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Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "A good day in Hawai‘i"</title>

Kveekz on Instagram is today's social media find, celebrating some pleasant surprises.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "A good day in Hawai‘i"

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 is popular for its seafood and prime buffet, which is offered from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays.

The eatery recently launched a new chef selection dinner buffet option, available from 5 to 9 p.m. every Monday to Wednesday. This buffet experience costs $62 per adult and $42 for children 6 to 10 years old.

Instead of featuring action stations like prime rib, hand rolls and steamed crab legs, this buffet focuses on specialty items and elevated offerings. The new buffet menu comes from Prince Waikīkī’s new executive chef, Brooke Tadena.

Born in Honolulu and raised in Wahiawā, Tadena brings more than a decade of culinary expertise to his new role at Prince Waikīkī. He attended McKinley High School and Kapiʻolani Community College, and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America.

His previous experiences included serving as chef de cuisine for Hoku’s; executive sous chef and banquet chef at Hilton Hawaiian Village; executive sous chef at the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa; and restaurant chef for the iconic House Without A Key at Halekulani. 

Highlights from the new buffet include specialty options presented in sample-sized portions, like skirt steak with cilantro garlic chimichurri, fried beef ravioli with marinara sauce, seared fresh catch, and braised beef with creamy potato puree.

Other options from the hot station include angry mac n cheese, mushroom risotto, Spanish-style potatoes, guava barbecue pork ribs, jalapeno corn bread, and lamb ragu campanelli. We’re told the buffet offerings will change occasionally.

Meanwhile, the cold bar features maki rolls, shrimp cocktail, marinated seafood ceviche and nairagi crudo with citrus and pickles.

The salad bar offers mixed greens, Greek salad, assorted breads, assorted imported and domestic cheeses, and charcuterie.

Customers can also enjoy featured desserts like panna cotta, espresso tiramisu, creme brulee, cheesecake and the signature Prince bread pudding.

Tadena has also updated the eatery’s a la carte menu. The majority of dishes featured on it — ranging from margherita pinsa flatbread ($24) and taro burgers ($24) to pappardelle burrata pasta ($32) and lobster rolls ($36) — are brand new.

So far, the ‘ahi poke nachos ($23) have been the most popular appetizer. They feature a medley of chips — won ton, sweet potato, shrimp and taro — topped with shoyu ‘ahi, avocado, spicy mayo, yuzu crema, green onions, pickled red onions, pea tendrils, kizami nori and edamame.

The eatery’s lobster roll ($36) has also been a crowd favorite. It features a New England-style hoagie roll stuffed with lobster mixed with yuzu mayo and fresh dill; it’s served with  fries or salad.

The lobster rolls are on the eatery’s a la carte menu for both lunch and dinner, so customers can enjoy it all day long.

Other popular entrees include the coffee-rubbed rib-eye ($38) — a 12-ounce beef rib-eye served with potatoes, arugula salad with tarragon dressing and coffee demi glace — and Kona kanpachi ($35). The latter features a skin-on filet with hijiki edamame Japanese rice and dashi ponzu.

Conclude your meal with new desserts ($15 each) like mango cheesecake with calamansi sable; creme brulee; and Maui Ku’ia Estate chocolate crunch cake. The latter has been a bestseller so far, and features dark chocolate mousse, sea salted caramel, and Kula Maui strawberry compote.

Chef’s selection dinner buffet is from 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays

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100 Sails buffet cheese 021026

<title>New weekday dinner buffet at Prince Waikīkī</title>

100 Sails Restaurant & Bar just launched a new chef selection dinner buffet, available from 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays. This buffet costs $62 per adult; instead of action stations like prime rib or sushi handrolls, it features specialty items like roasted beef tri tip, guava barbecue pork ribs, mushroom risotto and more.

New weekday dinner buffet at Prince Waikīkī

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property on Hawai‘i Island’s Kohala Coast, has unveiled a new $180 million-plus renovation it says is the “most extensive transformation in the property’s 60-year history.”

The renovation, which spans both the hotel’s Main Tower and Beachfront Wing, includes 252 “fully reimagined” guest rooms and suites, along with a refreshed family resort pool with a new oceanfront hot tub and five private cabanas, a recent announcement noted.

Additions throughout both wings include handcrafted textiles, ceiling fans and plantation shutters, bedside lighting control panels, glass lānai doors, bathrooms with deep soaking tubs and more.

There’s also a new oceanfront wellness retreat with a state-of-the-art, 2,500-square-foot fitness center and an adults-only infinity lap pool along with refreshed public spaces with a curated gallery from the Rockefeller Art Collection.

According to the hotel, photovoltaic solar panels that supply about 45% of the resort’s overall electrical energy needs have also been added.

Other enhancements include the redesign of the Mauna Kea Golf Course by Robert Trent Jones Jr., the opening of the 28,000-square-foot 

, upgraded in-room amenities, and updates to the hotel’s restaurants, the announcement notes.

, for example, is a “re-concepting” of the resort’s beachfront dining venue, the announcement notes. Its lunch menu will include items like salads, burgers and Baja-style fish tacos, and evenings will feature contemporary regional Mexican dishes.

 restaurant also received a “refresh and introduced a new hyper garden-to-table menu” the hotels says is centered on local and seasonal ingredients that come from Big Island farmers, fishermen, ranchers and the resort’s new ‘Ulu Garden.

And coming this spring is The Spa at Mauna Kea, which will offer 11 treatment rooms, purification gardens, steam and sauna facilities, a pool and more.

“This renovation was always part of our long-term vision for Mauna Kea Beach Hotel,” hotel manager Kansas Henderson said in a statement provided to ASD. “Plans for the transformation were already underway prior to the [Covid-19] pandemic, and while it understandably paused our timeline, it did not pause our commitment. 

“As travel resumed around the globe, ownership recognized it was the right time to bring this long-planned vision to life, honoring our responsibility to preserve the hotel’s historic legacy and its culturally significant art collection while delivering the elevated and unforgettable experience today’s guests expect. The timing ultimately reflects both commitment and responsibility, ensuring Mauna Kea continues to create lasting memories for generations to come.”

Henderson says that on average, the hotel hosts approximately 25,000 visitors each year.

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel opened with 154 rooms in July 1965.

“It was while swimming in the turquoise waters of Kauna‘oa Bay, surrounded by a vast landscape of lava rock and ranchland with clear views of Maunakea’s summit, that American conservationist and venture capitalist Laurance S. Rockefeller decided to build Hawai‘i Island’s first resort,” a history on the 

. “His inspiration to capture the spirit of this special place and ensure the hotel conformed to, rather than intruded upon, these beautiful natural surroundings, became today’s Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.

Its $15 million build-out made the hotel the most expensive hotel ever built at the time, the site states. Room rates started at $43 per night and included breakfast and dinner. The hotel expanded in 1968 with the Beachfront Wing and has undergone other renovations over the years.

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel shares 1,839 oceanfront acres with The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort and Mauna Kea Residences, which together form the Mauna Kea Resort.

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Mauna Kea Beach Hotel 1

<title>Mauna Kea Beach Hotel debuts $180M renovation</title>

The hotel says this is the “most extensive transformation in the property’s 60-year history.”

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel debuts $180M renovation

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

A proposal to gradually remove the state’s tax on groceries has expired.

 would have reduced Hawai‘i's general excise tax on groceries and nonprescription drugs each year until removing it entirely in 2034, a House committee on Wednesday recommended that the bill be deferred, effectively killing the proposal.

At Wednesday’s hearing of the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, committee chair Rep. David Tarnas said he “can’t in good conscience move forward with a bill that might have a quarter-billion dollars in fiscal impact,” citing estimates mentioned previously in the hearing by fellow Rep. Elle Cochran.

Cochran had told the committee that her office had projected an annual revenue loss of up to $250 million, but added that this was merely a “guesstimation.”

State tax research officer Baybars Karacaovali told Aloha State Daily 

 that, by 2034, revenue losses would reach more than $460 million, but that the first stage of the tax cutback — which would have reduced the GET from 4% to 3.5% in 2027 — would only lead to a reduction of about $17.4 million that first year.

However, no firm projection has yet been released, and possibly never will be. Eliza Watson, administrative rules specialist for the state Department of Taxation told the committee on Wednesday that a revenue impact statement was being prepared for the bill’s eventual appearance before the House Finance Committee; with the bill deferred, that hearing will likely not take place.

Tarnas said the Department of Taxation should work closely with lawmakers and the Hawai‘i Tax Foundation to better understand the proposal’s impacts. He said he was reluctant to defer the measure, and noted its wide popularity among individuals, organizations and state agencies alike.

Several people spoke in support of the bill Wednesday, touting its potential to save low-income families hundreds of dollars each year.

“It’s not important that we tax the struggling families on a basic necessity,” said Nate Hix, policy director for the Hawai‘i Public Health Institute. “We can move our tax structure to a different tax on something that’s much more progressive and not burdening the low-income families the most.”

HB1611 was not the only bill introduced this year that would remove the GET from certain essential purchases. 

 would exempt groceries eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from the GET — regardless of whether the groceries were purchased via SNAP — along with nonprescription drugs, medical supplies, feminine hygiene products and baby diapers.

A Wednesday hearing of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services voted to recommend the bill’s passage, although no estimate about its potential revenue impact was discussed. The bill has been referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee but no hearing date has yet been scheduled.  

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State capitol 022725

<title>Tax on groceries to stay, for now</title>

One proposal to scale back the General Excise Tax on groceries and nonprescription drugs has died in the Legislature although another still stands.

Tax on groceries to stay, for now

Located at Pier 38 — in the former space of Nami Kaze Hawai

, but then closed to fine-tune its menu. It officially opened for dinner service Feb. 18; it’s currently open for dinner only from 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.

The eatery still focuses on serving the freshest seafood possible, according to manager Dong Dang.

“It’s still supposed to harbor-centric; we’re really going to work toward utilizing as much fish as possible and highlight those ingredients,” he says. “What we envisioned with this concept is a gathering place — someplace you can go and get really good seafood.”

The dinner menu — which will eventually expand to include more dishes — offers small plates meant for sharing, as well as larger entrees. Start with dishes like hamachi crudo ($17), maguro cabbage ($19), poke crackers ($10) and cabbage Caesar ($14).

The hamachi crudo, comprising yellowtail served with sinigang gazpacho and Ho Farms tomato, is light and refreshing. The maguro cabbage is a highlight for restaurant chef de cuisine Daysen Masuda, who came up with the eatery’s new menu.

“Growing up in Hilo, everything is cabbage and ‘ahi (instead of daikon and ‘ahi),” he says. “This is a play on that; it’s topped with ginger scallion, ginger garlic cilantro, green onions and ikura zuke.

“I think the whole menu, in general, is pretty approachable,” he adds. “It’s local flavors that you’re familiar with, but elevated a bit more.”

Of everything we try, the poke crackers ($10) are one of my favorites. Each order includes two rice crackers topped with local big-eye tuna, spicy aioli, avocado and tare.

“That dish alone is nostalgic,” Masuda says. “Growing up, you buy a container of poke and you’re either dipping shrimp chips or rice crackers into it and eating it together. That’s the perfect combination. I wanted to use rice crackers because that texture is so nice and crunchy, and it stays crunchy.” 

The cabbage Caesar is a tasty way to incorporate greens into the meal. It features a miso Caesar dressing — the miso flavor is subtle — along with Parmesan and fried anchovies for texture.

If you want something a little more indulgent, go for the shrimp toast ($10). Each order contains two petite sandos featuring shokupan bread and savory shrimp filling. It’s served with a makrut (kaffir lime) sauce for dipping.

When it comes to entrees, the fried whole moi ($36), furikake king salmon ($38), and ‘ahi steak ($28) come highly recommended. The moi features a Alii mushroom and lup cheong stuffing.

“A lot of the dishes (here) are different from what you would find anywhere else, but the moi, to us, is a standout,” Dang says.

“The moi is definitely something I’m very proud of,” adds Masuda. “In Hilo, when you go to someone’s house or party, there’s always someone who has steamed fish. That’s our play on that.”

Moist and buttery, the Big Glory Bay king salmon is topped with a delectable furikake crunch and served with garlic aioli. Meanwhile, the ‘ahi steak features local big-eye served with confit potato and watercress salad.

Other entrée options include huli huli chicken with lemongrass huli glaze, watercress and kabocha, and braised short rib ($34).

The eatery also features specialty cocktails — including toasted rice old fashioned ($17), gin mint gimlet ($15) and chili water margarita ($16) — and will be expanding its beverage menu in the future.

The restaurant is accepting reservations via 

. Stay tuned — it will be launching lunch service and happy hour in the coming months.

Thirty Eight chef Daysen 021926

<title>New seafood restaurant opens at Pier 38</title>

Located in the former space of Nami Kaze Hawaiʻi at Pier 38, Thirty Eight restaurant just opened to the public for dinner. The menu focuses on fresh seafood; customers can enjoy dishes like hamachi crudo, poke crackers, shrimp toast, and a fried whole moi.

New seafood restaurant opens at Pier 38

new movie starring actors Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista

 that will start streaming on Prime Video on Jan. 28 — Zippy’s is debuting a new menu item for a limited time.

 is available starting today, Jan. 12, at all Zippy’s locations in Hawai

i and Southern Nevada until Sunday, March 1. The Wrecking Crew Pac ($15.95 in Honolulu at takeout; prices vary by location) features a combination of Zippy’s signature items and customer favorites.

The new menu item includes three scoops of rice with furikake, two scoops of Zippy’s OG chili, one scoop of mac salad, one piece of fried chicken, four pieces of Portuguese sausage and one piece of hoki fish.

Select scenes from “The Wrecking Crew” were filmed at Zippy’s ʻEwa store in 2024. Zippy’s fans are encouraged to try the new menu item and watch “The Wrecking Crew."

Zippys Wrecking Crew plates 010926

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

The new movie launches this month, featuring Momoa and Dave Bautista, who play estranged brothers brought together by the death of their father. The story is set in the Islands.

"The Wrecking Crew"

What to know about 'The Wrecking Crew' starring Jason Momoa

<title>The Wrecking Crew Pac is now available at Zippy’s</title>

The limited-time menu item, inspired by Prime Video’s “The Wrecking Crew,” will be available at all Zippy’s locations in Hawaiʻi and Southern Nevada starting today until March 1.

The Wrecking Crew Pac is now available at Zippy’s

 — a brand-new condo with 972 residential units and two, 44-story towers — is also home to a new food hall.

Located on the ground floor of the Liona Tower, 

 is celebrating its grand opening from 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, Jan. 17. The food hall is soft opening with limited hours (11 a.m. to 8 p.m.) from Jan. 9 to 16.

[{"type":"text","text":"The food hall features both indoor and outdoor seating."}]

The space features 12 locally owned restaurants, and offers customers a variety of local and international flavors. Not all of the vendors are open yet; some have limited menus for the soft opening.

Vendors include FEAST by Jon Matsubara, King Thai Cuisine, Mangiamo Gelato, Middle Eats, Ninja Sushi, Sadie’s BBQ Honolulu, Serg’s Mexican Kitchen, Soul Chicken and more.

During today’s friends and family preview, participating vendors were serving samples and were open for business.

Serg’s Mexican Kitchen features the same menu as its Mānoa location. Meanwhile, the food hall is the first location for new vendors like Mangiamo Gelato.

On grand opening day, families are invited to enjoy keiki activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To access Midtown Eats, customers can enter the parking garage from the building’s Liona Street entrance and park on floors 1 to 2.5. Validated parking will be available.

Midtown Eats interior 010826

<title>New Honolulu food hall is now open</title>

Midtown Eats, the new food hall at The Park on Keʻeaumoku, is celebrating its grand opening from 10 a.m. to midnight on Jan. 17. The food hall is soft opening during limited hours from Jan. 9 to 16. Aloha State Daily got a tour of the new space.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "A good day in Hawai‘i"

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