Foodflash: Alan Wong’s Next Restaurant Will Replace Hoku’s at The Kāhala
The legendary chef’s new Alan Wong’s is slated to open early next year.
Photo: Tracy Wright-Corvo
Five years after closing his eponymous restaurant on King Street, Alan Wong is opening at The Kāhala Hotel & Resort. The celebrity chef’s return to the restaurant world will replace Hoku’s, the hotel’s flagship fine-dining eatery, which will close at the end of this year.
The announcement came in a news release this morning, confirming rumors that have been circulating for some time. Wong will lend his name to the restaurant and consult on its menus. The biggest news for fans is that classic Alan Wong’s dishes will return with local ingredients; so will Mark Shishido, the old restaurant’s longtime beverage director and general manager of Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room before that. Shishido will be the new restaurant’s general manager.
Ginger-crusted onaga is coming back. Da Bag’s steamed clams and kālua pig will be there. And that famous chocolate-shell coconut dessert. This we have confirmed.
Joe Almoguera will become executive chef of The Kāhala and work with Wong. The new Alan Wong’s is looking for a chef de cuisine, sous chef and pastry chef. Targeted opening is early 2026.
SEE ALSO: Alan Wong Talks About the Difficult Decision to Close His Restaurant
Alan Wong’s opened on the second floor of a nondescript building in McCully in 1995 and turned it into a destination for diners in Hawai‘i and beyond. A founding chef of the Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine movement, the classically trained Wong, 69, won a James Beard Award as Best Chef: Pacific Northwest in 1996. Five years later, Gourmet ranked Alan Wong’s among Americas Best Fifty Restaurants. The long-running Pineapple Room at Ala Moana Center was his more casual eatery.
Hoku’s replaced the Maile Room as The Kāhala’s signature restaurant nearly 30 years ago. There’s no word on whether it will continue its popular Sunday brunch. We’ve also reached out to Wong to find out what menu classics will reappear.
Mari Taketa is editor of Frolic Hawai‘i and dining editor of HONOLULU Magazine.
