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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chairs have been stacked at the once popular eatery Sunset Grill, which now is permanently closed. Restaurant Row owner Shidler Group says it is not ruling out "a nonrestaurant use for that space." The closure comes amid other tenant changes at the location.
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Restaurant Row in the hunt for tenant to replace Sunset Grill, now gone for good
Sunset Grill has shut down, a little more than a year after the charter Restaurant Row restaurant was purchased by new owners.
Larry Taff, managing partner of the Shidler Group, owner of the Waterfront Plaza/Restaurant Row complex, said the latest operators "got off to a slow start ... and lost a lot of momentum," in part because the restaurant's liquor license did not transfer right away.
"Of course they hadn't put much money into it," he added.
The closure and settlement of the lease was negotiated, Taff said.
Previous owner Fred Livingston had put the 4,213-square-foot restaurant up for sale in late 2005 with an asking price of $185,000. Its lease ran through December of this year, but that was renegotiated when NTLD Restaurant LLC took over, said Taff.
Officials with NTLD, which also operates Buono Pasto Assaggio in Kapolei, could not be reached.
The Kapolei restaurant is not part of the four-unit Assaggio chain, but NTLD principal Nghiem Nguyen was a partner before he split off.
A brokers event next week will introduce prospective tenants to the Sunset Grill space.
"I'm not going to rule out a nonrestaurant use for that space," Taff said."
Taff noted that Waterfront Plaza's previous owners had only put restaurants and nightclubs in the Pacific Rim Bank space.
He believes a services-type business might be "the best answer" for the Sunset Grill spot, which has "great visibility on that corner."
The closing of a charter tenant is not a happy thing, but Taff is looking forward to new tenants and other developments, including renovations at the Ocean Club and at The Row Bar, which just signed a new lease.
Renowned Italian chef Donato Loperfido will soon open Pasta et Basta, a casual dining restaurant in the space vacated by Yanni's.
The operators of En Fuego Grill & Poke at the Marketplace at Kapolei will also open a new restaurant in early April.
Yosh will specialize in fresh fish and seafood as well as local gourmet plate lunches, said co-owner Ross Okuhara. At dinner, it will offer family style entrees for sharing, as well as vertical tastings of a wide range of sashimi and sake pairings. Lunch will range from $5.99 to $9 while dinner entrees will run from $7 to $15, he said.
Okuhara plans to open Yosh for take-out and sit-down lunch service from 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Dinner may start with Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Yosh will be in the long-closed space once occupied by Trattoria Manzo, then by Jamaica.
Okuhara doesn't see moving into a long-vacant space as a negative.
"I see a lot of potential for that space," he added.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com