Ronnie Nasuti

Tiki's Grill & Bar - Honolulu, HI

Executive Chef Ronnie Nasuti has been working in restaurants since the age of 13, when he started from humble beginnings as a dishwasher. At the age of 17, he became a kitchen manager at a Classical Northern Italian restaurant where he assisted the Chef/Owner daily and continued to hone his craft. He finished four years of culinary arts at the high school level and further developed his skills at a culinary apprenticeship at the Copley Plaza Hotel sponsored by Les Dames Escoffier Society, Boston Chapter.

When Nasuti came to Hawaii, he first worked at Horatio’s/Kincaid’s, where he held various positions in a very regimented and high-volume kitchen. After hearing about the buzz surrounding Roy’s restaurants and about an exciting, new style of cuisine known as Hawaii Regional Cuisine, he knew he wanted to work for Chef Roy Yamaguchi and learn everything he could about this new dining concept.

He started at the Roy’s Park Bistro location, he trained further under Chef/Founder Roy Yamaguchi, Corporate Chef/Partner Gordon Hopkins and Corporate Chef Hawaii, Jacqueline Lau. He went on to become the Roy’s Poipu Bar & Grill Sous Chef, followed by Roy’s flagship location in Hawaii Kai as the Executive Sous Chef. After fulfilling an opportunity as the Executive Chef at Chez Michel in Honolulu for five years, he returned to Roy’s Hawaii Kai as the Executive Chef for a decade.

Since 2011 Nasuti has hung his hat at Tiki’s Grill & Bar as Executive Chef and continues to enjoy his time employing his talents at this fun, popular, and exciting high-volume restaurant. He is supported by his talented Sous Chefs, Chef Jason and Chef Mikey.

One of his roles as Tiki’s Culinary Leader is in giving back to the community by organizing and working with volunteer teams made up of Tiki’s employees in the form of live chef stations at various charity events. In his career, he has supported many of Hawaii’s charities by supporting golf tournaments and other events around Hawaii, including The Hawaii Foodbank, HUGS, Aloha United Way, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Honolulu, among many others.

In his career, he has had the opportunity to cook and eat in places around the world, including New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Boston, Portland, Seattle, the Hawaiian Islands, Korea, Malaysia and Italy.

Fun Facts: Nasuti owns and rides Harley Davidson motorcycles, a jet ski, and a power boat, and like a true pirate, has a pet parrot named Bunky.