TheBuzz Erika Engle

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The Hongs' restaurant history will hit the auction block tomorrow

COLLECTIBLES, furnishings, utensils, dishes, bar ware and restaurant equipment from the House of Hong, the Original Chuck's Steakhouse and Charley's Tavern, three icons of the restauranting Hong family's history, are up for auction tomorrow.

A warehouse full of goods, including Chinese wall panels and other art pieces and a pool table from Charley's will be hawked by auctioneer "Surfer" Joe Teipel.

Reminiscing about the House of Hong, he said, "They'd always have somebody ... greeting customers," and near the arched door were "giant granite lions. We've got 'em."

>> Joe Teipel auction site >> House of Hong to close >> Hongs among UH Family Business Award winners >> Les Hong Kapolei restaurant plans

Some utensils and knick-knacks from the long-time destination restaurant, a favorite of celebrities and dignitaries in its heyday, were sold at auction after it closed in 2004.

However, about $100,000 worth of wall panels and other objets d'art from House of Hong were donated to the Palolo Chinese Home, which has them in storage until its new dining facility is ready to receive them.

"They're trying to create a dining area specifically around the donated panels," said Les Hong, president of the family business, Enterprise Development Inc.

"Possibly the House of Hong dining room ... may be created again," he said.

Hong's father Raymond and his siblings started a retail, restaurant and real estate empire in the early 1940s, with the purchase of the Kapaakea Grill on Beretania Street. It was renamed Charley's, after one of the siblings.

In the mid-1950s the Hongs began their Lewers Street legacy with Leslie's, a retail store named for the current president. The name was later changed to Alii Market and nearby land was purchased to establish House of Hong. Other developments followed, but the family became best known for the Chinese restaurant.

In 2002, Enterprise Development Inc. won an award from the Family Business Center at the University of Hawaii College of Business Administration. It was a bittersweet honor, since the family knew the Waikiki Beach Walk project would cause the closure of the legendary restaurant and other Hong family businesses.

The rest of the restaurants' stuff is being auctioned off because Hong has decided not to build a new restaurant, despite having purchased 1 1/2 acres of land in Kapolei.

"The cost of construction was prohibitive," he said. He has leased the subdivided land to others, who are not yet ready to disclose their plans.

Aside from the granite lions, Hong will be parting with a moon gate and railings from inside the Red Chamber Bar and "16 panels depicting the 'Dream of the Red Chambers' story," he said.

Other things may also have sentimental value for former restaurant patrons, he said. "Oh yeah, I think they may want to come and pick up a solid Koa tabletop, and these aren't laminated, they're solid," he said. Solid monkeypod tabletops are also up for grabs.

Collectible pictures and "old gill fishnets that they no longer make, someone could use that for decoration," he said.

Fish tanks, salad bars, stainless steel sinks, restaurant-sized refrigerators, refurbished bar stools, dishes, barware and more will be sold to the highest-bidding businessfolk and individuals who attend to spend.

"There's colorful stuff from the '50s and '60s, and practical stuff like a walk-in refrigerator-freezer," Teipel said.

The first 100 to register will receive mementos from House of Hong, and there will likely be other giveaways, he said.

A portion of the proceeds will also be donated to the home, to help further its expansion project.

The family's largesse, "touches home, deeply," said Leigh-Wai Doo, chief executive officer of Palolo Chinese Home.

"The House of Hong had been renowned as one of the most beautiful Chinese restaurants in the world," Doo said, and the home has been "extremely fortunate" to receive hand-carved wall panels, ceiling tiles and other art reflecting the culture of many of the home's founders -- though it accepts residents and day care patients of all ethnicities.

Renovation of the home is complete and a general contractor has been signed to construct a new building to encompass the food service operation, skilled nursing facility and wellness center, Doo said.

"This Monday, the home will be celebrating its 110th anniversary as the oldest Asian-originated care home in the United States," he said.

The auction-curious can preview a list of items online at Teipel's Web site, www.joeteipel.com, and see the stuff in person beginning at 8 a.m. tomorrow at 2845 Koapaka St. The auction begins at 10 a.m. with no reserves or minimums.