Kerri Conan

BY The Editors

PUBLISHED January 24, 2022

Perspective is a funny thing. During my time on Top Chef, and later when I was fortunate enough to travel around the country, I found myself having to explain foods I'd been eating my whole life—saimin, smoke meat, manapua, etc.—to mainlanders who had no idea what I was talking about. Of course, as a born-and-bred local boy, this was a two-way street. For me, ceviche was poke with lime juice. Everything bagels were covered in haole furikake. And the first time I ate risotto, part of me thought, Ho, brah, this is gravy rice. Gravy rice, which is what it sounds like, plays a crucial role in loco moco, the famous hamburger-topped dish that was proudly invented in Hilo. If you were a restaurant in Hilo that didn't have loco moco on the menu, people were suspicious. It's everywhere. Most people assume the hamburger patty is the most important part of loco moco, but just like a flavorful broth is key to a proper risotto, a good rich brown gravy is what makes the dish sing. As if to prove this specific point, I made this dish, with all the oniony beefy flavor of classic loco moco but presented like risotto, at a pop-up I did with my friend chef John Tesar in Dallas. And I didn't have to explain a thing because if there're folks who deeply understand beef and gravy, it's Texans. Maybe I should have taken it one step further and called it "Hilo Boy Risotto." – Sheldon Simeon