Photo: Alexander Gates
“HEveryone, this is Chris here at Olohana Brewpub in Chinatown,” by Chris Cook Instagram feed it begins “I wanted to jump in here and give you a message that I take no pleasure in delivering. Unfortunately, we will have to cease business operations. Our last day will be May 16th.”
Amid the closings that have piled up lately — including longtime stalwarts Nancy’s Kitchen, Manichi Ramen and Morio’s Sushi Bistro — this announcement stood out. Nine years after opening as Broken Boundary Brewery (later renamed Kalihi Beer) and less than a year after moving to North King Street as Olohana Brewpub, Cook’s full-time passion project is still waiting for the Honolulu Liquor Commission to give its Chinatown brewing green light, he told us. With no Kalihi beer to serve or distribute, he has run out of time and money.
“I got into it because we’re very collaborative, you know? Brewers love to talk to other brewers,” Cook says. “But from a business perspective, the extra regulations, extra taxes and a lot of limitations on being able to sell your product, I love the beer culture, but I don’t know if it’s my business.”
What sets your ad apart? After explaining the reason for the closure, Cook shifts the narrative and talks about Chinatown: the neighborhood’s businesses, the new markets and festivals, even its owner. Through his eyes, Chinatown becomes a multitude of passion projects like Olohana, independent and hopeful and personal, a fire of entrepreneurial Hawai’i. “This is not the Cheesecake Factory,” he says, and asks us to support them.
This was the heart of a message delivered at a business’s most devastating moment and, in journalistic terms, it almost buried the lead. We asked Cook for permission to reprint it. Here’s the Instagram message she posted last Wednesday, edited for brevity only.
SEE ALSO: Kalihi Beer returns as Olohana Brewpub in Chinatown
“There are a thousand different reasons why a company fails. I will definitely be revisiting many of them and seeing what I could have done better. But in the end, really the circumstance that we couldn’t overcome is that we currently don’t have a permit to brew beer. We are licensed to sell alcohol, but not to manufacture it. Without being able to make our core product, we don’t have the resources to move forward.
So our plan is to stay open every day except Thursday until Saturday 16th May. I hope you come for another pint. We’ll have a band playing, Butter Side Down has become our house band, they’ll be rockin’. I hope you check it out.
Photo: Alexander Gates
Just, I want to shout Chinatown. Talking to a lot of people, Chinatown has a bit of a reputation. But I just want to take a moment to tell you a couple of things. I have worked with quite a few owners. The owner here has been one of the most understanding, gracious and caring businessmen I have met in this city. They have truly worked to try and help this site succeed, selflessly.
I’ve lived in Honolulu for 18 years, longer than anywhere else. When I look around and reflect on the experience I’ve had over the last year in Chinatown, there are amazing and wonderful things that you don’t see anywhere else. The outdoor markets, the fish markets, the produce you can’t get at the grocery store. And the people Honolulu and Hawaii are celebrated as multicultural. You really see it coming together in Chinatown.
I see a lot of incredibly creative and passionate people plying their trade here, whether it’s restaurants, bartending, or coffee shops. There is a lot of vitality. There is a lot of art. Come see First Friday, it’s amazing. And the city has done some work to open Carrer Fort to some more activities. Come and see these night markets they do, these festivals, they’re so much fun. Chinatown is back.
I hope you support these companies because this is not corporate, man. This is not Cheesecake Factory. These are people who are really putting their hearts and wallets on the line to try and do something amazing for this city and they deserve your support.
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As for us, it is with a somewhat heavy heart that we close. We have been brewing Kalihi beer for six years. We’ve had some great beers, made some amazing lifelong friends.
I will miss you. I will miss this business. I will miss brewing. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family, and that’s the best aspect for me.
Okay guys, please come down to say hi and say goodbye. I really want to see you.
Thank you.”
96 N. King St., Chinatown, @olohanabrewpub
Mari Taketa is editor of Frolic Hawai’i and dining editor of HONOLULU Magazine.
