u201cThe only guy I\u2019ve ever seen who can pull it off after age 30 is Jason Momoa, you know?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the big smile remains, as does\u00a0his love for cooking and competition.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, he was back on The Food Network. In May, he was one of three Hawai\u2018i contestants on Alex vs. America. O\u2018ahu chef Jon Matsubara beat celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli for that title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the first time for me being back on a cooking competition in almost 10 years and it definitely took some adjusting to get used to again,\u201d Ippy recalls. \u201cI left the skin on my kampachi, which I never do. Even in the exit interviews they were like, \u2018Is this a Hawaiian technique?\u2019 I was like, \u2018No, absolutely not. This is me messing up because I had cameras in my face, and I got flustered.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
By July, he was back on his feet for season four of BBQ Brawl. He landed on the team of defending champion celebrity chef Anne Burrell, and appeared to take it in stride whenever she urged him to \u201churry up and plate already.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas Anne tough? No she was as soft as butter,\u201d he laughs. \u201cPeople were surprised actually, when I told them what you saw on camera was actually way more mellow than how she was … because she came off as pretty tense on camera. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut the reason she\u2019s on top every year is because she\u2019s a serious chef. There was a point where she was cooking, and she\u2019s leaning over by the trash can and I was like, \u2018What are you doing, chef?\u2019 And she was like, \u2018These eyelashes! I can\u2019t cook with them on.\u2019 She was tearing off her fake eyelashes and throwing them in the trash can. She didn\u2019t care because the food is the most important thing to her \u2014 and helping us win.\u201d <\/p>\n
He says he actually admired her strength and tenacity \u2014 qualities that reminded him of his mother.<\/p>\n
But competition is competition and when Ippy was the last one on Team Anne and elimination time came, he had to pack his bags.<\/p>\n
He was disappointed \u2014 it would have been awesome for a Hawai\u2018i boy to beat pit masters from the mainland \u2014 but gracious and supportive of his fellow contestants, with whom he\u2019d become friends. <\/p>\n
\u201cFood is subjective, and it\u2019s supposed to be subjective,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s like music. Some people like country, some people like rap. It doesn\u2019t make them bad people, it means they have different taste, and the same thing with food. So, the one thing I tell anybody (who enters a contest) is don\u2019t take it personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of myself,\u201d he continues. \u201cI did a local dish, Hawaiian but with Korean sauce, and a version of lomi salmon and coconut rice that I thought was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ippy knew from a young age that he wanted to be a chef. The Hawai\u2018i Preparatory Academy alum spent his childhood in Waimea on Hawai\u2018i island, hanging around \u2014 and eventually helping out at \u2014 his parents\u2019 eateries.<\/p>\n
While other 8-year-olds may have been dreaming of rock\u2019n\u2019roll stardom or glory on the gridiron, Ippy was binge-watching food shows and filming cooking tutorials. This was before the explosion of social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn third grade I made a series of videos called The Little Italian,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI was really into Emeril (Lagasse) at the time. I had the towel over my shoulder. I had the apron on. I had the belly like him. So yeah, I kind of knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he turned 10, Mama Masaya, the legendary cook at his father\u2019s restaurant (staffers called her The Kitchen Magician for her culinary skills), gave him a Chinese cleaver for his birthday. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe was an amazing cook,\u201d he says. \u201cObviously my mom is an amazing cook, and my dad too, but she was the one who, when I would go in after school, she\u2019d make food for me. So, when she gave me the cleaver, I was chopping it up. Like I said, I watched Emeril all the time, so I tried to use the proper technique.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she pretty much told everybody, \u2018Oh, this boy is going to be a chef!\u2019 And when you have somebody you look up to like that, who\u2019s teaching you all this stuff, say that that\u2019s what you\u2019re going to do, you\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
As a testament to the impact Mama Masaya had on him, he dedicated his Easy Hawaiian Cookbook to her.<\/p>\n
Ippy got additional validation from his parents, who bought him a set of pots and pans to go with the cleaver and encouraged him to get to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember I learned how to make hamburger,\u201d he says. \u201cBack then, we would mix our own hamburger. We put dried onions and all kinds of stuff in it. The first time I did it, I thought it was so cool and my parents were like, \u2018Wow, you did such a good job!\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Thank you!\u2019 And they were like, \u2018All right, tomorrow you come in and do this same thing OK?\u2019 It was like, oh shoot! I just gave myself a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
The job eventually took him to Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco, where he took his skills to the next level \u2014 and met his future wife.<\/p>\n
These days, Ippy is putting the finishing touches on The Dizzy Pita, his gyros-and-falafel eatery, which is slated to open later this month. It\u2019ll be right next door to his Ippy\u2019s Hawaiian Barbeque restaurant in his hometown of Waimea. <\/p>\n