Name: Ray Takeshita
Age: 44
Position: Manager, Hibiscus Cafe, Waikiki Beachcomber
First job: Gas station attendant
Favorite pastimes: Fishing, community service

Adding a few plants to Hibiscus

Ray Takeshita is going even more tropical at the Hibiscus Cafe, the terrace restaurant of the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. He wants to attract visitors and those working in Waikiki by adding papaya, banana, pineapple and taro plants.

"We'll have these plants on two or three sides of the terrace," Takeshita said. "We'll start in about a month and should be finished by May." The plants will carry identification signs for tourists, he said.

Takeshita will be responsible for the cafe, banquets and hotel room service.

He graduated from Farrington High School and worked as a commercial fisherman, before studying food service at Leeward Community College.

In the past 13 years, Takeshita has managed Ray's Inn Aiea, the Sizzler Restaurant in Kapaa, Kauai, and most recently Ray's at Olaloa. He does volunteer work with teenagers and seniors through the YMCA

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By Jerry Tune, Star-Bulletin