Chef Dayne Tanabe
The chef whocooks like family.
Eighteen years of resort kitchens, a wall of festival wins, and a belief so simple it became the whole brand: food always tastes better with family.
Oʻahu roots
Chef Dayne Tanabe was born and raised on Oʻahu. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiʻolani in Culinary Arts, Patisserie Arts and Liberal Arts, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Travel Industry Management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with an emphasis in hotels and restaurants.
His early years were spent across Oʻahu kitchens — a sushi chef at Moa Mua Tei, sous chef at Baja Betty’s Southwest Bar & Grill, and sous chef at Keoni’s in the Outrigger Ohana Waikīkī.
Eighteen years, nine restaurants
For nearly eighteen years Chef Dayne was Chef de Cuisine at Hilton Waikoloa Village, responsible for all nine of the resort’s restaurants. Hilton sent him around the world to sharpen his craft — New York, Florida, San Diego, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Fukuoka, Japan.
His work has been featured in West Hawaii Today’s At Home Magazine and served at community events across the island, including the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament tasting event, Kona Brew Fest, Evening in Paradise at Mauna Lani, Taste of Hawaiʻi at Four Seasons, Evening Under the Stars, the Big Island Chocolate Festival, Taste of the Hawaiian Range, the Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival, the Lavaman Triathlon and the annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk.
DYNE, born in 2018
In 2018, DYNE began as a mobile pop-up concept restaurant focused on events, meal preps, catering and private chef services — with an emphasis on being able to feed the community with good food. Today DYNE specializes in small upscale catered events and private chef services, and Chef Dayne still runs pop-ups between events to keep feeding his community.
At the 2022 Hawaiʻi Kuauli Taste of Pacific & Asia Festival he took first place in both the Judges’ Competition and the People’s Choice Competition, and directed the $1,000 prize to four non-profits: Chef Hui in Honolulu, the Culinary Institute of the Pacific in Honolulu, the Hilo Community College culinary program, and the Palamanui Community College culinary program in Kona.
“My focus is to create custom menus for my clients that exceed their standards and expectations, but stay within their price points. The ultimate goal is for DYNE to play a part in making my client’s special occasion a memorable experience.”
Chef Dayne Tanabe
Awards & appearances
Where the food has been.
- Big Island Chocolate Festival — 1st Place People's Choice, 1st Place Savory
- Hawaiʻi Kuauli Taste of Pacific & Asia Festival 2022 — 1st Place Judges' Competition and 1st Place People's Choice
- Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival
- Taste of Hawaiʻi at Four Seasons
- Evening in Paradise at Mauna Lani
- Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament tasting event
- Taste of the Hawaiian Range
- Kona Brew Fest
- Big Island Chocolate Festival
- Lavaman Triathlon
- Annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk
- Featured in West Hawaii Today's At Home Magazine
Reserve Chef Dayne
Let’s create something memorable.
Private dinners. Celebrations. Gatherings centered around exceptional food.