Talking with a 'Top Chef': Fans and foodies

Lee Anne Wong and her mother.

While many mothers and their children went out to brunch today to celebrate Mother's Day, celebrity chef Lee Anne Wong and her mother - "Mama Wong" as her daughter calls her - enjoyed the day in a different capacity: The two spent the morning cooking and baking in the Taste kitchen in Kakaako in preparation for serving two three-course seatings today.

"We've actually been cooking and baking since Thursday," said Wong with a laugh. "This is my mother's first time in Hawaii, so we're just relaxing and I'm going to take her around and meet my boyfriend, family and friends."

Wong was a final four contestant on the first season of the TV show "Top Chef." She then served as the supervising culinary producer for the next four seasons on the show and also worked on its spin-off "Top Chef Masters."

Wong was the chef for the Mother's Day brunch at Taste. She had prepared meals before at Taste, where different chefs are rotated through out the course of a week at the pop-up style restaurant.

"I just happened to be in town for Mother's Day," said Wong. "I flew my mom out."

At her mother's insistence, the elder Wong baked breads and desserts alongside her daughter, whose Mother's Day menu included dishes such as smoked fish with a black pepper cream sauce and

a pork belly entree with creamy polenta, sweet corn hollandaise, asparagus and tomatoes.

"My mother has been asking me for the past 10 years to be my pastry chef, so I said yes for three reasons: a.) I wanted to see my mom b.) I wanted to introduce her to my boyfriend and c.) so I could call her bluff."

Wong is preparing to move to Hawaii, where her boyfriend, Tristan Reynolds, owner of the Norh Shore-based Hawaiian Fresh Farms, lives. Wong said she travels to Hawaii from the mainland nearly every other month to visit him.

After heading to Maui for a few days next week, she will begin working on some ideas for business ventures in Hawaii. "I have a couple of ideas," she said.

"The research shows that especially if you're a chef, Hawaii is open to new business and you can excel here. People and the community are very giving. The attitude is changing and growing, and Hawaii is becoming the heartland."