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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"To be in that moment."}]

Firefly surfing whale in hawaii 262426

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Surfing with friends</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @BriannaCope, who caught a once in a lifetime wave.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Surfing with friends

To be in that moment.  Make sure you follow @BriannaCope on Instagram!

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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Guieb Cafe’s new downtown Honolulu location in Davies Pacific Center isn’t open to the public yet. However, there’s another downtown Honolulu space where customers can find the cafe’s popular ube mascarpone pancakes and pork adobo omelets.

 — operated by the Guieb Cafe team — opened this month in the cafeteria space of the Prince Kūhiō Federal Building in downtown Honolulu.

“We were presented with an opportunity to take over a federal building cafeteria — which was not something we are used to or even knew anything about,” general manager Precious Guieb remembers. “We checked it out and we were stunned by how big the space is.”

The cafeteria space — which is open to the public — had been vacant for a while, according to Guieb. She says she had returned from visiting the cafe’s Las Vegas location during the summer, and checked out the current Pīkake Cafe space in August.

“We got this up and running the whole month of September with inspections and such; our first day open was Oct. 1," Guieb says.

“Since we already do catering already, we thought, ‘Maybe it’ll work out,’ so we gave it a shot,” she adds. “We serve similar items to Guieb Cafe and similar dishes from our catering (menu), so it’s kind of a blend of both, while catering to the whole cafeteria vibe.”

Guieb says her dad is the chef and owner, and the cafe’s name was inspired by his favorite scent.

“My dad really likes the pīkake flower,” she says. “He felt like this was a good name for it; he was mentioning how he wanted to bring life here (in this space).”

Even though Pīkake Cafe is in a federal building, the cafeteria is open to the public, according to Guieb. Individuals need to pass through a security checkpoint, then catch the elevator to the fifth floor, where the cafeteria is located.

The cafe serves breakfast from 6 to 10 a.m.; options range from breakfast burritos ($12.48) and croissantwiches ($12.48) to ube mascarpone pancakes ($14.56) and ube waffles ($10.40).

“Everything is made to order,” Guieb says. “We brought our ube mascarpone pancakes (from Guieb Cafe) here; it’s a smaller portion. That, the ube waffles and pork adobo omelet have been a hit in the mornings.”

Breakfast burritos feature spinach wraps stuffed with sausage, eggs, cheese and potatoes, and they’re served with a potato medley. The cafe’s croissantwiches (croissant sandwiches) include sausage, eggs and cheese.

During lunch — served from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. — customers can opt for an all-you-can-load salad bar ($14.56) or go for one- or two-choice plate lunch-style entrees. The salad bar includes Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, artichokes, boiled eggs, bacon bits, fresh-cut seasonal fruits, creamy basil pesto rigatoni and more, according to Guieb.

“You can fill up (your plate) as much or as little as you want,” she says. “We’re getting great feedback on that.”

Entrees change daily for the plate lunches. For instance, Mondays feature shoyu chicken and chicken long rice, with roast pork and mushroom gravy ($15.60) as a special; on Fridays, customers can choose from Korean short ribs kalbi, hamburger steak, chicken adobo and kalua pig and cabbage. Plates usually come with potato mac salad or steamed veggies and rice.

Many specials feature popular options from Guieb Cafe or the business’s catering menu, according to Guieb.

“Our Korean short ribs is very popular on our catering menu,” she says. “We have hamburger steak and garlic shrimp (as entrees), which are popular from the Guieb Cafe menu.

“Yesterday, we had oxtail soup on special; next week, we’ll have chicken papaya soup and clam pasta,” she adds. “Things that we don’t normally get to do at Guieb Cafe, we’ll try to incorporate here.”

Guieb notes that, while parking can be limited at the federal building, it’s a short walk from Waterfront Plaza, where there’s ample parking.

“We get a lot of HPU students coming here for breakfast and lunch,” she says. “People are always like, ‘I’ve been wanting to visit (Guieb Cafe),’ so in a way, they get to try our flavors. We’re not sure what to expect, but we’re excited. We’re trying to give them (the state and federal workers) something to look forward to.”

300 Ala Moana Blvd. fifth floor, Honolulu

Open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, closed all federal holidays

Pikake Cafe Precious Guieb 100526

<title>Pīkake Cafe offers local-style comfort food in downtown Honolulu</title>

The sister business of Guieb Cafe is located in the cafeteria space of the Prince Kūhiō Federal Building in downtown Honolulu. The cafeteria is open to the public — customers have to go through a security checkpoint — from Mondays to Fridays. Diners can expect some of the most popular dishes from Guieb Café, including ube mascarpone pancakes, pork adobo omelets and hamburger steak.

Pīkake Cafe offers local-style comfort food in downtown Honolulu

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin has been taken private in a $2.3 billion deal that closed last week.

A&B, which previously was the only publicly traded real estate investment trust focused solely on Hawai‘i commercial real estate, 

 it had entered into a “definitive merger agreement” wherein a joint venture group formed by MW Group, a privately held Honolulu-based, commercial real estate developer, with funding from Blackstone Real Estate and DivcoWest, would acquire all outstanding A&B common shares for $21.20 per share.

The transaction closed following approval by A&B shareholders at a special meeting March 9, a 

 noted. A&B's common stock is no longer being traded on the New York Stock Exchange and it is now a private company, the announcement says.

 that following the closure of the deal, A&B would keep its name, brand and 

, and continue to be led by a Hawai‘i-based team. That announcement also noted that the investor group plans to invest more than $100 million across the portfolio to “enhance the properties and reinforce their role in the communities they serve.”

According to the A&B website, the current leadership teams includes President and CEO 

; Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer 

; and six senior vice presidents. See the 

A&B got its start more than 150 years ago, when childhood friends Samuel Alexander and Henry Baldwin established a sugar-growing partnership on Maui in 1870. The company was one of the “

” companies that dominated Hawai‘i’s political and economic landscape in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. You can find more of the 

In recent years, though, the company pivoted its focus to Hawai‘i commercial real estate.

, one of the state’s largest asphalt paving contractors, materials and construction companies, to locally owned construction company Nan, Inc.

 and its sale marked the “culmination of A&B’s simplification strategy, allowing us to sharpen our focus on our core business a s the preeminent commercial real estate company in Hawai‘i,” Parker said in a statement 

Today, A&B owns and manages about 4 million square feet of commercial space in the Islands, including 21 retail centers, 14 industrial assets, four office properties and 146 acres of ground lease holdings.

As for the investor group, MW Group, Ltd. has led the acquisition, development and management of a $1 billion-plus commercial property portfolio that includes retail, industrial, office, self-storage facilities and senior assisted living communities.

Blackstone, meanwhile, is the largest owner of commercial real estate globally. 

DivcoWest is a real estate investment firm headquartered in San Francisco that, along with its predecessor, has acquired about 61 million square feet of commercial space, largely throughout the U.S., 

Alexander Baldwin Building 013125

<title>Alexander & Baldwin becomes private in $2.3B deal</title>

Previously a publicly traded real estate investment trust focused solely on Hawai‘i commercial real estate, A&B now is privately held through a joint venture formed by MW Group, Blackstone Real Estate and DivcoWest.

Alexander & Baldwin becomes private in $2.3B deal

The Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa and its owner, Takenaka Corp., have marked the resort’s 35th anniversary in a big way.

Last month, the resort honored 130 employees who have worked there for 30 years or more with a luncheon and a “financial gift” presented on behalf of the ownership, a recent announcement noted. And during a Dec. 5 anniversary celebration, the resort and its owner gifted $100,000 endowments to four community foundations that support of the Garden Isle community.

, the central fundraising organization for the UH system; 

, which supports Wilcox Medical Center, the island’s largest medical facility and only level III trauma center and primary stroke center; 

, the state’s leading philanthropic organization; and 

, an independent college prep school in Līhu‘e.

“We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing generosity of the Takenaka Corp. and their commitment to ensuring that not only our hotel colleagues, but the greater community of Kauai, is able to preserve and thrive,” Michael Murphy, general manager of Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa, said in the announcement. “The Takenaka’s leadership and care is reflected in the more than 130 resort colleagues who have worked at our resort for more than 30 years, many of them having opened the resort in 1990. At Hyatt, our purpose is to care for others so they can be their best, and the Takenaka’s are the embodiment of that philosophy through their support of this amazing community.”

A representative for the resort told Aloha State Daily in an email that the owners selected these foundations because they believed the funds “would reach the greatest number of people and have the most positive impact on Kaua‘i community and its future.”

Wilcox Health Foundation and Island School can use the funding at their discretion, the representative noted. However, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation funds will go toward its Takenaka Kaua‘i Cultural and Environmental Fund, the Takenaka Kaua‘i Healthcare Fund and the Takenaka Kaua‘i Community Fund; and the UH Foundation funds will go toward the Takenaka Scholarship Fund and the Takenaka Corp. internship.

The Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i is a 650-room oceanfront resort located on 50 acres near Po‘ipū. The resort welcomed its first guest on Nov. 15, 1990.

Endowment Presentation at Grand Hyatt Kauai 35th Anniversary Celebration

<title>Kaua‘i resort gifts $400K to community foundations</title>

The Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa and its owner, Takenaka Corp., marked the resort’s 35th anniversary by honoring longtime employees and gifting $100,000 endowments to four local community foundations.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Surfing with friends

Kady Pascual

Social Media & Marketing Manager

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Surfing with friends

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media & Marketing Manager

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Enter for a chance to win tickets to see Disney’s live action adaptation of the animated film ‘Moana’

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