The entrance to recently opened PEWA by Pono Potions — located in the former space of The Lei Stand in Chinatown — looks like an antique shop, filled with vintage Hawaiian décor. But, as soon as you go the “portal” of aloha shirts, you’ll be transported to a modern lounge space.
“We did want to keep an element of a speakeasy feel for the space,” says business owner Peter Hessler, of PEWA by Pono Potions’ location. “It does look like a very small space from the street, and then it opens up to a big, expansive bar and this awesome courtyard.
“We wanted it to be a bit of a surprise,” he adds. “My partner Michael (Cabagbag) is a big collector of vintage Hawaiian antiques and is passionate about vintage clothes and art. That’s (the entrance) really his space — we’re calling it his antique shop — and it’s going to get more stuffed with antiques as we go. It’s going to feel like a really unique, hole-in-the-wall, Chinatown antique shop.”
This cocktail lounge concept has been in the works for some time for Hessler and Cabagbag, owners of artisan syrup company Pono Potions.
“Michael and I had always talked about wanting to open a cocktail lounge, just because our syrups really lend themselves to making cocktails,” Hessler says. “We always tell people they can make cocktails with them; we haven’t really had a home base for that.
“We’re really excited,” he adds. “This is a really big endeavor for us, from growing the syrup business and the café (Pō'ai by Pono Potions), which is still fairly small and only open during the day. This is twice as big as the café, twice as many hours and multiple food menus, cocktails plus coffee and matcha in the morning. It is a lot for us, and we’re so excited to share everything with the people around us.”
He explains the business’s name stems from a traditional Hawaiian word portrayed in the lounge’s logo.
“It’s the traditional Hawaiian word for this shape — this fishtail-kind of shape — in the ‘P’ (of PEWA),” Hessler says. “It was traditionally used for woodworking and mending two pieces of wood together. We were inspired by that because we wanted to bring our community together. With this being our first night and cocktail concept, we have much more space to invite the community into events and host workshops.
“It’s everything we have been doing for Pō'ai (by Pono Potions) for years, just in a different setting,” he adds.
PEWA by Pono Potions features an espresso bar in the morning from 9 to 11 a.m., then offers different menus for lunch (served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and pau hana (4 to 9 p.m.). The espresso bar is different from the specialty beverages customers can get at sister business Pō'aiby Pono Potions, which is also located in Chinatown.
“Pō'ai is still our flagship store for our Pono Potions syrups for our coffee and matcha drinks,” Hessler explains. “There are about 30-plus specialty drink options and combinations and cold foams at Pō'ai. For this space, we wanted to keep it very simple. It’s more of a purist European-style espresso bar — there are classic drinks, cortados, lattes, flat whites, things like that.”
Customers who visit PEWA by Pono Potions in the morning can enjoy a rotating selection of baked goods from Ulu and Kalo Bakery and Aloha German Bakery, according to Hessler.
“Ulu and Kalo Bakery — which we use at Pō'aiby Pono Potions — has all vegan and gluten-free baked goods that are amazing,” he says. “We also started working with Aloha German Bakery; they are more classic European-style baked goods.”
PEWA’s lunch and pau hana menus have given Hessler the chance to get back into the kitchen and exercise his culinary creativity.
“I grew up in Portland in the back of the house as a cook and banquet chef in hotels and restaurants,” he says. “I haven’t really gotten into much (of that) here in Hawai‘i; I haven’t worked in a kitchen in more than 13 years. It was really daunting, having this much space with a full kitchen and just thinking about how I was going to manage that.”
Hessler says he created all the recipes for the dishes on the lunch and pau hana menus, with some help from his cousin, Arden Waikīkī chef Jasmyne Wood.
“It’s been a really fun process to meld all of those things together,” he says.
PEWA’s lunch menu includes pūpū like yuzu citrus glaze chicken wings ($18) and fritto misto ($18); salads like Caesar ($15) and burrata Caprese ($18); and entrees like grilled chicken club ($18) and a rib-eye sando ($24).
“Working in Chinatown for so long, I’m always in search for a filling, healthy, good sandwich,” Hessler says. “I really like our chicken club with avocado and bacon — it’s super simple, but really good.”
Meanwhile, the pau hana menu includes more shareable dishes.
“We didn’t want it to be a place where you felt you were going out for a three-course meal; it’s not a sit-down dinner service sort of place,” he says. “It’s a space to enjoy a cocktail and share different things with your friends.
Customers can opt for dishes like grilled boneless rib-eye ($48), herb-grilled prawns ($32), hot sausage vodka rigatoni ($24) and spaghetti aglio e olio ($20).
“The grilled prawns are served with a housemade grilled baba ganoush; that’s a really fun thing to share,” Hessler says. “We have a pūpū rib-eye steak with a chimichurri sauce and it’s lightly marinated with red wine and some balsamic vinegar; it’s really, really good. The chicken wings are a crowd favorite already; they’re super crispy with a yuzu citrus glaze.”
The pau hana menu also offers a variety of shareable boards that are designed to split among three to four people, according to Hessler. Choose from smoked salmon with whipped herb goat cheese and house pickles ($23); Mediterranean with grilled baba ganoush, hummus and crudite ($20); and charcuterie and cheese ($25).
“We have a lot of boards; I’ve been pretty infamous for charcuterie boards," he says. "We would host so many events at Pō'ai, and I would make huge, elaborate boards all the time. I wanted to bring that here as well.”
PEWA boasts an extensive drink menu; customers can choose from handcrafted cocktails ($18), espresso martinis ($14-$18), beers ($8-$10) and classic Pono spritzes ($14), along with wines by the glass and bottle.
So far, customer favorites include the Crown Flower ($18) — milk-washed gin, pikake and lychee-accented cocktail — and Red Palaka ($18). The latter pays homage to the Year of the Fire Horse, and features a tequila and mezcal sour paired with olena pineapple and pink lucky candy.
“The Red Palaka is one of my favorites,” Hessler says. “I (also) really like the Mana Mai’a ($16), which uses our new banana bread Pono Potions syrup, fresh lemon juice, vodka, and freshly grated cinnamon on top.”
Any of the classic Pono spritzes ($14 each) can be made into non-alcoholic versions, according to Hessler. These drinks usually feature a base spirit, house soda, and Pono Potions syrups. If you want something refreshing, go for the non-alcoholic version of the hibiscus mojito, which is a blend of hibiscus syrup, lime and soda.
On Sundays, the space is open for brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (last call for the kitchen is at 2 p.m.). Dishes range from shakshuka and avocado toast to rib-eye steak and eggs and a sweetbread French toast skillet.
“We want this space to be like the destination for a fun Sunday boozy brunch with good food and good drinks on the patio,” Hessler says.
He says that, since opening, the space has already been busy on Friday and Saturday nights.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of life we bring into this space,” Hessler says. “We want to make this space accessible to everyone — we want to make it a destination for people to come to have one drink or one coffee, or just to relax all night and eat some good food as well. The most important thing is the camaraderie with the community.”
CONTACT
PEWA by Pono Potions
1115 Bethel St., Honolulu
Instagram: @pewa.ponopotions
Open 9 to 11 a.m. (espresso bar), 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (lunch), and 4 to 9 p.m. (pau hana) Wednesdays to Saturdays; open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
