Augusta Eats: Native islanders deliver authentic flavors from Hawaii at Augusta restaurant

Home cooking can be a joy to find when home is several thousand miles away.

Tammi and Thomas Kamae keep that thought in mind at their restaurant, Hawaiian Style BBQ, at 1719 Gordon Highway.

“Being so far away for ourselves, that was the hardest part of leaving home,” Tammi Kamae said. “Having that now and not feeling like we're so far away. People are surprised; ‘This is a lot more islander than I ever would’ve thought in Georgia.’ I think that's the most exciting part of what we bring to it; all that nostalgia you’re reminded of from Hawaii, and then the food stands for itself.”

She and her husband have lived in Richmond County for 15 years, but they grew up in Hawaii. As a member of a military family, Thomas Kamae spent time in the Augusta area and Hawaii while growing up.

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A family tradition

Restaurants run on both sides of the family. Tammi Kamae’s roots are Hawaiian and Chinese, and her grandmother ran a Chinese restaurant. Thomas Kamae’s family would cater events such as church socials and family reunions.

“Food has always been in the family,” Tammi Kamae said. “In Hawaii, no families are just one and two people. We cook for big.”

For several years the Kamaes had been making their own marinades and teriyaki sauces for visitors to Augusta’s annual Arts in the Heart festival that features international cuisine. In 2013, owners of the Arirang Korean Restaurant placed the business up for sale, and the Kamaes, who ate at Arirang often, saw their chance.

‘When the opportunity came up, my husband just said, ‘Go for it. If not, it’ll pass us by,’” Tammi Kamae said. “We talked to the landlord and signed the lease probably a week later. We just dove right in.”

The restaurant’s exterior still vaguely resembles the Pizza Hut that originally occupied the spot in the 1970s, but the inside pays tribute to the Aloha State starting with the Hawaiian state flag and the Kanaka Maoli indigenous flag that greet visitors inside the entrance.

Hawaiian authenticity, blending cultures

The restaurant’s barbecued chicken, which Tammi Kamae calls “the grabber” for menu-browsers, is the result of hours of marinating and cooking. Another authentic island offering is poké, a dish of marinated ahi tuna with a side of rice sprinkled with furikake seasoning.

Another favorite is the chicken katsu, which Von Privott and Kay Lewis of Aiken, S.C., ordered on a recent visit to Hawaiian Style BBQ.

“I’ve come here at least five times,” Privott said, with Lewis adding her fondness of the beef teriyaki: “Great customer service, very friendly.”

While originally Japanese, chicken katsu is a favorite Hawaiian dish that, like much of Hawaiian cuisine, borrows from several other Asian countries.

“I really didn’t know there was a difference until I moved away. I thought it was all Hawaiian food because we grew up eating it all,” Tammi Kamae said with a laugh. “With the mix of cultures that they have there, we grew up eating Korean short ribs not even knowing they were Korean.”

Setting high expectations

Nothing at Hawaiian Style BBQ is pre-made or frozen off-premises for quick reheating later, Tammi Kamae said. Steady customers, particularly military members attached to Fort Gordon, recognize the attention to freshness and authenticity – and even pine for it after returning to Hawaii.

“We’ve had people who’ve been stationed here and then stationed back home, and still say that they miss us,” Tammi Kamae said. “A lot of times when you find Hawaiian restaurants, they're not necessarily Hawaiian-owned. Of course, you can be any race to open certain cuisine, but when you’ve grown up with the food, cooking the food, enjoying it, you know what the expectation is. And my husband doesn’t slide on anything.”

Many customers have asked the Kamaes if they plan on opening another location. There’s now an answer: Hawaiian Style BBQ is expected to open its second location in January at 2801 Washington Road, in a storefront in front of Kroger, about 6 miles from the restaurant’s Gordon Highway spot for the last nine years.

“Having the military post close by, I know that helps out a lot ... having different groups of people coming in and out,” Tammi Kamae said. “But there are definitely a lot of islanders stationed here that miss the food and are really happy once they find it. The first thing they ask is, ‘What the heck are you doing here?’”

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Hawaiian Style BBQ captures taste of the islands | Augusta Eats