It’s the first day of the Wednesday okazuya pop-up at Diamond Head Market & Grill, and there’s a steady stream of customers. With okazuya items like teri beef sticks, char siu pork belly, fried saimin, cucumber namasu and roast pork hash tempura, though, it’s no surprise. In particular, the roast pork hash tempura ($3) and inari ($5.50) were hot commodities on the okazuya’s first day.
Customers who have missed the cooking and flavors from chef Jason Peel — formerly of Nami Kaze Hawaiʻi, which closed its doors at the end of October — can look forward to the return of favorites like Grandma’s potato salad ($4) and ginger fried chicken ($4) on the okazuya menu. Other options include kimbap ($8.95), furikake Goteborg musubi ($3.25), bittermelon namasu ($4.50) and buttermilk fried chicken ($6). The okazuya launched on Dec. 17 and is currently available from 7 to 10:30 a.m. (or until sold out) on Dec. 24 and 31.
While the okazuya is only one day a week for now, customers can look forward to additional days in 2026. That’s just one of the concepts that Peel — who is now the chef/partner at Diamond Head Market & Grill, with owner Kelvin Ro — is working on.
We recently caught up with Peel, who shares more about his new role at the iconic destination.
ASD: Congrats on your new role, chef! Can you tell us how this came about?
Jason Peel (JP): I’ve known Kelvin [Ro] for quite some time from when I was teaching at KCC (Kapiʻolani Community College). We always kind of thought of doing something together, but I got into Nami Kaze.
We had our three-year lease … in the closing, I was talking to Kelvin to see if he needed help. I knew a lot of good people that I would need to find jobs for. We started talking about a transition.
It was a really hard decision [to close]; I kept my core management and had to shrink the foundation of our team, and re-grow. But I’m super excited; Kelvin’s next year will be 25 years he’s been running his business. There are so many great things about his business, and I’m trying to add what I can do without getting in the way. I want to see what we can do with local products and showcase them in a different way.
I want to start with the basics first because it’s an established business; I want to learn what their culture is. It’s been good; the team there has been so welcoming. I worked with them three years ago when I was remodeling Nami Kaze. I had some free time and I worked with Kelvin a bit.
It all kind of fell into place, as far as me transitioning to something more in that realm, as opposed to a full-service dining establishment. It kind of just aligned. [Now] it’s like I came back, which is nice. There’s a lot of things that he wanted to do, but never had the support to do it, so we’re trying to work on all these projects together, which has been fun.
ASD: What are you looking forward to in this new role?
JP: I really want to get out more and work with more people in the field. And that’s high schools, and getting closer to seeing what the farmers are dealing with. Just going at this industry from a different perspective. There’s so many different worlds and parts to this industry.
ASD: What are some of the most popular dishes currently on the market’s menu?
JP: They’re known for their chicken and kalbi, and their burgers are made from scratch. To me, it’s all about the grill. Everything’s being cooked to order on the grill. I like how they have brown rice and salad. I love mac salad and potato salad, but to have healthier options on your plate lunch that’s made to order is so awesome.
They have a lot of classic things in the marketplace; they do a great job with their desserts. They’ve had beef stroganoff on there (the menu) forever. They have a lot of nice salads; I love somen salad, so I’ll eat that sometimes. We want to not take away, but add to it. I want to get some of our sauces in there to go with the food; we’re working on that.
ASD: You recently did a Thanksgiving plate special for the holiday. How did you come up with that?
JP: That is all Kelvin. More than three years ago, they were doing turkey dinners. We’re going to work together in keeping his culture and nostalgic flavors along with me doing what I do, and collaborating in that manner. I like to learn first what he likes. We’ll see what kind of fun we can have next year.
ASD: Tell us more about the return of the weekend breakfast menu. Did breakfast stop for a while?
JP: Breakfast stopped around the Covid-19 pandemic; it was nice to bring it back. The breakfast (menu) uses his classics; as the weeks go on, we’ll probably start adding some dishes that are more my style. We’ll make more stuff as we go.
What’s cool about this staff is they’re so dedicated; they’ve been here for a long time. You can see that they have so much passion in what they’re doing. They’re working really hard. They brought so many years of nostalgic and homestyle food to everybody.
ASD: What are some dishes or ingredients you’d like to bring to the menu?
JP: I love using ‘ulu and anything that the island grows. What we grow in Hawaiʻi is what I want to get on the menu. The land makes what the land makes. When you live somewhere, those are the things you’re supposed to eat and the things you grew up on and want to share with the rest of the world. What makes me feel good is when we’re taking products that are naturally grown here and make it into something that people want to eat every day. That’s what’s cool; that’s what I’m looking forward to.
ASD: What are some of your other plans?
JP: We’re working on a coffee/drink program. They’re getting some high-quality coffee, so we’ll do some cold brew. We got a slushy machine.
We’re also slowly working on our event spaces. One’s upstairs [of the market]; it’s not necessarily a restaurant, but we’ll do little pop-ups here and there. There’s an indoors and outdoors; it’s a nice, homey area. We’re trying to get that renovated — just painting, cleaning and patching. We’re not trying to run a restaurant, but trying to do some collaborations with some chef friends and people we partnered with before, and get back to showcasing all the local products.
There are so many things that we can do, it gets overwhelming. We’ve been trying to look at things as far as getting a timeline on what’s first, what’s next. “Let me look at this, is that feasible to do right now?” It’s a lot.
ASD: Will pastry chef Bev Luk eventually have her pastries at the market, too?
JP: She’s taking a little break. She deserves it; she’s been pushing hard the last few months. I had a ton of catering and events; I wanted to let her relax for a bit. She’d love to pop up one day and do some dessert tastings.
ASD: Is there anything else you wanted to add?
JP: We want to keep it [Diamond Head Market & Grill] alive for as long as possible. Hopefully, we can keep it going as it’s been for 25 years, and add some new, nostalgic flavors to it.
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CONTACT
Diamond Head Market & Grill
3158 Monsarrat Ave., Honolulu
808-732-0077
diamondheadmarket.com
Weekend breakfast served from 7 to 10:30 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Okazuya from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (or until sold out) Dec. 24 and 31
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
