Neale Asato profiles sherbet mastery
- Hawaiʻi Public Radio profiled Honolulu sherbet maker Neale Asato after he became Hawaiʻi’s only 2026 James Beard Awards finalist, in Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker. - Asato advanced from a field of nine Hawaiʻi semifinalists and is one of five national finalists, with winners set for June 15. - The nod puts a family-run Honolulu sherbet shop into one of U.S. dining’s top awards races. (jamesbeard.org)
Neale Asato, the Honolulu owner behind Asato Family Shop, is Hawaiʻi’s only finalist in the 2026 James Beard Awards. (hawaiipublicradio.org) (jamesbeard.org) He is nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, a national category the James Beard Foundation narrowed to five finalists on March 31. Winners are scheduled for June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org) (honolulumagazine.com) Hawaiʻi Public Radio’s April 27 profile said Asato was the only one of nine Hawaiʻi semifinalists to advance beyond the January semifinal round. Honolulu Magazine reported the same count when finalists were announced. (hawaiipublicradio.org) (honolulumagazine.com) Asato’s path to that stage started with homemade sherbet and ice cream he made after missing Maui’s Tasaka Guri Guri, a childhood favorite from when his family lived there. He told Hawaiʻi Public Radio he first sold those recipes to friends and family before the business grew. (hawaiipublicradio.org) The business is still family-built. Asato said he started alone, then his mother joined after retiring from the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, and relatives helped as the shop expanded. (hawaiipublicradio.org) Aloha State Daily reported this month that Asato Family Shop has operated at its Pali Highway location for a little more than seven years, after the company itself started roughly a year and a half earlier. The business also opened Asato’s Waikīkī at the Hyatt Regency Waikīkī Beach Resort & Spa late last year. (alohastatedaily.com) The Pali Highway shop has been selling flavors such as strawberry, pineapple and Green River, along with li hing float, pickled mango juice and passion orange guava. Aloha State Daily said some flavors were already sold out during its April visit. (alohastatedaily.com) Asato told Hawaiʻi Public Radio that the finalist announcement left him “speechless,” and he tied the recognition to years of family work. The awards race now runs to Chicago on June 15. (hawaiipublicradio.org) (jamesbeard.org)
