Honolulu Magazine September 2024

FIGHTING FOR OUR FOOD SYSTEM

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U - P I C K FA R M S

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HONOLULU HAPPENINGS

2024 HALE ‘AINA AWARDS

YOUR FAVORITE

SEE THE COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS ON P. 4 9

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7/3/24 10:51 PM

“i found my paradise”

SHOHEI OHTANI

Shohei Ohtani is building his winter home at The Vista at Mauna Kea Resort.

For Hapuna Estates, obtain the Public Offering Statement required by Hawaii law and read it before signing a binding sales contract. No federal or state agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of these properties. This does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy where prohibited by law. It is important to note that some or all of the information set forth herein may change substantially, including whether any properties will, in fact, be offered for sale. Rendering by Olson Kundig Architects.

Hapuna Estates at Mauna Kea Resort includes homesites, estate homes and condominium residences with 30-mile coastline views, and the countless amenities of this legendary resort.

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For inquiries, contact our circulation department: Phone: (808) 534-7520 Email: circulation@pacificbasin.net

publisher

HONOLULU Magazine emerged from Paradise of the Pacific, a publication commissioned by King Kalākaua that began in 1888, making it the oldest continuously published magazine west of the Mississippi.

Donna Kodama-Yee (808) 534-7501 | donnaky@honolulumagazine.com

editorial design Editorial Director

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dianes@honolulumagazine.com

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Executive Editor

Senior Art Director

Dining Editor

photography

Katrina Valcourt Mari Taketa

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Brie Thalmann

Associate Editor

Thomas Obungen Digital Editor

Andrea Lee

Christine Labrador Staff Photographer

Aaron K. Yoshino

marketing Marketing Director

Christy Davis | (808) 534-7503 christyd@honolulumagazine.com

Contributing Editor

Branded Content Creation Manager

Copy Editor

marisah@honolulumagazine.com

Don Wallace

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Elroy Garcia Editorial Intern

FEEDBACK

Hailey Akau

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

ありがとうございます!

THANK YOU!

We are sincerely thankful to all our loyal customers who have continued to visit Onoya Ramen and enjoy their favorite noodles over the past three years. We are delighted to be recognized once again at this year's Hale Aina Awards and are happy to announce that our next location will be opening soon at our former Sanoya location later this year. On behalf of our entire family and our staff, we genuinely thank everyone for your support and continued patronage.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you soon!

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COUPON BUY ONE RAMEN, GET ONE 50% OFF!* *THIS OFFER IS VALID FOR DINE IN ONLY. Must present this coupon to server upon ordering. Offer valid for ramen and ramen sets only. Discount applied to lower priced item or set, not combinable with other discounts or promotions. Offer valid until November 30, 2024.

A U T H E N T I C J A PA N E S E N O O D L E S

onoyaramen.com | @onoyaramen 611 Kapahulu Avenue | Honolulu, HI 96815 | (808) 425-4415 COMING SOON! 1785 South King Street | Honolulu, Hawaii 96826 SEPTEMBER 2024

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C E L E B R A T I N G H AWA I‘I’S S O U L SEPTEMBER 2024 | VOL. LIX NO. 2

FEATURES 26 2024 Hale ‘Aina Awards HONOLULU readers have been naming the best restaurants in Hawai‘i for 41 years. Find out who came out on top, plus peek behind the scenes of a few editor favorites.

BY K AW E H I H AU G and M A R I TA K E TA

58 Outside the Box Farm Link’s intrepid attempts to accomplish its overarching mission highlights the hurdles Hawai‘i faces in achieving food sustainability.

BY MARTHA CHENG

DEPARTMENTS 12 Editor’s Page

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Hale ‘Aina Awards honor our city’s best restaurants and the gutsy people behind them.

BY DIANE SEO

15 Currents Find out where to pick your own produce this fall, visit HoMA’s latest exhibit and get to know the owner of Trophy House on South King Street.

23 Style Hit the beach with fresh gear, tune in to Bretman Rock’s podcast and give new meaning to #fitcheck with the latest from local designers.

BY B R I E T H A L M A N N

64 Afterthoughts

AARON K. YOSHINO

SWIMMING WITH SHARKS

A Hawai‘i author and lifelong surfer reflects on the pleasures and perils ​of an ocean​life.

BY SARA ACKERMAN

The panna cotta is a must at Cino, the winner of our readers’ choice for Best New Restaurant (page 26).

ON THE COVER: Big-eye tuna ceviche with wasabi tuile at Cino. photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

E D I TO R’ S PAG E

Food for Thought

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H Y WO U L D A N YO N E O P E N A R E STAU RANT TODAY, especially in a city like

Honolulu with its exorbitant leases, rocketing food costs, labor shortages and stifling bureaucracy? And let’s not forget the marathon hours a restaurateur must devote to stay afloat. It’s no secret that opening a restaurant is one of the riskiest entrepreneurial ventures to attempt. The National Restaurant Association estimates a 20% success rate for restaurants, with 60% of them closing in the first year, and 80% within five years of opening.

Against this backdrop, we’ve seen many local eateries close in recent years. Some were newcomers, while others had fed us for decades. The pandemic surely was a culprit, but customer tastes changed too. For whatever reason, it became too much for a lot of restaurants to go on.

The precarious culinary climate revealed itself this summer when a power outage in Chinatown and Downtown Honolulu took hold for several frustrating days. More than 50 food businesses were affected; perishable food inventories were lost, along with sales; and some places teetered on closing. It was devastating.

Yet, there’s no shortage of new restaurants on O‘ahu.

Almost every week, Frolic Hawai‘i, our dining brand, shares a web or social media post about a new place that just launched. In an early January story looking at the year ahead, dining editor Mari Taketa wrote about 10 new places opening on the island—dim sum destinations, sushi places, dessert spots and more. While some are backed by deep-pocketed investors, others are funded from personal savings accounts or family loans.

With all the money, time and wherewithal it takes for an eatery to get going, it’s remarkable that here on our island, we seem to have an endless number of people who want to give it a try.

So again, I’ve wondered, “Why?” In his recent New York Times story announcing his retirement as a food critic, writer Pete Wells turned to his years of experience to tackle that question: “People open restaurants for all kinds of reasons,” he wrote.

“Some want to conjure up the flavors of a place they left behind, and consider their business a success if they win the approval of other people from the same place.

Others want to dream up food that nobody has ever tasted or even imagined before, and won’t be satisfied until

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AARON K. YOSHINO

The Hale ‘Aina Awards honor our city’s best restaurants and the gutsy people behind them.

HONOLULU MAGAZINE

their name is known in Paris and Beijing and Sydney.

And there are a hundred gradations in between.”

In other words, they’re visionaries and dreamers, but also risk takers. I’ve always marveled at those who take risks, especially big ones. Somehow, they don’t seem to dwell on potentially devastating outcomes; they just plow forth undeterred. Yet as diners, we don’t always credit these culinary entrepreneurs for their pursuits. Rather, we lean into our expectations for awesome food, impeccable service, affordable pricing, even available parking. If any of those are not up to standards, it’s easy to vow to never patronize them again. Fair enough, perhaps. But I think we should acknowledge what went into getting those restaurants up and running—and what it took for them to stick around.

That’s what I’ve been thinking about as we announce this year’s Hale ‘Aina Award winners. While some were selected by our dining team, the majority are readers’ picks. You may agree or disagree with the choices, but as you read about some of the winning restaurants and restaurateurs, you’ll find that they—and all of the other dining entrepreneurs in our city—have tenacity, drive and guts, not to mention talents to feed us in creative ways. And to me, that’s food for thought.

And reason to show support.

DIANE SEO EDITORIAL DIRECTOR DIANES@HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

LIFE

IN

HONOLULU

FA LL F U N

Foraging Ahead

➸ ABUNDANT CROPS, FRAGRANT FLOWERS, CLUCKING CHICKENS AND SUN on your

skin. That’s what awaits at Keiki and Plow, a rustic Hawai‘i Kai escape. At this family-run nonprofit farm, keiki learn about organic agriculture and food sustainability through field trips and special programs. On Open Farm days, the whole family can feed animals, collect eggs and harvest vegetables from the garden. See page 19 for more places on O‘ahu to pick fresh produce this fall. —Andrea Lee, photo by Aaron K. Yoshino

SEPTEMBER 2024

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CURRENTS

READ ABOUT THIS YEAR’S WINNERS STARTING ON PAGE 26.

HAPPENINGS

September Picks Top events this month.

BY ANDREA LEE

Snag a ticket for our most anticipated event of the year, featuring unlimited dishes and cocktails from this year’s Hale ‘Aina award-winning restaurants.

Along with the food and drinks, expect some captivating entertainment at the circusthemed gala. hnltix.com, @honolulumag

Festival Aloha Festivals Sept. 7, 21 and 28 Waikīkī / Free Mark your calendar for this annual multiday festival that celebrates Hawai‘i’s culture, history and traditions. It begins with the opening ceremony and the presentation of this year’s Royal Court, followed by a spirited block party and extravagant floral parade along Kalākaua Avenue.

Concert Steel Pulse x Slightly Stoopid Sept. 13 / 5 p.m.

Waikīkī Shell / $35 and up American rock fusion band Slightly Stoopid, known for songs “Closer to the Sun” and “Collie Man,” meets British roots reggae band Steel Pulse in a not-to-be-missed mashup. Local musician Makua Rothman will be a special guest. ticketmaster.com, @bampproject

Festival Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival Sept. 14–15 UH Mānoa / Free (donations suggested) Back to being fully in-person, the event includes author presentations, panel discussions, music and hula performances.

This year’s hot topic: the impact of artificial intelligence on the humanities. hawaiibookandmusicfestival.com, @hawaiibookmusic

Steel Pulse

Festival 12th Annual Hawai‘i Walls Festival Sept. 14–22 Kalihi-Kapālama / Free

Festival 48th Annual Honolulu Intertribal Powwow Sept. 21–22 / 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Bishop Museum / $5

Artists from the Islands and around the world will transform the Kalihi-Kapālama neighborhood with paint. See how murals take shape over one week, from sketch to the final vibrant result.

This powwow honors the country’s Indigenous people with cultural performances and exhibitions, including music, drumming, artisan crafts and keiki activities. Nosh on Navajo fry bread, and don’t be shy about singing and dancing along when invited.

worldwidewalls.com, @worldwidewalls

bishopmuseum.org, @htchawaii

alohafestivals.com, @alohafestivals

NEW IN TOWN A few places that have opened recently.

RED BAR

ALOHA PUPHOUSE

KAIKOA GALLERY

LEI STUDIO

Chinatown’s newest bar on Nu‘uanu Avenue offers open mic nights, themed parties and cigars on the patio.

Resident pup Inari welcomes folks to North Shore’s first doggy boutique, with sustainable, healthy, and made-in-Hawai‘i treats and products.

Hilton Hawaiian Village’s new contemporary art gallery in the Tapa Tower features works by local and global artists.

This floral design shop in Wahiawā sells custom bouquets, arrangements, lei and other cute items.

redbarhawaii.com, @redbarhawaii PHOTOS: K ATRINA VALCOURT

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

alohapuphouse.com, @alohapuphouse

thekaikoagallery.com, @kaikoagallery

@leistudiohawaii

PATRICK NIDDRIE

Food & Drink 2024 Hale ‘Aina Awards Celebration Sept. 7 / 6:30–9 p.m.

The Royal Hawaiian / $155 and up

CURRENTS

ARTS

Home of the Tigers A new exhibit at the Honolulu Museum of Art celebrates McKinley High School’s rich legacy of modern art.

BY DIANE SEO

ILLUSTRATION: PAZHYNA /ISTOCK /GETT Y IMAGES PLUS VIA GETT Y IMAGES; ALL COURTESY: HONOLULU MUSEUM OF ART

I

N HAWAI‘I, ONE OF THE MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS CENTERS ON HIGH SCHOOL, as if where we went

best explains who we are. With this reflection, Tyler Cann, Honolulu Museum of Art’s senior curator of modern and contemporary art, and his wife, Alejandra Rojas Silva, also a museum curator, came up with an intriguing theme for an exhibit.

Home of the Tigers, running Sept. 27 through Jan. 12, celebrates McKinley High School’s remarkable art legacy, showcasing the diverse works of seven artists who attended Hawai‘i’s oldest public school and the three teachers there who inspired them.

Satoru Abe, John Chin Young, Ralph Iwamoto, Keichi Kimura and Robert Kobayashi—alumni who helped define abstract painting and sculpture in post-World War II Hawai‘i—attended McKinley between the 1920s and 1940s. So did Raymond Han, part of McKinley’s class of 1949, who went on to become a noteworthy still-life painter, while ‘Imaikalani Kalahele, who graduated in 1968, is a renowned Native Hawaiian poet, visual artist, musician and activist. Home of the Tigers also presents works from their late art teachers, Minnie Fujita, Charles Higa and Shirley Russell.

“You’ll get to see a mini history of art in the 20th and even 21st century, beginning with traditional landscape painting, but moving quickly to abstract painting, and then even pop art,” Cann says.

“It’s a real range of work.”

Rojas Silva said the idea for the show came about while the couple were researching artists from Hawai‘i and stumbled upon the common connection to McKinley. “I was like, this is interesting. Why is this happening?” she says. “Then Tyler and I talked about it, and we thought how wonderful it would be to tell a very local story, a story about this community. Even though it’s a funny framework, it’s a great entry to examine modern art of Hawai‘i.”

To assemble the artwork, Cann and Rojas Silva reached out to family members of the artists, as well as those in possession of their art. What they found was overwhelming support for the project. Along with lending works, the sources provided critical information about the artists—details to be included in an accompanying video at the exhibit.

What Cann particularly loves about the show is that like McKinley, it reflects Honolulu’s deep diversity. “Representation has emerged through the artists in this exhibition,” he says. “You’re going have a good picture of Hawai‘i.”

Alongside Home of the Tigers, HoMA has plans for a companion exhibit titled Satoru Abe: Reaching for the Sun, from Oct. 17 through July 20. It will be HoMA’s first retrospective of Abe’s acclaimed seven-decade career.

From top: Keichi Kimura (American, born Hawai‘i, 1914–1988). Phoenix, 1972. Oil on canvas. Honolulu Museum of Art. Gift of Juli Kimura Walters, 2001 (11779.1). Photo courtesy of Juli Kimura.

Raymond Han (American, born Hawai‘i, 1931–2017). Still Life with Alstroemeria, 1986. Oil on canvas. Honolulu Museum of Art. Gift of the Persis Corporation, 2002 (11958.1).

Charles Higa (American, born Hawai‘i, 1933–2012). Geode, c. 1970.

Glazed hand-built stoneware. Honolulu Museum of Art. Museum Purchase (3696.1). Photo courtesy of the Estate of Charles E. Higa.

Satoru Abe (American, born Hawai‘i, 1926). The Idol, 1958. Welded copper and bronze. Honolulu Museum of Art. Gift of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, Keiji Kawakami Art Foundation Fund, 1992 (6902.1).

Ralph Iwamoto (American, born Hawai‘i, 1927– 2013). Equinox, from the “Floating World” series.

Oil on Canvas. Honolulu Museum of Art. Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of Satoru Abe (TCM.1998.23). Photo courtesy of Hollis Taggart, New York.

John Young (American, born Hawai‘i, 1909–1997).

Ko‘olau Mountains, 1983. Oil on canvas. Honolulu Museum of Art. Anonymous gift (5168.1). Photo courtesy of The John Young Foundation.

900 S. Beretania St., honolulumuseum.org, @honolulumuseum SEPTEMBER 2024

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CURRENTS

I N N O VAT I O N

Rising to the Occasion A new center at UH Mānoa connects student entrepreneurs with the local business community.

BY K AT R I N A VA LC O U RT

that sprang up around the pink Charles Atherton House on University Avenue opened its doors as a live-work space designed to foster student entrepreneurship. Now the entire complex at UH Mānoa—known as the Walter Dods Jr. RISE Center—is complete, including Atherton House renovations.

RISE, which stands for Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs, facilitates connections between student entrepreneurs and the local business community through a partnership with PACE, or the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at the Shidler College of Business. Executive director Sandra Fujiyama says PACE offers more than 15 programs to students. “We more than doubled our impact in this first year,” she says, with residents of RISE representing every college and school at UH Mānoa. “Having students activate the space was a key part in making sure RISE was a welcoming space.”

One of those students, Hōkūmālie Serna, is a PACE Leader who hosts classroom presentations, mixers and events to spread the word about the organization’s leadership program. “It’s inspiring to see young students get really inspired by what we do at PACE and for them to be encouraged to use our resources for free,” she says. “We don’t want people to think PACE is just for business students; it’s for everybody.”

Ann Tai Choe, a former PACE student with a doctorate in applied linguistics, continues to take advantage of RISE’s resources to work on a language learning app she and her partners conceptualized in 2022. She goes to RISE almost every week seeking business and legal advice from resident experts and advisers, while also mentoring students. “My business partners and I came from a research background in academia,” she says, and so she enjoys networking with other passionate entrepreneurs.

Students don’t need to live in the building to utilize more than 10,000 square feet of innovation space—coworking areas, makerspaces, recording studios, classrooms—but Dani Pasion chose to do just that, both for convenience and to experience the kind of college life she missed while taking on18

HONOLULU MAGAZINE

A ARON K. YOSHINO

A

YEAR AGO, THE SIX-STORY DORM

line classes during the pandemic. “Living at home, it was hard to be involved and fully immersed in the experience of being in college. Being at RISE completely changed that for me,” she says. “It felt like I was given back the two years that I missed … because I was able to be present on campus and so immersed in everything that was happening at RISE.” risemanoa.com, @risemanoa

CURRENTS

FA LL F U N

Happy Harvest Where to pick produce this autumn.

BY ANDREA LEE

farm to pick fruits and vegetables. Harvesting your own produce can help ensure the freshest flavors and highest nutritional value for home cooking, plus the wholesome outdoor experience supports local agriculture.

COURTESY: ALOUN FARMS

COURTESY: KUILIMA FARM

L

OOKING FOR FALL FEELS? Skip the pumpkin spice latte and head to a local

Aloun Farms Pumpkin Festival

Kuilima Farm’s Fall Celebration

The farm holds its annual Pumpkin Festival in October, with attendees picking ‘Ewa sweet corn, string beans and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, from the kind that fit in your palm to porch-size ones.

Produce is also available at an on-site farmers market, along with family-friendly entertainment including free hayrides, a petting zoo and E.K. Fernandez rides and games.

Pose in front of fall-themed backdrops, play lawn games, hop on a hayride and visit the petting zoo at Turtle Bay Resort’s farm, which supports the resort restaurants’ seasonal menus.

There also will be a “U-pick” experience, with expected harvests of watermelon, corn and calabaza squash, along with other farm-fresh goodies.

$5 per person age 2 and older, 91-1440 Farrington Highway, Kapolei, alounfarms.com, @alounfarmshawaii

Tickets available online or at the door, price TBA, 57-146 Kamehameha Highway, Kahuku, kuilimafarm.com, @kuilimafarm

Nov. 9–10

COURTESY: LOKOEA FARMS

LITTLE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY

Last three weekends of October, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Keiki and Plow

Lokoea Farms

Every Friday, plus select Saturdays, 9 to 11 a.m.

Every Friday, 9 to 11 a.m.

On Open Farm days, “U-pick baskets” are available for sale (small $10, medium $20, large $40). Pull up root veggies and pluck herbs and edible flowers—anything that fits in the basket. If you’re lucky, you’ll gather a rainbow of eggs from the chicken coop.

Explore orchards lined with more than 600 trees while learning about horticulture. The tour concludes with a picnic, using the fruits you picked paired with coconuts and macadamia nuts you crack open yourself. Along with year-round fruits like bananas and papayas, longan, dragon fruits and figs are in season this fall.

Reservations required, $15 for adults, $12 for keiki, 587 Pākalā St., keikiandplow.org, @keikiandplow

$43 for a farm tour, reservations required, 62-394 Joseph P. Leong Highway, Hale‘iwa, lokoeafarms.wixsite.com, @lokoea.farms

SEPTEMBER 2024

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CURRENTS

PURSUITS

Prized Possessions “I’VE PROBABLY DONE THOUSANDS,” Trophy House owner

Tammy Carson says of the number of plaques and other awards she’s made since starting at the 73-year-old business on South King Street in 1982. Back then she

was a graphic design student at UH Mānoa and took the gig because the shop belonged to her aunt and uncle. “Gradually, I fell in love with it,” says Carson, who took over ownership in 1990. “I really love working with my hands, so I like the engraving and putting trophies and plaques together.” Carson even met her husband at Trophy House: “He came in to order trophies for a hang-gliding event.” The same month that Carson started, manager Loving Farias came on board to run the front of house, her gregariousness the perfect balance to Carson’s self-admitted shyness. In the four decades since, the duo have helped countless locals celebrate life’s biggest milestones and victories. “It’s very rewarding,” Carson says. “It’s a wonderful feeling.” —Brie Thalmann, photo by Aaron K. Yoshino trophy-house.com

Trophy House opened in 1951.

From left: Loving Farias and Tammy Carson. 

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

REID SHIMABUKURO FOR HAWAI‘I AG & CULINARY ALLIANCE

FOOD NEWS

What’s Cooking?

With chef Roy Yamaguchi at the helm, O‘ahu’s acclaimed culinary program joins with mainland-based partner on courses to elevate Hawai‘i’s dining scene.

BY K AT R I N A VA LC O U RT

new weeklong courses for local chefs, a milestone in Hawai‘i’s developing culinary scene. Thirty-two participants will learn about ‘Āina-Based Mediterranean Cooking (Sept.

16–20) and Pacific Rim Plant-Forward Cooking (Sept. 23–27) from CIA instructors. Over the next three years, 24 cohorts are planned.

The goal is to elevate the professionalism and quality of food in Hawai‘i to benefit not only the restaurant industry but the hospitality, health care and military industries, says CIP executive director Roy Yamaguchi.

Students in the inaugural cohorts have received full scholarships from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. To be eligible for the program, attendees must be at least 18 and have worked in the industry for at least three years.

Each student will receive a certificate of completion from both institutions.

“I am confident that working together, the Culinary Institute of America and the Culinary Institute of the Pacific will ensure that the Islands have a robust pipeline of motivated, knowledgeable and engaged food and beverage talent for many, many years to come,” CIA president Michiel Bakker says.

Along with the rollout of classes, construction on CIP’s Lē‘ahi campus is in its second phase, with a target opening of spring 2025. Phase two includes a restaurant, demonstration kitchen and innovation center. culinaryinstitute.hawaii.edu, @kccculinary

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the comforts of home and luxury hotel amenities for a perfect getaway.

Daily Dining Credit

Experience the best of both worlds including all

D E S I G N E D FO R G E TAWAYS

2 2 3 S A R ATO G A R O A D, H O N O LU LU, H I 9 6 8 1 5 1 . 8 7 7. 6 8 3 . 74 0 1 | K A L A I WA I K I K I .C O M

SEPTEMBER 2024

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CURRENTS

FROLIC FINDS

Omnivorous The top 15 picks of a Las Vegas man who eats out in Honolulu 180 times a year.

BY M A R I TA K E TA

Carrier’s split system ACs offer the broadest range of options to tailor comfort to your home. Save the most money now by covering just the necessities. Or save the most on future bills with the world’s most efficient split-system AC. Whichever you choose, they all feature the new R-454B (Puron AdvanceTM) refrigerant which results in a 4x reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to R-410A. And it’s all backed by Carrier Hawaii with service and support across all major islands.

MELISSA CHANG

With Carrier and new Puron AdvanceTM refrigerant, you can save energy and the planet.

Delectable cilbir at Istanbul Hawai‘i

L

AS VEGAS RESIDENTS YOUNG PARK AND ANGELA TANG spend two months a year in

Honolulu, eating out three meals a day. That’s 180 meals a year—which suits the married couple’s avocation. “Everybody has a day job. My real passion is food,” says Park, a banking attorney whose family has run Soot Bull Jeep in Los Angeles since the 1980s.

“Honolulu has had a great variety of casual Asian foods for a while, but now has diversity in levels of quality, experience and ethnic cuisines. You’ve come a long way, baby!”

Discovery of a new favorite spawns repeat visits to an eatery, even years later. Park’s descriptions are specific— The Daley burger’s durability, he says, beats a DoubleDouble from In-N-Out—and available at frolichawaii.com.

HERE’S HIS TOP 15 HIT LIST:

· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

22

Locally owned distributor: Carrier Hawaii Kapolei Honolulu Kahului Kailua-Kona (808) 677-6339 • CarrierHawaii.com HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Iberico pork shoulder and octopus a la Gallega, El Cielo Regular jajangmyeon, On Dong Chinese Restaurant Smash burger, The Daley Delectable cilbir, Istanbul Hawai‘i Scan here for Hamburger steak, Ethel’s Grill the full story Meatballs, Brick Fire Tavern Shrimp quesadillas, Pā‘ia Fish Market French toast, Over Easy Oxtail porridge, Aburiya Ibushi Taco rice and gyoza pizza, Izakaya Naru Pork miso soup, Got’z Grindz Motsunabe, Yakitori Ando Omakase, Sushi Gyoshin Twice-cooked pork with large egg noodles, Wu Wei Chong Qing Cuisine · Peanut kaya maritozzi, Breadshop

C U R AT E D P U R S U I T S

Style

BY BRIE THALMANN

SPOTTED  The shop also stocks vintage and replica dog tag chains with tiered clasps.

Like a Charm “I KEEP A LOT OF THESE IN THE BACK,”

Oliver Men’s Shop owner Parker Moosman says as he emerges from the boutique’s storage room with a small pouch. Inside is a collection of 50-plus vintage Hawai‘i charms that Moosman’s culled during his travels or sourced from manufacturers. The mix includes everything from island silhouettes and rotating discs topped with hula dancers to patinaed 3D surfers and keepsakes from local swimming competitions. Moosman himself wears a charm of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, a favorite among surfers. To snag a few while at the shop, just shoot a knowing glance toward the back and drop a low-key “what else you got?”

AARON K. YOSHINO

Charms $20 to $200 each. Oliver Men’s Shop, 49 Kīhāpai St., Kailua, (808) 261-6587, oliveandoliverhawaii.com, @oliverhawaii

SEPTEMBER 2024

23

STYLE

COOL COLLAB

Just Add Water Evan Mock and Slowtide debut playful beach gear.

COURTESY: BRETMAN ROCK/JOHNNY MARLOW

EVAN MOCK, THE HAWAI‘I SKATEBOARDER-MODEL turned Gossip Girl

actor, celebrates local surf and skate culture in a fresh collab between his Wahine clothing label and towel brand Slowtide. The limited-edition collection includes beach towels featuring Wahine’s signature My Boyfriend Is Out of Town graphic and a rainbow-topped version of its retro logo, plus a fun terry-cloth tote featuring fuzzy smiley faces.

slowtide.co, @slowtide

LISTEN UP

Rockin’ Radio Bretman Rock launches a podcast for the baddies.

million Instagram following by creating hilarious makeup tutorials that routinely go viral. If you’re among those who can’t get enough of the sassy Filipino American style icon, you’re in luck. You can now enjoy even more of the social media star’s content via DaBaddest Radio, their new weekly podcast with the Dear Media network. Tune in Thursdays for everything from funny personal stories to unfiltered conversations. “Have you ever wondered why my hair is so big?” Rock says in the show’s teaser. “It’s because it’s filled with knowledge and all of these unwanted opinions that nobody asked for.” Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.

@bretmanrock, @dabaddestradio

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

ALL COURTESY: SLOWTIDE/RYAN SPENCER

HONOLULU BEAUTY INFLUENCER BRETMAN ROCK has built a nearly 19

STYLE

FITNESS

Get Moving!

LINKED UP

Three new local lines to help you get active in style.

Score major style points on the green by slipping on a polo shirt from Sugar Caddy’s new collaboration with Aloha de Mele artist JT Ojerio. Made for men, women and keiki, the designs feature the local golf apparel brand’s signature moisture-wicking polyester-spandex fabric paired with Ojerio’s bold palm and naupaka quilt patterns. You’ll turn heads, whether you yell fore or not.

WELL EQUIPPED

CADDY CHIC After a six-year break, designer Florencia Arias, who used to have her own women’s collection and Chinatown boutique, is back on the fashion scene with Wahine Movement, a new golf apparel line for women inspired by Arias’ own foray into the sport. Released as a capsule, the debut collection features a skirt, shorts, zip-front tank, and racerback and collared dresses cut from stretchy, breathable materials that also offer UV protection. wahinemovement.com, @florenciaarias

ALL COURTESY: SUGAR CADDY/ALOHA DE MELE/SERULATTA STUDIOS

COURTESY: WAHINE MOVEMENT

sogoodactive.com, @sogoodactive

sugarcaddyhi.com, @sugarcaddy_hi, @alohademele

ALL COURTESY: SO GOOD/ADAM JUNG

Moani Hara can now add another title to her résumé: designer. The model, actress and former Miss Hawai‘i USA tapped in to her experience as a Burn Collective fitness instructor to create her ideal workout gear. Her new line, So Good, offers ankle weights, resistance bands, microfiber towels, a workout mat and more that marry style with performance.

Think cool checkerboard patterns and neon and neutral hues.

SEPTEMBER 2024

25

4 2 20 4 2 20 WE ASKED, more than 6,000 of you voted, now feast your eyes on the results.

HONOLULU is pleased to present the winners of our 2024 Hale ‘Aina Awards, an annual celebration of readers’ favorite Hawai‘i restaurants plus our editorial picks for Restaurateur of the Year, Best New Restaurant and Most Innovative Farm-to-Counter.

‘Ono food, delicious drinks, warm hospitality: The Hale ‘Ainas, since 1984 the state’s longest-running and most prestigious dining awards, honor the Islands’ most beloved restaurants. Congratulations to this year’s winners!

PAGE

26

THIS CHOPHOUSE RULES READERS SAY CINO IS MOLTO BENE. WE AGREE.

BY KAWEHI HAUG

PHOTOS BY AARON K. YOSHINO

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READERS’ CHOICE

Best New Restaurant MARCH 2024

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20 24 H A L E ‘A IN A AWA RDS

4 2 20

O ON A RECENT WEEKNIGHT AT CINO, a table of fancy

40-something ladies raised their glasses and toasted their own good judgment for being out at this hour—it was 9 p.m.—in such a grownup place. Cino, they said, was “super cute with good vibes.” A week earlier, the mayor was there for dinner, because what better place to shake hands and air-kiss cheeks in an election year than at a super cute spot with good vibes?

Cino is this year’s readers’ choice Hale ‘Aina Award winner for Best New Restaurant. The Italian chophouse, owned by DB Restaurant Group—which also owns Café Duck Butt, DB Grill and Mad Bene—opened last fall on the ground floor of ‘A‘ali‘i Tower on Queen Street. Helmed by executive chef Arnold Corpuz, who was born and raised on O‘ahu and has led Las Vegas restaurant kitchens for many years, Cino checks just about every box on a bon vivant’s list. Service? Good.

Ambience? Good. And the food? The food is really, really good.

First, if you don’t order the dry-aged pork chop, you ordered wrong. In a master class of restraint, the chop shows up mostly naked: a pristine piece of meat, soft-seared to a shade darker than golden, on a white plate with only an apple reduction sauce under it and a shower of flaky sea salt over the top.

The first time I saw it, I knew this was either going to be perfect or a complete letdown.

Every slice of the chop—the most distal, the one closest to the bone, the unctuous center slices clinging to the thickest part of the fat cap—is fantastic.

This is pork at its best, tender and crisp with ultraconcentrated porky flavor and a slightly funky, dryage finish. And while pairing it with apples may seem predictable at a place where an entrée costs $38 to $115 (with no sides; these are separate), this isn’t your auntie’s Sunday supper pork.

The amber-hued apple reduction is clear and thin.

No gloopiness, no pulpy applesauce bits. Just pure apple, its sweetness tempered by Amaro Averna, an Italian bitter digestif. The chop could stand alone, but to miss out on that sauce would be a shame. After the pork is gone, some sauce remains, which obviously (obviously!) means that it was intended to be sopped up by Cino’s signature twice-baked potato. Which we come back and do again the next week, because we can’t stop thinking about the pork chop.

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

ABOVE: Big-eye tuna ceviche

with wasabi tuile

FOR ALL ITS CULINARY TECHNIQUE AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL, CINO DOESN’T MIND BEING A BIT UNRULY.

Like pork and apples, twice-baked potatoes are one of those side dishes that seem better suited for a festive family table. At Cino, Corpuz has transformed it into something between traditional chophouse loaded mashed potatoes and French pomme aligot. He fills a roasted potato skin with his sumptuous take on cheesy mashed potatoes, billows of potato purée that look like a downy drift of toasted marshmallow.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Timeless Luxury, Local Flair Classic comfort infused with home-grown, seasonal delights. Experience a gourmet escape like no other at The Kahala.

Celebrate

of Timeless Luxury

As part of our 60th Anniversary celebration, enjoy 20% off food and non-alcoholic beverages at Hoku’s, Plumeria Beach House and The Veranda when you mention “Timeless Luxury” at time of dining.*

R E S E R VAT I O N S OpenTable 808.739.8760 KahalaResort.com *Guest must state password to receive discount. Does not apply to special events/holidays and not combinable with other offers. Discount is applied to a limit of 6 guests or less and checks may not be split. Offer valid till Dec. 19, 2024.

Hoku’s

Plumeria Beach House

Plumeria Beach House

Hoku’s

2024

2024

2024

2024

Best Hotel Brunch

Best Buffet

Best Outdoor Dining

Best Buffet

S I LV E R

B RO N Z E

B RO N Z E

F INALIST

2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS

4 2 20

A5 wagyu steak, twice-baked potato, dry-aged pork chop with apple reduction, crab and uni spaghetti, raspberry and blackberry panna cotta

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

AS AN AMERICAN-ITALIAN CHOPHOUSE AND CRUDO BAR, Cino has many of the offerings one would expect:

lots of meat, raw seafood, à la carte side dishes that are rich and filling. You’d imagine a hushed place with dim light, dark wood, dusty red wine and a walk-in humidor in a back room. Instead, Cino is shimmery and loud and a little extra. Electronic dance music plays in the background. Pinks and lush greens are splashed throughout, the booths upholstered in blush pink florals and the bar gilded in brass and gold. There’s tiger art and blackand-white zigzag floor tiles, jungle wallpaper and teal velvet barstools. It looks like what a swanky Ho Chi Minh City restaurant would look like if Vietnam had been colonized by the Italians instead of the French.

Like its design, the menu is a more playful take on the chophouse. For all its culinary technique and attention to detail, Cino doesn’t mind being a bit unruly.

The big-eye tuna shoyu ceviche comes framed by an ornate wasabi tuile that tastes like a Chinese pretzel.

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

It’s pretty. Incredibly delicate. And the server tells you to crack it with your spoon and mash it in with the raw fish. It feels rebellious.

The steak tartare is chunky and savory and mostly traditional, but instead of the customary egg yolk center, Corpuz dollops on an egg yolk emulsion, which evokes steak sandwich with mayo vibes. The whole branzino is butterflied and grilled, the spoon-tender flesh and crisp skin giving it an ethereal bite, while the smoke and char flavors make it homey and comforting. Panna cotta, a dessert so frequently unremarkable that we order it only because someone else at the table wins the argument, is probably the best we’ve ever had. The intense flavor of today’s mango pudding layered on a silky coconut base, all of it topped with fresh strawberry brunoise, was something we never saw coming.

And the tiramisu: Rather than a square dusted with cocoa powder, Corpuz enrobes a slim stack of ladyfingers and mascarpone in a chocolate shell that’s studded with coffee grounds. Where traditional tiramisu is all soft and soaked, Corpuz’s is soft and crisp, sweet and bitter. It’s like tiramisu and a Häagen-Dazs bar fell in love over a cup of espresso. Perhaps his time in Las Vegas instilled in Corpuz a fondness for, and mastery of, both class and glitz. It’s a chic-bling balance that Honoluluans are thrilled to embrace.

987 Queen St., (808) 888-3008, cinohawaii.com, @cinohawaii

ipsum

2024

MAHALO FOR VOTING US BEST MEDITERRANEAN

MARA Restaurant & Bar is inspired by the Mediterranean way of life and its shared values found in Hawaiian culture. The menu reflects historical cuisines of Greece, Italy, and beyond while working in harmony with the bounty of ingredients from Hawai‘i’s plentiful and revered ‘āina, from mauka to makai.

MARAHONOLULU.COM | @MARA_HONOLULU Renaissance Honolulu Hotel & Spa | 1390 Kapi‘olani Blvd | Join Us Daily 6:30AM – 10:00PM

THE HOSPITALITAR A CHINATOWN PIONEER RESURFACES WITH A NEW TEAM AND A VISION – FOR M ANOA.

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

BY M ARI TAKETA

PHOTOS BY OLIVIER KONING

Restaurateur of the Year

IAN

2 4 2 20

C

CHINATOWN’S TRANSFORMATION into one

of Honolulu’s trendiest dining districts didn’t happen because of Lucky Belly. But it’s arguable how much of it would have, and how fast, without it. Away from Indigo, Brasserie du Vin and Soul de Cuba, the avant garde eateries then clustered around Hawai‘i Theatre, Dusty Grable and Jesse Cruz opened their nouveau ramen bar at the corner of Hotel and Smith streets in 2012. At the same intersection, in the next four years they opened modernAmerican Livestock Tavern and the rooftop Tchin Tchin Bar. The triple successes shifted the nexus, and by 2017 so many new eateries radiated up and down Hotel and Smith that Honolulu’s new Chinatown was being written up nationally.

Grable sold his shares to Cruz that year and left to raise a family and open restaurants for others. Now he’s back in the fore—this time in upscale, unchanging Mānoa, a residential valley that’s as polar opposite as you can get from Chinatown’s edgy dynamism. At Mānoa Marketplace, Grable’s Lovers + Fighters restaurant group launched a new eatery and a gourmet and barware store last spring; a second restaurant was planned for late summer. Given his track record in Chinatown and beyond, with concepts as varied as French modern tasting menus in Waikīkī (La Vie) and a cocktail bar in a pool hall (Wild Orange), Mānoa will be worth watching. All this makes Grable our 2024 Hale ‘Aina Restaurateur of the Year.

Restaurateur of the Year Dusty Grable, far right, with his team at Little Plum. From left: Casey Kusaka, Hayden Butler, Michael Nishikawa, Ku‘ulei Akuna, Wesley Inoshita, Allie Haines and Grable.

SEPTEMBER 2024

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2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS

Grable stands out for what he isn’t: a chef who dreamed of owning his own restaurant. Instead, he calls himself a hospitalitarian. Asked when he realized this, he recalls telling his sister about his first 100% tip after a shift waiting tables at Indigo. “They said I was the best waiter they ever had,” he said. “She said what makes you different than any other waiter? I didn’t know. But now looking back, I’m pretty convinced that I genuinely cared. I wanted them to enjoy themselves and they knew it. Taking care of people well filled my own cup.”

At 23, Grable dropped his college art studies to learn to be a restaurateur. Working part-time at the Kāhala Mandarin Oriental (now The Kāhala Hotel & Resort) and Alan Wong’s, the hospitalitarian in him had identified Cheryle Gomez Furuya, then a server; wine director Mark Shishido; and master sommelier Patrick Okubo as pros whose face-to-face encounters could elevate a customer’s experience. “I really got exposed to a caliber of service that was another level,” Grable says.

“You don’t see many of them out there these days—people who dedicate their lives to hospitality, understand it as a craft. You just start realizing this is a very honorable, noble and fulfilling career that you can raise families on.”

He found a like mind in Cruz, the chef at Formaggio Grill in Kailua, where Grable was the manager. They began hashing out concepts for their own restaurants. Grable had moved to San Francisco to up his game, working at Gary Danko and rising to beverage director at Michelin-starred Ame at the St. Regis Hotel, when Cruz found the old Mini Garden space in Chinatown.

On Hotel Street ‘Ewa of Hawai‘i Theatre, Justin Park was mixing cocktails at The Manifest and Christian Self was upstairs at thirtyninehotel,

JAMES NAKAMURA

AMONG INDEPENDENT restaurateurs,

Scenes from Little Plum in Mānoa

but “that block was a no-man’s land for restaurants,” says Danny Ka‘aiali‘i, who later opened The Daley, Pizza Mamo and the former Encore Saloon on the far corner. Grable and Cruz “broke that barrier, and soon after The Pig & The Lady popped up. Then Livestock and Tchin Tchin. All those concepts are fun and unique and just well done.”

Lucky Belly’s meat-laden Belly Bowls and Beast Bowls were inspired by New York City’s Momofuku Noodle Bar. Grable’s bar program, where Buffalo Trace was the well bourbon and bartenders served sake in Riedel glasses, got as much attention, as did service, which Grable saw not as transactions but as human interac-

tions, no two of which would be alike.

“It attracted the cool kids who weren’t afraid of a seedy neighborhood,” is how Andrew Le of The Pig & The Lady puts it. “Once Dusty and his team tested the waters, everyone found that the rising tide lifted all boats.”

TWELVE YEARS LATER, now 41, Grable

sits in a booth at Little Plum, the modernlocal restaurant Lovers + Fighters opened in June. Directly in front, framed by floorto-ceiling windows, is Mānoa Marketplace’s new jungle gym and playground.

Grable’s path after he split from Cruz saw him opening or working leading roles CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

MADE WITH LOVE & SERVED WITH ALOHA! Mahalo for your continued support for the past 16 years and for voting us Gold Best Breakfast, Gold Best Brunch, Bronze Best Service!

We believe that the love and care we put into our food makes it taste better and that is why we make it our priority to consistently deliver food from the heart and service with aloha!

We hope to see you all soon!

2024

2024

2024

Best Breakfast

Best Brunch

Best Service

GO L D

GOLD

BRO N Z E

MARKET CITY SHOPPING CENTER | Open daily 7am–3:30pm | (808) 732-3330 | Cafe-Kaila-Hawaii.com |

2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34

at Merriman’s Honolulu, Stage, La Vie, Quiora and 53 By the Sea. Two things happened during this time: He started Lovers + Fighters (which opened Wild Orange inside Hawaiian Brian’s), and marketplace owner Alexander & Baldwin reached out. “I’m older now and I wanted a neighborhood restaurant, which is the opposite of what I wanted at the beginning of my career,” Grable says. “Chinatown had enough urban freedom for us to do what we do and have people come and like it, or not, versus a neighborhood that gets to say you’re in our neighborhood, and we get to say what you do. I think we’re going to encounter that in Mānoa.”

To Ka‘aiali‘i, who’s known Grable more than 15 years and was one of Little Plum’s first customers, the most striking thing isn’t that Grable is in Mānoa, or even that he’s opening three concepts in five months. It’s that people he hired in Chinatown are the backbone of Lovers + Fighters. “That’s impressive, especially now, to have that loyalty. I have multiple concepts and the biggest challenge if you speak to anybody in the industry is staffing,” Ka‘aiali‘i says.

“And it’s not just staffing—he has some of the best people in the industry in Hawai‘i. I don’t know what the secret is, but he’s created something that people want to be a part of.”

Grable cites the size of Lovers + Fighters as a reason he needed to open Uncle Paul’s Corner Store, Little Plum and Mediterranean-inspired Lady Elaine in quick succession. Its key players include beverage director Michael Nishikawa, who worked with Grable at Alan Wong’s; guest relations director Allie Haines, who helped open Lucky Belly as a server and bartender; and Ku‘ulei Akuna, director of bar operations, who was a regular at Lucky Belly before becoming a waitress at Livestock. She’s been CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Uncle Paul’s Corner Store

“I’M OLDER NOW AND I WANTED A NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT, WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANTED AT THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER.”

I TA LIA N C HOPHOUSE & C R UD O BA R

2024

Best New Restaurant GOLD

@CINOHAWAII

A‘ali‘i Tower 987 Queen St. | 808–888–3008 | CinoHawaii.com

JAMES NAKAMURA

20 2 4 H A L E ‘A I N A AWA RDS

Lady Elaine under construction

Uncle Paul’s Corner Store

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 36

with Grable at every restaurant since then. Tiffany Ibale, another former Lucky Belly server, is a Lovers + Fighters partner who works for Google in California; operations director Wesley Inoshita was a server at Livestock and, like Akuna and Ibale, became a manager at the Chinatown restaurants. Former Lucky Belly and Livestock server Lindsey Miyasato is a full-time pharmacist; her administrative director role at Lovers + Fighters is a side job. And wine director Hayden Butler met Grable while busing tables at Stage. He followed him to Merriman’s and then La Vie and Quiora, where he became wine director. Casey Kusaka, the chef, has worked with Grable since the Ritz-Carlton Waikīkī and before that, cooked at Momofuku Noodle Bar and was general manager at two-Michelinstar Californios.

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Uncle Paul’s Corner Store

In Mānoa, Grable says, the group’s focus will be pan-generational.

He wants his mother-in-law, who’s from the valley, to feel as at home in the restaurants as his daughters, who go to Noelani Elementary School. “This community asked us to join them. We’re doing that very cautiously and humbly. Our concepts are very much designed with this in mind,” he says. “One of the things I’m hoping for is to inspire others.

I think that’s what happened in Chinatown, to show other people it can be done.”

2024 Best Restaurant That Caters GO L D

From beachfront location, food, bar, services, rental, wedding cake, we can do it all. Winner of the Best Catering Hale ‘Aina Awards, Ilima Awards, the Knot weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings. Ask any event planners about us. Our clients including The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, Honolulu Museum of Art, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Armani and more. Many celebrity clients including Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, John Legend, The King of Malaysia, the Prime Minister and Princess of Thailand and many more.

Whether you’re planning a corporate event, wedding, graduation or anything in between, we look forward to serving you award-winning Island flavors and lots of aloha. For more information on catering, or for dining reservations, call Chef Chai at (808) 585-0011.

Mahalo for your support!

We’re honored to be a Hale ‘Aina winner for the past 7 years!

We look forward to welcoming you and your loved ones to share in our culinary journey.

Chef Kevin & Justine Lee

2024

2024

2024

2024

Best Wine Program

Best Tasting Menu

Best Vegetarian

Best Dessert

SILV E R

S I LVER

B RO N Z E

B RONZ E

CI OPPI N O Tomato Fennel Lobster Bisque, Opakapaka, Kona Prawn, Green Lip Mussels, Fennel & Ogo Salad available on our Ala Carte & Prix Fixe Menu

­ ­ ­

4 2 20

THROUGH A LATIN LENS

EDITORS’ PICK

Best New Restaurant

EL CIELO’S SPANISH MENU HOLDS SOME INTRIGUING TWISTS.

BY M ARI TAKETA PHOTOS BY AARON K. YOSHINO

PAGE

41

MARCH 2024

41

4 2 20

2 0 2

20 24 H A L E ‘A I N A AWA RDS

E EL CIELO’S MENU MIRRORS THE LIFE of its

chef—not unusual among chef-driven restaurants in this city, until you look at the life of Masa Arnaldo Gushiken. The menu is his story—growing up in Argentina, years spent in Italian and French kitchens in Tokyo, then a life-changing connection with the food of Spain, whose language and simpler preparations took him back to the world of his youth. At its heart, El Cielo is Spain through Gushiken’s lens, with classics like paella and croquetas de jamon as well as the more niche (at least in Hawai‘i) callos tripe stew and pintxos with whole anchovies. Tucked in between are nods to Argentina, contemporary Japan and France.

The totality, in an elegantly renovated m ​ idcentury​walk​-​up in Waikīkī, makes El Cielo the HONOLULU editors’ pick as the Hale ‘Aina Awards’ Best New Restaurant (our readers named it t​​ he finalist).

Gushiken’s food story begins at a turning point. Born in Buenos Aires to parents whose own parents emigrated from Okinawa, he might have continued to adulthood as a Spanish-speaking nisei, except his family moved to Japan when he was 12. It wasn’t smooth. Cut off from his Latin world—“my heart,” he calls it—and unable to express himself, he struggled to learn Japanese and ended up quitting high school. A fear of losing his birth language drew him to Los Angeles, where he washed dishes among other Spanish speakers. When he had worked his way up to chef de cuisine at a casual Japanese eatery, he had enough skills to return to Tokyo. Higher-end training followed, in French and Italian kitchens under Michelinstarred chef Hide Yamamoto. Eventually, Gushiken wound up on the opening team of a Spanish restaurant in Shibuya.

“They sent me to Spain and it changed everything,” he says. “Everything was good and simple. I went to ​Barcelona and​Galicia and San Sebastian, and I was like, ​I gotta​do this.”

Immersed in a proud Latin food culture, learning from culinary equals in the fluency of his native tongue, everything clicked. Gushiken’s most vivid memory from this time?

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Gushiken plates a seafood paella.

“The octopus in Galicia,” he says at once. “It’s super simple. You know how​ octopus is​so soft? A lady taught me to cook it. She taught me to put in one wine cork, boil it, turn off the heat, put the lid on, ​two​hours, that’s it. I had t​ ried in Japan​—I put octopus in Coca-Cola, I boiled i​ t a long​time, but I never got it as soft as Galicia style.”

Twelve years later, when Gushiken opened El Cielo on Lewers Street in the summer of 2023, octopus a la Gallega was on the menu. The years in between had brought him to Honolulu, where he became corporate chef for Diamond CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 4

2024 Best Italian G O LD

20 4 2 20

2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42

Dining and its then-trio of Shokudo, Bread + Butter and Búho Cocina y Cantina. By the time he found an investor and a space—a former boutique with 18-foot ceilings and a Spanish-tile fountain in the courtyard—for his first restaurant, he was 46. He’d had plenty of time to plan a menu.

Which dishes, we asked, would he serve to chef friends? His answers:

2.

1. CROQUETAS DE JAMON, $8—

1

“I use jamon de bellota, a more high-end ham” made from free-range pigs that ate acorns, and cured for longer than jamon ​ Iberico​. “It’s more rich, with a lot of flavor.”

2. SEAFOOD PAELLA WITH KAUA‘I SHRIMP, $38—“I use the shrimp

3

heads to make the broth.”

4

3. OCTOPUS A LA GALLEGA, $22—“Sometimes in Spain it’s

chilled. Grilling adds flavor (after boiling), and I mix sweet and smoked paprika together​”​to sprinkle on top.

5

4. EMPANADA, $7—“It’s my mom’s

recipe. A ​ lways when​I eat empanadas I think of my mom.”

5. SHRIMP ​AJILLO​, $21—“A lot of places, a​ jillo​is just garlic and oil. I use the same Kaua‘i shrimp head sauce as for the seafood paella.”

6

7

6. IBERICO PORK SHOULDER, $48—“Everybody’s scared to eat

pork medium-rare, but it’s the best. In some places in Spain they cook it almost r​ are​. There’s a technique: After searing, keep it warm, sear again and keep it warm. It’s low-temperature cooking.”

7. HOUSE-MADE BAGUETTE— “This one, every day I make”—to go with the chicken liver pâté and shrimp ​ajillo​.

Not mentioned but notable are Gushiken’s mother’s chimichurri, which nestles in the curve of the tender, smoky octopus tentacle. The same chimichurri accompanies the gentle beef empanada with paprika and rai44

HONOLULU MAGAZINE

sins, and his washugyu steak, a nod to Argentinian kitchen workers he met at steakhouses in Galicia. Uni pasta, a staple of every Japanese-owned Italian restaurant, is on the menu because Gushiken’s wife, who’s from Japan, insisted (it’s a top seller). Marinated mushrooms, chilled with a vinegar tang, is a recipe he created at a French restaurant years ago.

Our favorite is the pork shoulder, which wraps porky grill flavor around a juicy, yielding core. And not on any chef’s list but a favorite nonetheless: fries with Serrano ham shavings and a fried egg. You break the yolk and let everything go. Which is a good way to start.

346 Lewers St., (808) 772-4533, ​elcielo​-hawaii.com, @elcielo_hawaii

4 2 20

MARIPOSA MARIPOSA atat MARIPOSA at TM TM TM

TM

Winner Winner of of the the Winner of the Winner of the 2023 2023 Hale Hale ‘A ‘Aina ina Gold Gold Award Award

2023 Hale ‘AinaGold Gold Award 2024 HaleBusiness ‘Aina Award for for for Best Best Business Lunch Lunch Best Business Lunch and Service for Best Business Lunch Thank Thankyou youfor foryour yourvote voteand andsupport! support!We Welook lookforward forwardto toserving serving you as we we celebrate celebrate our our 25th 25th anniversary anniversary this thisfall. fall.to serving Thank youand for your vote andlook support!

Thankyou youas for your vote support!

We forward you as we celebrate our 25th anniversary this fall.

311F23-1_Hale_Aina_Award_Ad.indd 311F23-1_Hale_Aina_Award_Ad.indd 11

311F23-1_Hale_Aina_Award_Ad.indd 1

Scan Scanhere herefor forrestaurant restaurant details details and andtoto Scan here for restaurant make makeaareservation. reservation. details and to make a reservation.

30pm Sun–Tues: 11am–4:30pm Sun–Tues: 11am–4:30pm Sun: 11am–4: 3 pm Wed–Thurs: 11am–6:30pm Wed–Thurs: 11am–6:30pm Mon–Wed: Sun–Tues:11am– 11am–4:30pm 3pm Fri–Sat: 11am–7pm Fri–Sat: 11am–7pm Thurs–Sat: 11am– Wed–Thurs: 11am–6:30pm 5–7: 3 0pm Fri–Sat: 11am–7pm

Honolulu HonoluluAla AlaMoana MoanaCenter Center || 808.951.3420 808.951.3420 || NeimanMarcus.com NeimanMarcus.com

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8/2/23 8/2/23 12:34 12:34PM PM

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WA I K I K I’ S O N LY A L L o c e a n v i e w H OT E L

Experience Waikiki’s only all ocean view hotel featuring spacious rooms and suites. And with our exclusive Club Lounge, award-winning cuisine, and iconic infinity pool, the weight of everyday life will vanish into the horizon.

100 Sails Restaurant & Bar

100 Sails Restaurant & Bar

2024

2024

Best Buffet

Best Hotel Brunch

GOLD

BRO NZE

Find your escape at PRINCEWAIKIKI.COM or call 1.855.277.3123

Most Innovative Farm-To-Counter

ROLLIN’ ROOTS KALIHI’S ROOTS CAFÉ HAS SOLD AFFORDABLE FARM-FRESH LUNCHES AND PRODUCE FOR YEARS. NOW IT’S BRINGING THAT FRESHNESS TO THE VALLEY’S KUPUNA.

BY KAWEHI HAUG PHOTO BY AARON K. YOSHINO

2024 HALE ‘A I NA AWA R D S

A

AFTER A DECADE of feeding the Kalihi com-

munity, ​​Roots Café + Food Hub has taken its farm-to-counter concept to the streets. Its Rolling Roots truck—a mobile produce market that brings fresh produce to kūpuna and other underserved communities in Kalihi Valley— rolled out this past spring.

Supplying the valley with farm-fresh food is the guiding principle of the Roots program, part of the nonprofit Kōkua Kalihi Valley. At Roots Café, chefs and volunteer cooks make healthy plate lunches that highlight Pacific Island starches like kalo, ‘​uala​, ‘ulu and cassava, as well as local produce and proteins from Island ranches. The café and attached food hub—a small farmstand that showcases the season’s offerings—are weekly constants open for a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but they require people to go to them. As part of a federally qualified community health center, Roots organizers ​​asked themselves what else they could do to achieve their goal. Their answer was a mobile food market. With a truck, they could take their farm hauls to the tables of the most vulnerable.

The program has been hosting pop-up produce markets with the truck at K ​ KV’s​Gulick Elder Care Center since May. A sort of community block party, the pop-ups have become so popular that Roots director Jesse Lipman says he is collaborating with Kalihi schools and community organizations to make Rolling Roots markets a more regular part of Kalihi life. Reaching and engaging the community is crucial, Lipman says, and the produce truck lets his team reach people where they are.

“We knew that getting out into Kalihi was essential,” he says. “This truck functions as both a storage unit and a distribution facility, while becoming the face of our work. It is wrapped in images of favorite Pacific Island foods designed by Kalihi artist Cor​​y Taum.

When we roll up, open the awning and break out the produce, it becomes an event. It’s like we’d already planned the party but now the DJ is showing up.”

rootskalihi.com, @rootskalihi SEPTEMBER 2024

47

Congratulations TO T H E 4 1 ST A N N UA L

HALE ʻAINA Award Winners

Mahalo to all of Hawaiʻi’s restaurants who work hard to make our beautiful state a world class culinary destination.

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

EDITOR S’ CHOICES

R E STAURAT EU R OF T H E YEA R

BE ST N E W R E STAURAN T

Dusty Grable Lovers + Fighters restaurant group

El Cielo

MOST IN N OVATIV E FAR M-TO - COUN T ER

Roots Café

Waikīkī @elcielo_hawaii

Kalihi @rootskalihi

READER S’ CHOICES BE ST N E W R E STAURAN T

Gold

Cino

Kaka‘ako @cinohawaii

Silver

Straits Honolulu Kaka‘ako @straitshonolulu

Bronze

Monkeypod Kitchen Waikīkī Waikīkī @monkeypodkitchen

Finalist

El Cielo

Waikīkī @elcielo_hawaii

B E ST O ‘A H U R E STAURA NT

BEST MAUI RESTAURAN T

BE ST HAWAI‘I ISLAN D R E STAURAN T

BE ST K AUA‘I R E STAURAN T

Gold

Gold

Gold

Gold

Miro Kaimukī Kaimukī @mirokaimuki

Silver

Monkeypod Kitchen Waikīkī Waikīkī @monkeypodkitchen

Bronze

Hau Tree Waikīkī @thehautree

Finalist

Fête

Chinatown @fetehawaii

Monkeypod Kitchen Wailea Wailea @monkeypodkitchen

Silver

Mama’s Fish House Pā‘ia @mamasfishhouse

Bronze

Merriman’s Kapalua Kapalua @merrimansmaui

Finalist

Tiffany’s Maui Wailuku @tiffanysmaui

Merriman’s Waimea Waimea @merrimanswaimea

Silver

Moon & Turtle Hilo @moonandturtle

Bronze

CanoeHouse Puakō @maunalaniauberge

Finalist

Umekes Fish Market Bar & Grill Kailua-Kona @umekes

‘Āina Kaua‘i Restaurant Kapa‘a @ainakauai

Silver

RumFire Po‘ipū Beach Kōloa @rumfirepoipu

Bronze

The Beach House Po‘ipū @thebeachhousekauai

Finalist

Red Salt

Po‘ipū @redsaltkauai

SEPTEMBER 2024

49

2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS

B E ST SE RVICE

Gold

Mariposa

Ala Moana @mariposahawaii

Silver

Miro Kaimukī Kaimukī @mirokaimuki

Bronze

Café Kaila Kapahulu @cafekaila

Finalist

Over Easy Kailua @overeasyhi

B E ST B R E AKFA ST

Gold

Café Kaila Kapahulu @cafekaila

Finalist

Egghead Café Kalihi @egghead_café

Kailua @overeasyhi

Bronze

Egghead Café Kalihi @egghead_café

Gold

Orchids at Halekūlani Waikīkī @halekulanihotel

Silver

Hōkū’s at The Kāhala Kāhala @hokusatthekahala

Bronze

100 Sails Restaurant & Bar Waikīkī @100sails

Finalist

Hau Tree Waikīkī @thehautree

BEST BU SINES S LUN CH

Gold

Mariposa

Ala Moana @mariposahawaii

Silver

Merriman’s Honolulu

Finalist

Kaka‘ako @merrimanshonolulu

Kaimukī @kokoheadcafe

Bronze

Koko Head Café

B E ST B RUNCH

Gold

Café Kaila Kapahulu @cafekaila

Istanbul Hawai‘i Kaka‘ako @istanbulhawaii

Finalist

Fête

Chinatown @fetehawaii

Silver

Istanbul Hawai‘i Kaka‘ako @istanbulhawaii

Bronze

Over Easy Kailua @overeasyhi

50

HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Waikīkī @halekulanihotel

Bronze

BEST H OT EL BRUN CH

Silver

Over Easy

Silver

Orchids at Halekūlani

BEST BUF F E T

Gold

100 Sails Restaurant & Bar Waikīkī @100sails

Plumeria Beach House at The Kāhala Kāhala @plumeriabeachhouse

Finalist

Hōkū’s at The Kāhala Kāhala @hokusatthekahala

BE ST BR EW PUB

Gold

Hana Koa Brewing Co. Kaka‘ako @hanakoabrewing

Silver

Aloha Beer Co. Multiple locations @alohabeerco

Bronze

Maui Brewing Co. Multiple locations @mauibrewingco

Finalist

BE ST COCKTAIL PROGRAM

Gold

Miro Kaimukī Kaimukī @mirokaimuki

Silver

Beer Lab Hawai‘i Multiple locations @beerlabhi

BE ST B AR

Gold

Bar Leather Apron

Bar Leather Apron

Downtown @barleatherapron

Downtown @barleatherapron

Bronze

Silver

Monkeypod Kitchen Waikīkī Waikīkī @monkeypodkitchen

EP Bar Chinatown @ep.bar

Bronze

Mud Hen Water

Monkeypod Kitchen Waikīkī

Kaimukī @mudhenwater

Waikīkī @monkeypodkitchen

BE ST W IN E PROGRAM

Pint + Jigger

Finalist

Finalist

Gold

Miro Kaimukī Kaimukī @mirokaimuki

Silver

Pai Honolulu Chinatown @paihonolulu

Bronze

Ala Moana @pintandjigger

BE ST BAR FO O D

Gold

Splash Bar Waikīkī @sheratonpk

Silver

StripSteak

Side Street Inn

Waikīkī @stripsteakhi

Multiple locations @sidestreetinn

Finalist

Bronze

Mugen

Waikīkī @mugenwaikiki

Osoyami Bar & Grill McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @osoyami808

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 2

2024

2024

Best New Restaurant

Best New Restaurant

FI N A L I ST

ED I TO R S ’ C H O I C E

EL CIELO BY CHEF MASA 346 LEWERS ST HONOLULU HAWAII 96815 808-772-4533 / WWW.ELCIELO-HAWAII.COM

2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 50

Finalist

Pint + Jigger Ala Moana @pintandjigger

B E ST TA STI NG M ENU

Gold

Miro Kaimukī Kaimukī @mirokaimuki

Silver

Pai Honolulu Chinatown @paihonolulu

Bronze

Nature Waikīkī Waikīkī @naturewaikiki

Finalist

BE ST R E STAURAN T THAT CATE R S

BE ST VEGE TAR IAN

Kaka‘ako @bar.maze

Gold

Tane Vegan Izakaya

Bar Maze

M OST ROMAN TIC

Gold

Michel’s at the Colony Surf Waikīkī @michelshawaii

Silver

La Mer at Halekūlani Waikīkī @halekulanihotel

Bronze

53 By The Sea Kaka‘ako @53bythesea_hawaii

Chef Chai

Kaka‘ako @chefchaipacifica

Silver

Tanioka’s Seafoods & Catering Waipahu @taniokas

Gold

McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @tanevegan

Silver

Peace Café

McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @peacecafehawaii

Bronze

Pai Honolulu

Bronze

Mud Hen Water Kaimukī @mudhenwater

Finalist

Side Street Inn Multiple locations @sidestreetinn

Chinatown @paihonolulu

Finalist

Nature Waikīkī Waikīkī @naturewaikiki

BE ST ST EAK

Gold

Finalist

Hy’s Steak House

Istanbul Hawai‘i

Waikīkī @hyshawaii

Kaka‘ako @istanbulhawaii

mahalo nui loa We appreciate your support.

2024

2024

Best Outdoor Dining

Best O‘ahu Restaurant

GOLD

BRONZE

thank you for voting Hau Tree is proud to be an official winner of HONOLULU Magazine's 2024 Hale ‘Āina Awards.

BEST OUTDOOR DINING BEST O‘AHU RESTAURANT

In excellent company, Hau Tree is located on the lobby level of Kaimana Beach Hotel—among Travel + Leisure's Top 500 Hotels in 2024.

2863 KALĀKAUA AVE @THEHAUTREE KAIMANA.COM/DINING

52

HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Silver

Ruth’s Chris Steak House Multiple locations @ruthschrishi

Bronze

The Signature Prime Steak and Seafood Ala Moana @thesignatureprimesteak

Finalist

StripSteak Waikīkī @stripsteakhi

Silver

Herringbone Waikīkī Waikīkī @herringbonewaikiki

Bronze

Mama’s Fish House Pā‘ia @mamasfishhouse

Gold

Nami Kaze

Kalihi @namikazehawaii

Chinatown @paihonolulu

Finalist

Miro Kaimukī Kaimukī @mirokaimuki

Finalist

The Seaside

Waikīkī (permanently closed) BEST DES SE RT

Gold

B E ST SE AFOOD

Bronze

Pai Honolulu

MW Restaurant Kaka‘ako @mwrestaurant

Silver

Kapa Hale Kāhala @4614kapahale

BE ST HOT POT

Finalist

Aunty’s Hotpot House Kapolei @auntyshotpothouse BE ST D I M S UM

Gold

Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

Gold

Ala Moana @jadedynastyseafoodrestaurant

Ala Moana @_shabuya

Happy Days

Shabuya

Silver

Silver

Kaimukī happydayshi.com

Multiple locations @ichirikinabe

Fook Lam Restaurant

Ichiriki

Bronze

Chinatown (808) 523-9168

Bronze

Nabeya Maido McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @nabeyamaido

CONTINUED ON PAGE 54

Mahalo for voting us Best Breakfast and Best Brunch!

Kapalama Shopping Center 1210 Dillingham Blvd #8, Honolulu, HI 96817 (808) 888-2211 | eggheadhonolulu.com

2024

2024

Best Breakfast

Best Brunch

B RO NZ E

F I N A L I ST

SEPTEMBER 2024

53

2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 53

Finalist

Finalist

Finalist

Finalist

Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum

Golden Duck

Young’s Fish Market

Rigo Spanish Italian

B E ST C HINESE

BEST H AWAIIAN

BE ST ITALIAN

BE ST IZAK AYA

Gold

Gold

Gold

Gold

Ala Moana @yungyeekeedimsum

Ala Moana (808) 597-8088

Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

Helena’s Hawaiian Food

Silver

Silver

Ala Moana @jadedynastyseafoodrestaurant

Highway Inn

Bronze

Bronze

Dew Drop Inn Makiki @dewdropinnhawaii

Arancino

Multiple locations arancino.com

Liliha @helenashawaiianfood

Happy Days Kaimukī happydayshi.com

Multiple locations @youngsfishmarket

Silver

La Cucina

Kaka‘ako @lacucinahonolulu

Multiple locations @myhighwayinn

Bronze

Waiāhole Poi Factory Kahalu‘u @waiaholepoifactory

Taormina Sicilian Cuisine Waikīkī @taorminasiciliancuisine

Kapahulu @rigo_hawaii

Zigu

Waikīkī @zigu.hi

Silver

Izakaya Nonbei Kapahulu @izakayanonbei

Bronze

Izakaya Naru Mānoa @izakaya.naru

Finalist

Waikīkī Shokudo Waikīkī @waikikishokudo

FUELING A

BRIGHTER FUTURE 54

For 120 years, Hawaiʻi Gas has been delivering good energy to the state of Hawaiʻi. As we look to the future, we’re committed to accelerating our clean energy transformation and advancing renewable energy solutions—our kuleana as stewards of the environment and our island communities. Hawaiigas.com

HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Yanagi Sushi

Silver

Onoya Ramen Kapahulu @onoyaramen

Kaka‘ako @yanagisushi

Silver

Sushi Sho

Waikīkī @sushishowaikiki

Bronze

Noods Ramen Bar Multiple locations noodsramenbar808.com

Finalist

Wagaya

Bronze

Restaurant I-naba

McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @wagayahawaii

Finalist

BEST OVERA LL JAPAN E SE

Ala Moana @sushi.ii.hawaii

Zigu

Multiple locations @inaba_honolulu

Sushi Ii

B E ST RAM EN

Gold

Jinya Ramen Bar

Gold

Kaka‘ako @yanagisushi

Waikīkī @restaurantsuntoryhnl

Gold

Olay’s Thai-Lao Cuisine Chinatown @olays_thai_lao_cuisine

Waikīkī @noithaicuisine_hawaii

Restaurant I-naba Multiple locations @inaba_honolulu

Kaimukī @hitothaifor

Bronze

BE ST ME D I T ER RAN EAN

Gold

Istanbul Hawai‘i Kaka‘ako @istanbulhawaii

BE ST THAI

Silver

Silver

Finalist

To Thai For

Finalist

Restaurant Suntory

Noi Thai Cuisine

Waikīkī @zigu.hi

Kaka‘ako @jinyaramenbar

Bronze

Yanagi Sushi

Silver

,000-Square-Foot Award-Winning Restaurant ven Private Rooms commodates 300+ Guests -Foot Stage ate-of-the-Art Audio/Visual System nch (Dim Sum) 10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. inner 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Gold

hank You for Voting!

B E ST S U SH I

Mara Restaurant & Bar Ala Moana @mara_honolulu

Bronze

Olive Tree Café Kāhala @olivetreecafehi

Maile’s Thai Bistro Multiple locations @mailesthaibistro

CONTINUED ON PAGE 56

10,000-Square-Foot Award-Winning Restaurant Seven Private Rooms Accommodates 300+ Guests 32-Foot Stage State-of-the-Art Audio/Visual System Lunch (Dim Sum) 10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Dinner 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Thank You for Voting!

2024

2024

Best Chinese

Best Dim Sum

GOLD

G OLD

SEPTEMBER 2024

55

2 0 2 4 H A L E ‘AIN A AWA RDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55

Finalist

Vein at Kaka‘ako Kaka‘ako @veinatkakaako

B E ST I N DIA N

Gold

Café Maharani

BEST OVERALL KOR E AN

Gold

O’Kim’s Korean Kitchen Chinatown @okims_honolulu

Silver

Million Restaurant

McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @cafemaharanihi

Multiple locations

Silver

Hangang Korean Grill House

Spice Up House of Indian Cuisine Ala Moana @spice_up1289

Bronze

Tadka Indian Cuisine

McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @tadkaindiancuisine808

Finalist

Kamana Kitchen Multiple locations kamanakitchen.com

Bronze

Ala Moana @hanganghi

Finalist

Kim Chee II

Kaimukī @kimchee2kaimuki

Gold

Million Restaurant Multiple locations

Silver

Gen Korean BBQ House Multiple locations @genkbbq.honolulu

Bronze

Hangang Korean Grill House Ala Moana @hanganghi

Finalist

Yakiniku Seoul Ala Moana @yakinikuseoul

56

HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Kalihi (808) 845-9059

Bronze

Los Chaparros Mexican Restaurant

McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili @loschaparrosmexicanrestaurant

Finalist

Mekiko Cantina Kapolei @mekikocantina

BE ST F ILIPIN O

BEST VIET NAME SE

Gold

The Pig & The Lady

Chinatown @pigandthelady

Hale Vietnam Kaimukī halevietnam86.com

Bronze

Pho Saigon Ala Moana @pho_saigon_808

Finalist

Pho Que Huong Chinatown @phoquehuong.hi

Silver

House Without A Key Waikīkī @halekulanihotel

Bronze

Plumeria Beach House at The Kāhala Kāhala @plumeriabeachhouse

Finalist

Deck at Queen Kapi‘olani Hotel Waikīkī @deckwaikiki

Gold

Elena’s

Waipahu @elenasfilipino

Silver

B E ST KO R E A N BA RBECU E

Silver

Mexico Restaurant

BE ST LOCAL C HAIN

Gold

Zippy’s

Silver

Multiple locations @zippys

Waipahu thelmasrestaurant.com

Liliha Bakery

Thelma’s Filipino Restaurant Bronze

Max’s Restaurant Multiple locations @maxshawaii

Finalist

Julie’Z Restaurant

Kapolei shopkapolei.com/juliez-restaurant

Silver

Multiple locations @lilihabakery

Bronze

Monkeypod Kitchen Multiple locations @monkeypodkitchen

Finalist

Big City Diner Multiple locations @bigcitydiner

BE ST OUTD OOR D IN IN G

Gold

Hau Tree Waikīkī @thehautree

BEST M EXICAN

Gold

Da Seafood Cartel ‘Aiea @daseafoodcartel

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HONOLULU MAGAZINE

Farm Link Hawai‘i’s intrepid attempts to accomplish its overarching mission highlights the hurdles Hawai‘i faces in achieving food sustainability.

A

T FARM LINK HAWAI‘I’S warehouse on Waiakamilo Road, workers pack Hawai‘i Island lychee, Maui strawberries, poi harvested and milled in He‘eia, and red Cuban bananas from Hale‘iwa. Shelves are stocked with Maui-grown agave spirit and lip balm made in Mānoa with Kaua‘i beeswax and O‘ahu vanilla beans. It used to be if you wanted this kind of selection, you’d have to scour farmers markets, Chinatown, Foodland and Whole Foods. And you’d be lucky to find it all. Now, through Farm Link, a local online grocer, you can get it delivered to your door.

“The goal is having as complete a shop as possible, so that we can make it convenient for you, and that we’re supporting a whole food system, all the way from the raw ingredients to the manufacturers,” Farm Link Hawai‘i’s CEO Claire Sullivan says. In a perfect world, everything sold on Farm Link would be grown in Hawai‘i or made with locally grown ingredients—but it’s going to take some time to get there.

The business’s 30-year mission—what it calls its “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” or “BHAG”—is taped to its warehouse’s cinderblock wall, detailing a utopia through Farm Link’s lens. There are 11 bullet points describing “what it will look like when we achieve our BHAG,” including: “Working agricultural fields, sheds, tractors, animals, and farmers are prominent across the Hawai‘i landscape and regenerative practices abound.”

It can feel incongruous imagining this agrarian ideal, when Farm Link’s current operations involve customers clicking through a website and finding produce in a cardboard box at their door the next day. But given that Farm Link’s selection of local products is better than anywhere else, maybe this is what utopia looks like when trying to improve what Farm Link founder Rob Barreca calls “one of the most complex systems that we interact with every day: the local food system.”

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BY MARTHA CHENG PHOTOS BY AARON K. YOSHINO

HEN BARRECA left his job as a web

designer in 2013 “to broadly do something in food and find some meaning in my life,” he says, he enrolled in the University of Hawai‘i’s GoFarm beginning farmer training course in Waimānalo. He sold what he grew, and when delivering produce to restaurants, he ran into classmates doing the same thing. “We all just drove half an hour, all did the back and forth with the chefs, S E P TM EM A RBC EH R 2024

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and all had to deal with invoicing—it was so inefficient,” he recalls.

In 2015, he built what would become Farm Link Hawai‘i, reaching out to growers who didn’t want to market, sell, deliver and invoice themselves. And he found buyers for their goods. In the beginning, that included Foodland and Peter Merriman’s restaurants. Barreca remembers times when Farm Link had inventory that needed to move, and they’d call chef Jose Gonzalez-Maya at Merriman’s Monkeypod Kitchen in Ko Olina. “Ninety-nine percent of the time he would say, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it, name the price.’ I swear, I almost cried a few times—I was just so stressed.”

That sense of relief is what Barreca wants Farm Link to provide its producers. “We want to evoke those same feelings, like, ‘Oh my god, I don’t have to worry so much about how to be able to sell this thing and make a viable business.’ We just want to say, ‘We want to take that off your shoulders, and we’re going to figure it out.’”

BHAG bullet point: “Producers say that FLH is their preferred buyer because we pay the best, we’re the easiest to deal with, we connect them with other resources, we help them plan and grow, and we honor our commitments.”

Barreca was just starting to explore direct-to-door delivery for households with funding from Elemental Excelerator when pandemic shelter-in-place orders descended in 2020. Sign-ups for Farm Link exploded, and operations expanded from a 40-foot refrigerated container in a dirt parking lot in Hale‘iwa to a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in Kalihi.

Annual sales of around $400,000 before the pandemic grew to $2.8 million in 2023, with more customers, producers, plus an in-house butchery program, a liquor license, and daily delivery service across O‘ahu.

Still, Sullivan estimates that only 0.3% of O‘ahu’s $3.3 billion total grocery sales are made through Farm Link. And supply on Farm Link can be inconsistent.

Some staples like bananas and tomatoes are not always available, a reflection of the tenuousness of Hawai‘i’s food system,

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COURTESY: ROB BARRECA

OU T SI DE T H E BOX

Rob Barreca

Claire Sullivan

while other foods are nonexistent on the platform, including milk and chicken. A more robust supply requires more farms, but based on the 2022 Dept. of Agriculture Census Report, Hawai‘i agriculture is on the decline, having lost 82,000 acres of farmland between 2017 and 2022.

environment and society; Kamehameha Schools’ Food Systems Fund; and the USDA Local Food Promotion Program.

In 2021, it joined the Da Bux program— which doubles SNAP benefits, making locally grown produce and poi half-off for beneficiaries—an initiative that addresses food insecurity while also investing in local agriculture.

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AWAI‘I HAS BEEN TRYING to grow local agriculture for decades.

Foreseeing a shift away from a plantation-dominated economy, the state’s Constitution was amended in 1978, requiring the state to designate and conserve ag lands and increase agricultural self-sufficiency. In the more than four decades since, various organizations and initiatives have formed to stop the hemorrhaging of farms and farmlands, with Barecca a beneficiary of many of these efforts.

Along with Farm Link, Barreca started his own farm, Counter Culture in Hale‘iwa, after Kamehameha Schools’ Mahi‘ai Matchup agriculture business plan competition awarded him $20,000 and a five-year rent-free lease in 2015.

And since Farm Link’s inception, it has received investments and grants from Hawai‘i Investment Ready, an accelerator for businesses striving to improve the

BHAG bullet point: “Community advocates credit FLH with contributing to the demise of food deserts on O‘ahu and making good food available to everyone.”

To witness the growth of Farm Link is to see how many hands are involved in trying to strengthen local ag. And now, it is also part of the network.

Ironically, to build an online grocer like Farm Link—where consumers buy food without interacting with a single person—requires in-person community building. Sullivan, who joined the company in 2021, has literally chased down Breadshop’s owner on the streets of Chinatown to get him to sell more bread on Farm Link and has met with cattle ranchers and chicken farmers to talk about plans for a mobile slaughterhouse.

For decades, demand for local prod-

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ucts has outstripped supply and “if we wanted to achieve our vision, we realized we couldn’t just sit on our hands and wait for all of this amazing organic produce and locally manufactured goods to happen on its own,” Barreca says. “We had to try to build a supply chain … to connect folks to great product that doesn’t exist yet.”

Recently, Farm Link brokered an arrangement involving Kamehameha Schools prepurchasing “a significant volume of bananas,” Sullivan says, to be delivered within the next five years, enabling Farm Link to give Hawai‘i Banana Source “the capital upfront to make the investments they need in the plantings so that they can scale up over time.”

BHAG bullet point: “Food system organizations, local government, and peers point to FLH as a role model and primary driver of the increase of local food production.”

“It’s a really exciting example of supply building, ensuring that there’s more of this thing a year from now than there was today and not being passive and just saying to the producer, ‘We need more of it,’ ignoring the fact that they have the thinnest margins and the highest risk of anybody on the value chain,” Sullivan says. “And we’re assuming that they’re the ones who are going to take that risk? It’s not how farming works anywhere else.”

Hawai‘i has some of the highest land costs in the country, and for 100 years our island community was so focused on sugar and pineapple that we now lack the infrastructure to support diversified producers, Sullivan adds. “Yet we think that [farmers] should be able to solve it on their own.”

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ULLIVAN HAS SPENT HER ENTIRE 20-YEAR

career focused on the local food system, first at Maui Land & Pineapple Co., followed by a decade at Whole Foods building its local purchasing program, and then at MA‘O Organic Farms as the director of development and impact. She’s been around long enough to watch O‘ahu’s last dairy close; to witness Whole Foods scale back its local purchasing; to see the food supply problems laid bare during the pandemic and the sense of urgency and opportunity to fix them fade away.

Yet, she’s hopeful. “Progress feels like fits and starts,” she says. “Sometimes there’s real setbacks when we lose a producer, or when there are changes even in just ownership structure

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%

It’s estimated that only 15% of food in Hawai‘i is produced locally.

SOURCE: ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE 2007 REPORT

Today less than 1% of the state budget is allocated to agriculture. Challenges facing local farmers include land and labor costs, access to water, lack of infrastructure, shipping (including interisland), and pests.

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%

SOURCE: HAWAI‘I DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

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%

Between 2017 and 2022, the number of farms in Hawai‘i decreased by 10%, going from 7,328 to 6,569. This represents a loss of 82,000 acres of farmland, approximately double the area of urban Honolulu.

SOURCE: U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE CENSUS REPORT

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around key infrastructure pieces that feel disruptive—like slaughterhouses. (In 2019, Idaho billionaire Frank Vandersloot took control of Hawai‘i’s two largest slaughterhouses.)

“It all feels so precarious. But that said, it’s also feeling cumulative, like our collective capacity is getting so much stronger. And that capacity is not resting on singular producers, which is how it used to feel, like a one-off success story. Now it feels more like those success stories are embedded in a more collective fabric. I wouldn’t say that it’s easy still. But there is a fabric.”

Sullivan points to changes in the local agricultural ecosystem over the past five to 10 years. She calls financial backers like Feed the Hunger Fund and Hawai‘i Investment Ready the “interstitial tissue,” and cites the Hawai‘i Food Hub, a network of 14 food hubs, with members that call each other to share insights. “I’m hopeful [because] of the collective,” she says. “It’s recognizing this isn’t an environment where a singular effort could ever succeed—it will succeed by virtue of the collective success or fail by virtue of the collective failure.”

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UT THERE’S NO GETTING AROUND IT: Buying local is expensive.

Local produce such as carrots and mushrooms can be twice the price, or more, of their imported counterparts.

It’s the number one complaint of local consumers, according to a survey Farm Link sent out. In the same survey, 62% of customers say they also shop at Costco.

Sullivan says it’s reflective of Hawai‘i’s high cost of living—the highest in the country. People may want to buy local, but not everyone can afford to. But if consumers don’t buy from small-scale producers, which most farms in Hawai‘i are—and those producers are subject to the same high cost of living as everyone else—farmers won’t be able to invest in ways to scale up and bring costs down. Those carrots? Google videos for “carrot harvester” and you’ll see why imported carrots are so much cheaper

At Farm Link, you can order various cuts of meat for delivery the next day.

than in Hawai‘i, where each carrot is still pulled by hand.

“This is our biggest challenge,” Sullivan says. “And it is where very clear active intervention is required to break the impasse. A lot of the additional interventions will need to be made at the governmental level [and by] capital providers, technical assistance suppliers, the university.” She says people always ask, what’s the one thing that would make local agriculture viable? “There is no singular thing. That is erroneous; it is an ecosystem and that is the whole point. It is systemic. And solutions have to be as complex and systemic and intertwined as the problem is to have any chance of success.”

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T’S LIKE ASKING A FISH, ‘does the

water really matter?’” Sullivan says when asked why the local food system is so important, especially when judging by the state’s list of priorities— agriculture makes up less than 1% of the state’s budget. “The reason I started

working in food 20 years ago is because it was the space where all important things come to meet—our economic health and vitality, our ecological wellbeing, our cultural source of joy and history and opportunities to perpetuate that, our personal physical health, and our familial well-being. All of those things are impacted by food and how we interact with the production and the consumption of food. So, the local food system matters because it’s touching all of those things.”

What keeps her going, what keeps her working in food is that its “shadow side is joy,” she says. “Like the overwhelm is so real and like yes, on the one side it is [about addressing] climate change and pollution and runoff into the ocean and into our streams. And on the other side, it’s delicious and fun and we get to cook it together. So how incredibly awesome that this momentous, hugely consequential space is also joyful and delicious.”

BHAG bullet point: “Hawai‘i residents have the culinary knowledge to prepare and enjoy locally sourced meals at home.”

A selection of some of the locally produced foods that Farm Link delivers to customers S E P TM EM EH R 2024 A RBC

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AFTERTHOUGHTS

Swimming with Sharks

BY SARA ACKERMAN

A Hawai‘i author and lifelong surfer reflects on the pleasures and perils ​of an ocean​life.

therefore I think about sharks. I’m an author, and it just so happens that I have two Hawai‘i-based novels in the works—one about surfing and the other about sharks. Both have been very much on my mind lately.

When I was 4, my father pushed me into my first wave at​ Papa‘iloa​on O‘ahu’s North Shore.

That was the beginning of my love affair with the ocean. My father arranged his life so he could surf, and lived at Pipeline for a while before building his home at Rocky Point.

I moved out to the country from Honolulu in 1999, when I worked as a counselor at Kahuku High and Intermediate School, partly to be closer to my father and partly because I too wanted that salty air lifestyle full of beach walks, shells and broken boards.

Until recently, I didn’t think of sharks all that much, except when I was p ​ addling canoe​and our coach would drop us outside of Kewalos just before dark to do “changes.”

As I treaded water, my imagination would go wild, fearing that my pounding heart would attract a curious or hungry tiger shark. When I was a kid, everyone knew of Billy Weaver, a 15-year-old who was killed by a shark in 1958 while floating on a raft off Lanikai. But that was so long ago that it felt like a myth. Since then, things have changed. Many in our Islands have faced one of our more primal fears and lived (or not) to tell about it. And the rise of social media has only increased awareness of what lies beneath the surface of our beautiful waters.

The tragic death of well-loved and legendary waterman Tamayo Perry ramped up that awareness dramatically. The local lifeguard, actor and former professional surfer was killed by a shark on June 23 while surfing on the North Shore. It was the ninth fatal shark attack in Hawai‘i in the past 30 years. His loss feels close to home, and not just because I lived

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on the North Shore and occasionally swam to or surfed at Goat Island, where the attack occurred, or that I used to see him on the beach and in the lineup, his warm smile exuding aloha. We know that what happened to him could easily have happened to us.

History tells us that here in Hawai‘i, sharks were hunted or culled by the thousands from the 1950s to the 1970s, most notably after the Billy Weaver incident. Sharks reproduce slowly, so these hunts took a toll on the shark population, including tiger sharks. They are finally rebounding, which should be encouraged.

Sharks are apex predators, and we need them to keep the ocean in balance. They are also revered

by Native Hawaiians and seen as ‘​aumakua​, deified ancestors and protectors. So, shark hunts are not the answer.

The question that nags at me, as it might for other people in Hawai‘i, is what to do now? Do we stop doing something we love because of the risk? I, for one, will not, even though we can take precautions, like not going out when it’s murky or not wearing bright or contrasting clothing or fins. We should also surf or swim with others, and maybe like some of my friends, swim with a dive knife. When we enter a shark’s home, there’s no telling what could happen.

For many of us in Hawai‘i, whose worlds are so intricately entwined with the ocean, staying out of it feels impossible.

Even Tamayo’s friends, in the aftermath of his death, said in media reports that he would have encouraged people to continue enjoying the ocean. So we will continue on doing what we love, more consciously, perhaps, and hope that those we’ve lost are keeping watch over us.

E+; PHILIP THURSTON

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SURF, THEREFORE I AM. Or maybe it should be, I surf,

Sara Ackerman is the author of six historical novels set in Hawai‘i, including Radar Girls and The Lieutentant’s Nurse. Her next novel, The Maui Effect, will be released in November 2024.

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