Pahk Returns to Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel’s former executive chef, Peter Pahk, is being welcomed back to the hotel’s lead culinary team. Previously, Pahk, an Oahu native, held the position from 2012 until 2014. He returns to the hotel with experience her gathered as a culinary professor at Woosong University a prestigious school in Daejeon, South Korea.

“We are very excited to welcome Chef Peter back home to Mauna Kea Beach Hotel to continue strengthening the hotel’s culinary team with his broadened global perspective,” said Craig Anderson, vice president of operations at Mauna Kea Resort. “The homecoming is particularly special as we continue to celebrate the hotel’s 50^th anniversary this year.”

After training in Fresh cuisine at Michel’s and JB’s, Pahk took his career to Hawai’i, working at Nick’s Fishmarket and Rex and Eric’s, where he added gourmet seafood and refined continental cuisine to his repertoire.

In 1983, Pahk was a member of the opening team for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. In his experience with Ritz-Carlton, he traveled throughout the world, including Hong Kong, Bali, Singapore, Korea, Australia, and Mexico. During his time with the Ritz-Carlton, Pahk also assisted in opening hotels in Hawai’i, Laguna Niguel, Aspen, and New Orleans.

Following his 15-year stint with the Ritz-Carlton, Pahk became executive chef at the four-diamond Silverado Resort in Napa Valley in 1997.

In 2010, Pahk changed scenery again and relocated with Xanterra Parks & Resorts to Kingsmill Resort and Spa in Williansburg, Va.

Pahk is a member of the American Culinary Federation, the James Beard Foundation, and the Chef’s Collaborative, and is a board member of the Resort Food Executive Committee and spokesperson for Common Vision, an organization that is devoted to preserving sustainable oceans. He attended Syracuse University and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

“This is an exciting time at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel,” Chef Pahk says. “I know people will soon be talking about our Copper Terrace and our Manta Restaurant as ‘the’ places to be to entertained and to eat wonderful island-sourced food.”