Olohana Brewpub by Kalihi Beer opened quietly in Chinatown in August — about three weeks ago now — but owner and founder Chris Cook intended it to be that way. The brewpub, located at 96 North King Street (in the former Stewbum & Stonewall Brewing Co. space), is the next chapter for Kalihi Beer.
“We’re a bunch of locally talented people working together to get this up and running,” he says. “We wanted to give ourselves a month of runway before we invited people for the grand opening.”
Olohana Brewpub by Kalihi Beer’s grand opening will be from noon to 10 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 13. Attendees can look forward to live entertainment, along with food and drink specials.
The 2,600-square-foot modern brewery replaces Kalihi Beer’s former home brew supply store and brewery in Kalihi. When the company’s lease was up in Kalihi, Cook said they needed to find a space with a quick turnaround — which is why the layout and design of the current brewpub space remained the same.
“We didn’t change anything; we worked with what we had to get it off the ground,” he says.
The brewpub’s name is inspired by the concept of “all hands,” according to Cook, who explains that sailor John Young used the phrase “all hands,” as in “all hands on deck.”
“I grew up in California; I’m a visitor to Hawaiʻi, but I’ve taken it as my kuleana to help grow the economy here,” Cook says. “A neighborhood like Chinatown has so much vitality with a lot of challenges; the best way to conquer these is by working together and putting all hands into the pot and coming up with some solutions.”
The new brewpub keeps Kalihi Beer in its name to pay respect to its former location, according to Cook.
“We were located in Kalihi; we took a lot of pride being in that neighborhood,” Cook says.
Customers can still find a rotating assortment of beers on tap. Kalihi Beers include Rappa Red and Everybody’s Devil; a variety of locally made beers from craft breweries across the State are also available.
The brewpub also features an assortment of freshly made snacks and pizzas. Having high-quality food to pair with the beers was essential to Cook.
“If we’re going to put that much pride into our beer, we’re really neglecting the customer if we don’t bring that same level of pride and attention to detail to the food,” he says. “We wanted to make this a well-rounded experience.”
Cook hired a consultant chef, Gilbert Arangure — the chef at Taco Invader — to assess the brewpub’s capabilities with its built-in equipment, and help them come up with a starter menu. Chef Nickie Tavares, the current brewpub chef, also brings his previous fine dining experience to the table, according to Cook.
“What both of these guys have in common is they’ve worked in fine dining, they understand the importance of presentation, high-quality ingredients and the process,” Cook says. “We make our own ranch dressing, we make our own pizza sauces from scratch. Everything is done with intention, everything is done with the same passion and quality we’re putting into the beer.”
Because the brewpub’s kitchen was already set up for pizza, Cook decided to continue that. He was able to apply his knowledge of beer and fermentation to the savory pies.
“We’re doing a three-day fermentation with the dough,” he says. “That develops a richness of flavor in the dough, and gives it a nice toothiness with the cheese.
“I learned a lot about pizza when opening up this place,” he adds. “There are a lot of different qualities of mozzarella cheese; we are using 100% whole milk mozzarella.”
Pizzas are available in two styles — Romano, or 14-inch rectangular-shaped pizzas with a slightly thicker dough, and round Neapolitan-style pizzas.
“Romano is technically a deeper dish, but not as deep as we’re used to in the United States," Cook says. "Neapolitan style is hand tossed.”
Neapolitan-style pizzas come in flavors like salami tsunami ($26) — red sauce, salami, Kalamata olives, pepperoncini, mozzarella and Parmesan — Kalua-Palooza pie ($27), which includes Kalua pork, caramelized onion bechamel, mango salsa, caramelized onions and cilantro, and the Fun-Gi Bonanza ($26). The latter is my personal favorite of the pizzas we try; it features a bechamel-based sauce with a mushroom medley, fresh thyme, truffle pate and caramelized onions.
The salami pizza was a standout for Cook.
“I like a little spice in my life, and that does it for me,” he says.
The brewpub also features small bites like a chef’s charcuterie selection ($17), hummus with veggies and naan ($10), pretzels served with Olohana beer cheese ($14), and chips and dip ($8).
“We do a nice housemade hummus plate,” Cook says. “Chef Gilbert spent a lot of time in Israel, so we’re doing more of a Mediterranean-style hummus, which tends to be a little bit silkier. It’s smoother and has a lower viscosity; it’s not as much of a paste and has high-quality flavor. He’s cooking the beans an extra-long time to get that silky texture.”
The brewpub also just launched a new Sunday brunch, available from 7 a.m.
“We noticed a few things (in Chinatown),” Cook says. “With the closing of Square Barrels, there’s nobody with a dedicated craft beer bar. We’re going to take that space with our 20 taps. We have seven TVs; we’re going to show every NFL game every day.”
The brunch menu currently features a few specials, but more dishes may be added in the future. Brunch dishes include a spinach and feta quiche ($16), sausage and pepper frittata ($14), avocado toast ($16) and bagel lox ($14). The spinach and feta quiche is a savory, cheesy medley paired with raspberry vinaigrette and dill crema. The avocado toast is piled with avocado puree, pickled shallots, marinated cherry tomatoes and a hard-boiled egg atop a Breadshop country loaf.
“The quiche blew my mind,” Cook says. “He’s (Tavares) making his own quiche pie crust from scratch. The lox and bagel has cured lox — chef is house curing the salmon using the hops that we use in the brewery. What we want is high-end presentation in a very casual environment.
“We’re really happy to be part of this community,” he adds. “We see a lot of potential and a lot of pride in Chinatown.”
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CONTACT
Olohana Brewpub by Kalihi Beer
96 N. King St., Honolulu
Instagram: @olohanabrewpub
Open 12-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 12-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
