Legendary chef Alan Wong’s new restaurant is set to open early next year.
Photo: Tracy Wright-Corvo
FFive years after closing his eponymous restaurant on King Street, Alan Wong is opening The Kāhala Hotel & Resort. The celebrity chef’s return to the restaurant world will replace Hoku’s, the hotel’s flagship restaurant, which will close at the end of this year.
The announcement came in a press 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 of his old restaurant is that Alan Wong’s classic dishes will return with local ingredients, just like Mark Shishido, beverage director of the old restaurant and general manager of Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room before that. Shishido will be the general manager of the new restaurant.
The Ginger Crusted Onaga is back. Da Bag’s steamed clams and kālua pork will be there. And that famous chocolate shell coconut dessert. We have confirmed this.
Joe Almoguera will become executive chef at The Kāhala and will work with Wong. New Alan Wong’s is looking for Chef de Cuisine, Sous Chef and Pastry Chef. The planned opening is in early 2026.
SEE ALSO: Alan Wong talks about the difficult decision to close his restaurant
Alan Wong’s opened in 1995 on the second floor of a nondescript building in McCully and became a destination for diners in Hawaii and beyond. A founding chef of Hawai’i’s regional cuisine movement, the classically trained Wong, 69, won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Pacific Northwest in 1996. Five years later, gourmet ranked Alan Wong among the fifty best restaurants in America. The long-running Pineapple Room at the Ala Moana Center was his most casual restaurant.
Hoku’s replaced the Maile Room as The Kāhala’s signature restaurant nearly 30 years ago. No word on whether it will continue its popular Sunday brunch. We’ve also reached out to Wong to find out which menu classics will be making a comeback.
Mari Taketa is editor of Frolic Hawai’i and dining editor of HONOLULU Magazine.
