D.K. KODAMA'S Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas opened at the Restaurant Row location where Kodama's Sansei used to be. The Japanese-European fusion cuisine prepared by Chef Hiroshi Fukui is served demi-plate style, which promotes sharing and sampling a variety of offerings from the menu. The restaurant has 102 tables and is open daily from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Call (808) 533-4476 for reservations.
General Hawaii News: March 2005 Archives
The owner of Indigo Eurasian Cuisine in downtown Honolulu's Chinatown district will open two restaurants this spring in the same neighborhood. Dave Stewart will open Bar 35, an upscale pizza restaurant with an outdoor beer garden. The second venture, not yet named, will be a wine bar described as a 1950s-style French brasserie. It will be across the street from Indigo. Bar 35 will be a block away on Hotel Street, where many art galleries are located.
A canoe adventure comes with a history lesson
By Bill Harby
WAIKOLOA, Hawaii -- It is no exaggeration to say that there is no other sailing experience in Hawaii like an outing on the Hahalua Lele. It is unique for two reasons: the canoe and the captain.
The Hahalua Lele (Flying Manta Ray) is a traditional Hawaiian, double-hulled sailing canoe. The 35-foot craft, with its Polynesian crab-claw sail, is made mostly of native wood.
The canoe’s original mast was made of hau, which is testament to the passion and purpose of the boat’s builder-captain-owner, Kapena Casey Cho.
“I spent a lot of days hiking through the forest looking for a piece of hau that was long enough and straight enough for the mast,” he said.
In 1998, after a year-and-a-half of work, Cho launched his canoe. Building a traditional, double-hulled sailing canoe in your spare time may seem a mite unusual, but it’s downright odd when the builder doesn’t know how to sail.
That’s right: Before Cho built his boat, he didn’t know tiller from tack.
Raised on the island of Oahu, Cho went to California “to see the world” and ended up studying landscaping. He moved to the Big Island in 1990. Since then he has learned a lot about sailing and about the history and lore of this coast. An articulate and engaging guy, he shares what he knows and what no one knows.
Ask him about the intricate lashings holding the hulls to the booms, and he gives you the Hawaiian word for the booms, iako, and explains that the up-curved booms were a Hawaiian improvement on older Polynesian canoe designs.
A basic outing with Cho at the helm lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs $95 per person.
Besides the coastal cruise, you’ll stop for snorkeling and, during the winter months, whale watching. Half-day and full-day cruises are available, too.
The Hahalua Lele sails with a minimum of four guests and a maximum of six (children of all ages welcomed) and is crewed by Cho and two others.
It departs from the beach on the grounds of the Fairmont Orchid Hotel.
For reservations, call (808) 885-2000. For more information, visit the Web site at www.hawaiiankineadventures.com.
To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to twdestinations@ntmllc.com.
Real-estate companies purchase high-end retail space in Waikiki
By Brian Berusch
WAIKIKI -- New York-based Metropole Realty Advisors and Heller Properties purchased the 2100 Kalakaua Ave. building in Waikiki for $156 million.
The luxury retail complex houses such shops as Gucci, Tiffany & Co. and Chanel, but Metropole CEO and founder Robert Siegel said he has more in mind for the retail space known as “Luxury Row.”
“We are also going to be designing a VIP room on the third floor of 2100 Kalakaua that will offer a unique experience to luxury shoppers in Waikiki.
“Personal shoppers, mailing services and limousine arrangements are all things that will be organized upstairs,” he said.
The 2100 Kalakaua building was sold to Metropole by a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers. It has 111,000 square feet of retail space.
This is the first purchase the company has made in Honolulu, although it has been consulting and developing in the area for nearly 30 years, according to Siegel.
“When Ferragamo, Burberry and Ermenengildo Zegna wanted to put roots down in Honolulu, we acted as a broker for all the deals and have been tracking how well they’ve all been doing throughout the years,” Siegel said.
“In the early ‘80s we began moving into some developing of our own,” he said.
Now it’s time to purchase in Honolulu, he said.
The owners said they were attracted to the investment, in part, by the promise of some 9,000 additional hotel rooms in Waikiki in the next eight years.
Metropole investment adviser Mathias Guerrand-Hermes described 2100 Kalakaua as a collection of independent townhouse boutiques with the streetfront look of New York’s Madison Avenue. Metropole’s portfolio includes properties on Madison Avenue.
Siegel, speaking about what the future holds for Metropole in Hawaii, said a purchase “in another area in Honolulu is always possible, and Maui is certainly not out of the question.” He cited Wailea and Kapalua as examples of locations frequented by high-end travelers.
Metropole also purchased a luxury retail center on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., for $20 million late last year and is looking for similar properties in New York; Chicago; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Palm Beach, Fla.; and Boston.
The company has no holdings in Europe, but Siegel told TravelWeekly.com that such purchases possibly are on the horizon.
To contact reporter Brian Berusch, send e-mail to traveledit@excite.com.
Go with the flow
In May, Oahu’s Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park will launch Da’ FlowRider, an action thrill ride that combines elements of surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding.
The ride creates a wave action from a thin sheet of water that flows constantly over a stationary wave form, enabling riders, regardless of age or skill, to experience the thrill of catching a wave on specially made body boards.
Park admission is $34.99; $24.99 for children ages 3 to 11; and $14.99 for seniors over age 60. Children under age 2 are admitted free.
Hershey takes time to digest Mauna Loa
Hershey Foods Corp. swallowed Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. last year but is still digesting it, the country's largest candy company said Tuesday.
The company behind Hershey's Kisses, Almond Joys, Mounds, KitKats and Reese's Pieces said gross margin improvement would miss long-term targets due to complex integration of Mauna Loa, the largest macadamia nut candy company.
All macadamia nuts grown in America are grown on Hawaii's Big Island, where Mauna Loa dominates the field. Hershey spent more than $122 million acquiring the company last year. The company now says it is inventing new chocolate and other products that incorporate macadamia nuts.
Harrisburg, Pa.-based Hershey also said it intends to change its name to The Hershey Co. and double its outstanding stock to 1.05 billion shares, assuming shareholders approve this at their meeting April 19.
It said in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing the more generic form of its name "will provide flexibility should the company choose to expand into other market segments."
