"Hula makes me understand the importance of producing something that is created from within yourself and that is true to your culture and heritage… something created with love," she explains.

This principle has similarly guided Tsurumaki's approach to food. Born and raised in Honolulu, Tsurumaki creates dishes that reflect the various cultural influences of her home state. Although this kind of gastronomic blending has become the prevailing trend in many haute kitchens around the world, Tsurumaki says this style is pretty typical in Hawaii.

"This food concept naturally evolved," she explains. "Most of the nationalities in Hawaii today came to work as plantation workers on the pineapple and sugar cane fields only intending to stay their contract time. They brought very little with them except for their culture and the memories of their food back home.

"But a lot of these people didn't go back - my family included - and they started to inter-marry with each other… brought their cultures together and it started to blend. It was a natural fusion, the way that the Hawaiian people started blending the foods because of this. It's a natural thing for us."

A Yamaguchi Disciple

Tsurumaki seemed to have been born to cook. Although largely self-taught, she has managed to work her way up to executive chef at Roy Yamaguchi's acclaimed Roy's restaurants, including the flagship Roy's Kahana Bar & Grill at Lahaina on Maui. Yamaguchi, a James Beard awardee, is among the handful of Hawaiian chefs credited for making Pacific Rim cuisine a worldwide phenomenon.

"I was with Roy since the beginning when he started in Hawaii," says Tsurumaki, who began as a pantry girl in 1988. "I was in his original crew and I've been with him since until I came to Hong Kong."

Part of her responsibilities at Roy's was to create daily specials. "When I worked for Mr. Yamaguchi in the beginning in Honolulu, I would create for him on his special sheet anywhere between three and five different dishes, whether it be appetizers, salads or partial main courses. Mostly salads though," she says. "Roy had once told me that in the first year that I was with him I had actually produced 900 or so appetizers and salads for him.

"When you stop to think about it, that's only three a day, and I used to do up to five. Of course, I repeated some, but I did do an extraordinary amount of food for Roy."

Tsurumaki again credits her Hawaiian background as the source for this deep well of creativity. She points out that she has relatives who are Portuguese, Chinese and Hawaiian, while her family originally came from Okinawa, Japan. "It's nothing unusual to me," she says nonchalantly.

Executives at The Peninsula Hong Kong, however, took note of this prolific display of talent when they were scouting for a chef to replace Bryan Nagao - also a Yamaguchi alumnus - who left the hotel to open his own restaurant, Kokage, across the harbor in Wan Chai.

"Dee Ann's style of food is different from Bryan's," says Paul Tchen, executive assistant manager for F&B at The Peninsula. "I think every chef has (her) own specialties and (her) own flavors. And that's what's wonderful about having different chefs: they can cook the same cuisine and create a different experience for the diner."

French-Asian Techniques

Tsurumaki says she brought to Felix a more eclectic blend of Pacific Rim cuisine featuring "flavors that have not been sampled here in Hong Kong."

"I can produce some really great flavors by using pretty much French-Japanese techniques or French-Asian techniques," she says. "The flavors are definitely identifiable. Like if I give you a sauce that's put on a fish, you will definitely know if I used pinot noir in it or if I used cabernet in it. If I have a sauce made with hoisin or a sauce made with oranges, you will definitely taste the hoisin, you'll definitely taste the orange. I don't mute the flavors."

She is also using more Hong Kong ingredients, and throwing in some Chinese styles into her normal repertoire. For instance, she has a seared scallop dish with a Chinese black bean sauce, but to it she added some kaffir lime and lemongrass. "I don't do typical Chinese food at all," she stresses. "But I will take Chinese concepts and blend it into the style I'm comfortable cooking with."

Although she's been with Felix for only a year, Tsurumaki says she feels she has achieved a "little bit of success" with The Peninsula, citing the high level of repeat business in the restaurant. One regular, for instance, dined at Felix five times in a single week. "That's almost unheard of for a Hong Kong restaurant," she points out.

Particularly if the restaurant has a more tourist-oriented image, like Felix, which boasts of stunning views of the Victoria Harbor and the Hong Kong skyline and dramatic interiors designed by avant-garde French architect Philippe Starck.

'Something to Behold'

"The whole atmosphere of Felix to me makes it a destination dining point restaurant," Tsurumaki admits. "And that's very important. A lot of people come here because they hear about Mr. Philippe Starck's design."

But while Tsurumaki finds the design aspects of Felix "truly something to behold," what amazed her most was the level of support The Peninsula was willing to give her in terms of creating dishes that will be just as memorable.

"The first impression I had was the quality of food that I was being offered to cook," she says, adding that executive chef Florian Trento provides her with "the best ingredients pretty much money can buy." For instance, she says the hotel orders fresh Hawaiian fish like opakapaka and onaga, which arrives in Hong Kong within 17 hours after packing in Honolulu.

"What the Peninsula affords me is the same quality of seafood that I had in Hawaii," she says, "and for the guests, they really can have great quality food here."

This kind of purchasing support perfectly fits Tsurumaki's food philosophy, which puts emphasis on the integrity of the ingredients. "One of the reasons why my food is so different from everyone else's is because I truly go for good flavors, true pure flavors and I actually look at the ingredients for their freshness and their versatility. I don't follow food trends. I have never followed a trend in my life ever."

Honesty, not just in terms of flavors, is a core value for Tsurumaki, who has managed to add her own personalized touch to Pacific Rim cuisine. And it all comes out naturally. "We're born into this culture," she says, "and basically here in Felix, I'm doing the same thing I was doing in Hawaii."

Except perhaps for the hula.