Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii where his only cooking experience was at a small Izakaya called Hakkei, Stephen originally moved to Washington state to attend college in Walla Walla. There he catered for wineries before moving to Seattle where he has worked as a cook for some of it’s best restaurants including Joule, Homer, and Opus Co, and a year at Revel as Sous Chef. Stephen currently runs his own pop-up group called Nekojiru, which focuses on Hawaiian and Japanese comfort foods.