Born in the port city of Yokohama, Japan, Fukui moved to Hawaii when he was 12 years old. His childhood memories of enjoying the freshest and most delicately flavored seafood continue to inspire and inform his cooking and approach to food. "My style of cooking is based on traditional Japanese culinary techniques and foods, infused with European flavors and ingredients. At Hiroshi I endeavor to create layers of freshness, not layers of complicated flavors. I am partial to cuisine that is clean, bright and delicately nuanced with sauces that are distinctive yet never overpowering to the fresh product.”

Prior to opening Hiroshi in 2004 with partners D.K. Kodama and Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya, Fukui was the executive chef at L’Uraku, where he received numerous awards. Before opening L’Uraku, Fukui trained in the art of kaiseki, the formal classic style of Japanese cuisine and was a chef at Furusato Japanese Restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.

“Chuck Furuya is my go to guy in the islands for wine info and focused tasting. He is erudite about all processes in the world of wine and has a spectacular palate that he cleverly hides behind a wall of fun and passion, removing the pretension from the wine world and replacing it with constant excitement and joy.”
Mario Batali

In 1988 Chuck Furuya became only the tenth person in the United States to pass the rigorous Master Sommelier examination. At the time, Furuya was working at the highly acclaimed Bagwell’s 2424 in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki. But it was his passion to fully at excel at wine service and education that led him on the path to certification as a Master Sommelier.

Furuya first began working in restaurants while attending college as a way to earn extra income. But wine and food became his passion and he ended up working for some of Hawaii’s most highly regarded establishments including Bagwell's 2424 in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, La Mer at the Halekulani, and serving as cellarmaster at the former Kahala Hilton.

Sharing a mutual passion for wine and food and a desire to create exceptional, quality dining at reasonable prices, restaurateur D.K. Kodama and Chuck Furuya began collaborating in 2003. Their first joint venture, Vino Italian Tapas and Wine Bar at the Kapalua Resorts on Maui, was an immediate success. And in 2004 they opened a second Vino and a Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas at Restaurant Row in Honolulu.

A noted expert on pairing wines with Pacific Rim cuisine, Furuya created the pairings and wrote the wine introduction for the first Hawaii regional cuisine cookbook, The New Cuisine of Hawaii. He has worked at special events with virtually every celebrity chef in America; Thomas Keller, Nancy Oakes, Marcel Desaulniers, Jean Louis Palladin, Charlie Trotter, Emeril Lagasse, Ming Tsai, Norman van Aken, Mark Militello, Rick Bayless, Bradley Ogden, Douglas Rodriguez, Bobby Flay and Joachim Splichal, as well as with Hawaii's own big names - Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong. Furuya is a co-host of i Hawaii Cooks with Roy Yamaguchi, a weekly PBS television cooking show broadcast in all 50 states.

Educating people about wine and discovering new talent is what brings him the most satisfaction. “I love finding new wines, especially great values. I love pairing wines with foods. But most of all I love teaching.”

He is consistently asked to judge national and international wine events. He trains restaurant staff and presents public tastings throughout the state. As the former Chairman of Education for the American Chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers, he was nationally involved in wine education and certification.

Furuya serves as wine director for all DK Restaurants.