A childhood fantasy has become reality for two Hawaii Kai sisters Brooke Watson and Shyrah Maurer dreamed of running a business together and in 2002 they opened the home and gift shop called SoHa Living. Sixteen years later, there are…
Malia Obama interned at the Kaimuki restaurant during the summer of 2017 Two and a half years after its founding, the name Mud Hen Water still raises eyebrows. But that’s the point. Mud Hen Water is a restaurant named after…
It started with the letter O. “The paddlers should be inside the O,” said Kawika Mahelona as he and his friend, David G. Kim, hashed out a logo for their budding idea, which eventually became Oiwi Ocean Gear. Mahelona and…
Is Honolulu’s The Vanguard Theory a chapter in a UH philosophy text or perhaps the strategic vision behind the Vanguard Lofts condos? It’s actually a multidisciplinary design firm that does everything from interior design to brand strategy. Its clients have…
Tadpole Studio is not an aquarium. It’s a multidisciplinary design firm with offices in Honolulu and Bangkok. So what do tadpoles have to do with design? It’s all about mentality, says owner and architect Bundit Kanisthakhon, who grew up in…
Ten years ago, when Neil Koep opened one of the first European style bakeries on Oahu, he wanted a name that would stand out and let people know this isn’t local style. He picked Fendu Boulangerie. Fendu is a French…
Mahina & Sun’s, the restaurant in the remodeled Surfjack Hotel, almost never happened. When the developer pitched Ed Kenney on the idea, his plate was brimming. Kenney is the owner of Town restaurant on Waialae Avenue and he had just…
Fill Aloha Stadium with people, then multiply by two. What do you get? Eric Hannum, a former UH football player, says that’s about the number of people who have visited his outpatient MRI facility called InVision. InVision opened in 2007…
Cooking runs deep in the Tsai family. From grandfather to father to Charlie, and now to son Jimmy, culinary skills are like a family heirloom. Charlie is the chef, owner and manager of Dew Drop Inn. The dumplings, drunken chicken…
Highway Inn is on the ground floor of a four-story building on Ala Moana Boulevard, where it might look like an inn to tourists, says owner Monica Toguchi Ryan. But most locals know that despite the word “Inn,” there are…
Waialua Sugar Mill closed in 1996, but rumors of its shutdown were already circulating in the late 1970s, says Milton Agader, who worked in field operations. So he and his wife, Lavina, started a business in 1978 called Brown Bottle,…
When Rachel Glenn told her father about the sandwich shop she and her husband were opening in Honolulu, he expressed concern. “With a name like that,” her father said, “you’re just going to have gangsters hanging around outside.” Thankfully, he…
Kamal Jemmari spent long hours in the kitchen with his mother – but via Skype video conference. Jemmari was in Honolulu about to open a new restaurant and his mother was in Morocco where he grew up. “I tried to…
“Why does a doctor’s office do all this IT stuff?” the prospective account asked Rosa White, CFO and co-founder of DRFortress. It wasn’t the first time someone mistook the name of her company for Dr. Fortress. White says DRFortress is…
Shadi Faridi attended craft fairs before she could walk. She occupied a baby carrier under tables at craft booths while her mother, Michele Zane-Faridi, helped her brother, famed designer Sig Zane, back when he was just starting out. Fast-forward over…
“Mom, do you really want to do this?” asked Kathy Tra when her mother decided to buy a small restaurant in Wahiawa. The front window was cracked and from what Kathy could discern, the books indicated little business. But the…
“People used to come in and say, ‘We thought you were a restaurant!’” says BoxJelly founder Rechung Fujihira. That rarely happens anymore. The concept of a co-working space has become a global phenomenon, and BoxJelly is now one of several…
When Raul Torres’ brothers called him boca, which means mouth in Portuguese, they were making fun of him. “Brazilians love to pick on your flaws,” says Torres, who grew up in Brazil. His flaw was his big mouth, according to…
A clothing venture seems an unlikely calling for two botanists and a journalism major. But the three local women share a common desire: to see Hawaiian language, flora and fauna accurately and more fashionably portrayed on clothing. In 2006, Hina…
Casey Kwok owns Fook Yuen restaurant but he didn’t choose the provocative name. The landlord did. Twenty-five years ago, Kwok was vying for a restaurant location in Honolulu’s McCully Shopping Center. When the center’s landlord asked if he would accept his…
When Mason and Dixie Rose say everything is better in the arvo, Australians will understand. For the rest of us, arvo is an informal Aussie way to say afternoon. When the husband and wife opened their coffee shop in Kakaako…
When Jin Hong started visiting bar and restaurant suppliers as the new GM for Café Duck Butt, people remembered him. Some giggled when he said the name. “Back in the day, people thought I was either a pervert or that…