Chef Philip "Ippy" Aiona was born and raised on "The Big Island" of Hawaii.  Growing up, his father had a Hawaiian Plate Lunchshop and his mother had an Italian Restaurant in his hometown of Waimea, setting a fire to his passion for everything food related at a very young age.  Ippy went on to graduate from the Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco.  At 23 Chef Ippy was the youngest finalist on Food Network's hit show "Food Network Star", later that year, Forbes Magazine put Chef Ippy on their Food & Wine "30 under 30"list and he was one of ten chefs to compete in Philadelphia for Forbes magazine's "Best Chef in America".  Chef Ippy brought his love for cooking back home when he and his family decided to open Ippy's Hawaiian BBQ, with the objective to serve the food that he grew up eating at his fathers Hawaiian plate lunch restaurant.