The People

GRYLT wasn't born with one person. The people involved have been paramount in creating the experience and brand that is GRYLT. From finding the right chef to locating the perfect branding guru. Every person involved has made this possible. It's the people that have made GRYLT... GRYLT!

Who's behind the GRYLT name? A restauranteur, a chef, and a few important, supportive people.

Allen Farinas

Allen Farinas, 37, was raised on the island of Oahu. His father was an executive at a local tour company. When Allen was 18 he had his first son, Brad. Allen became a single parent in his early twenties, so he went to college to pursue and better life for his son and graduated with a double major Electronics & Computer Networking Technology degrees.

After college he started at Toshiba Business Solutions as an account manager helping local business find solutions with their technical office equipment needs. He quickly accelerated within the ranks winning Toshiba's Presidents Club his first year. Since then he has been recognized locally and nationally as a top achiever within Toshiba.

Mayu Farinas

While surfing in Waikiki, Allen met Mayu, an MBA student at HPU from Japan. They started dating and became married on Nov 10, 2006. After college Mayu became a realtor working at Century 21. After an eight year career with Toshiba, Allen was presented with the opportunity to get involved with a local restaurant chain where he and his wife owned and operated multiple restaurants serving a plate lunch style menu.

Wanting to develop a concept on their own that incorporated Healthy, Delicious, Fresh and Savory while being eco-Friendly, Mayu and Allen started looking for help in developing a menu. They found many talented Chefs but they knew they found the right one when they met Chef Raoul Orosa.

Chef Raoul

Chef Raoul's experience includes not only being an Executive Chef at few fine restaurants but also a chef at fine restaurants like Spago in Beverly Hills and The Four Seasons. One of his favorite is working side by side as a Sous Chef with Thomas Keller at the French Laundry in Napa Valley.

In Texas, Chef Raoul Started his own Restaurant Called Seventeen Seventeen, and he has been awarded “Dallas Star Chef” by food critics 3 years in a row and winning “Best Lunch” in Dallas.

Chef’s Night Out, a best-selling book, names Seventeen Seventeen as one of the top 100 restaurants in the nation. Raoul has been invited twice to showcase his culinary talents at the "Friends of James Beard" event in New York City. Southern Living Magazine describes Raoul's complex and heavily styled dishes as presentations to be gazed at before tasting.