Aqua Lotus Honolulu (formerly the W Hotel) debuted its Park restaurant last week with Michael Collantes leading the kitchen. He's worked at Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, was sous chef for Eric Ripert's 10 Arts Bistro at The Ritz Carlton in Philadelphia and, most recently, was executive chef at Bar Masa in the Aria hotel in Las Vegas. The bar menu includes octopus ragu flatbread, housemade charcuterie and Moroccan eggplant zaalouk. For dinner, main courses range from a vegetarian tagliatelle with pistachio pesto and olive powder, to osso bucco, to chicken with a farro risotto. Park at Aqua Lotus hotel, 2885 Kalakaua Ave., 791-5161, parkrestaurantwaikiki.com
Panya at Hokua opens to the public on Friday. From the former cavernous P.F. Chang's space, it's carved out a production bakery and an 100-seat dining room. It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. Plus, the new location makes it more convenient than the previous Ala Moana Center shop to pick up pastries and swing by for their famous laksa. Panya at Hokua, 1288 Ala Moana Blvd. #116
Bills—famous for breakfast treats such as ricotta pancakes with banana and honeycomb butter—will open at 280 Beachwalk sometime this fall. In 1993, Bill Granger opened his first restaurant in Sydney when he was just 22; he has since opened seven more locations, four of them in Japan. His cookbooks include Simple Honest Food, and Food and Wine describes his food as "fresh, Pacific Rim- and Mediterranean-influenced food that is as light, bright and sunny as Sydney itself." It will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a coffee bar and bakery, though most people can't get over the breakfast plates, especially the scrambled eggs. Yup, scrambled eggs that Food and Wine says "are like none you've ever tasted." Wonder how Eggs 'n' Things feels about that.
Jon Matsubara, previously Azure's chef at the Royal Hawaiian, has moved to the Hyatt to helm Japengo. 2424 Kalakaua Ave., 237-6180
Zaratez Mexicatessen is now open for dinner, weekdays from 5 to 9 p.m. 1273 S. King St., 348-0715
Not willing to change her identity to be part of the industry, Mahina Florence is at the height of her career because of her flawless Hawaiian complexion, strong athletic build, and friendly aloha spirit.
