TheBuzz Erika Engle

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Sansei prepping for patrons on the Big Island

Big Islanders may be salivating as Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar throws open its doors at Queens' MarketPlace in Waikoloa for a grand opening benefit gala on Feb. 10.

Chef-owner D.K. Kodama is bringing in chefs from his other restaurants and from neighboring Roy's to create comely comestibles for the 6 to 9 p.m. gala -- open to the ticket-buying public.

Kodama will just have returned from the mainland, as he was drafted by the NFL for a sixth year to cook for Super Bowl festivities.

On the Net: » www.dkrestaurants.com » waikoloabeachresort.com » www.hawaiiunitedway.org

The opening will include "lion dances, good music -- and we're going to break open a cask of sake ... it should be kind of fun," he said.

He had hoped to bust out the sake Dec. 15, but that there were delays would shock nobody in the restaurant business.

Tickets are available for $100 from Hawaii Island United Way by phone or online.

In Queens' MarketPlace in Waikoloa Beach Resort, the 6,200-square-foot Sansei is the biggest in the D.K. Restaurants portfolio, seating about 190 guests.

Some people may hear "Sansei" and instantly think "sushi," but there's so much more on the menu. Hard as it may be to believe, some people insist that their center-of-the-plate protein be cooked.

Fine. Have a rib eye.

"We just had a steak-tasting yesterday," Kodama said Friday.

The Waikoloa Sansei will offer diners a taste of d.k Steak House in Waikiki.

Chefs everywhere are big on local sourcing, so greens from the Big Island's Hirabara farms and mushrooms from Hamakua Heritage Farm Inc. will be on the menu.

The new Queens' MarketPlace has seen increasing openings, said Debbie Parmley, vice president of commercial real estate for Waikoloa Land Co.

"We have quite a few stores that are open or are under construction and will be opening shortly," she said.

The center has newly signed leases with Big Island Harley-Davidson, national retailer Perfumania Inc. and Savvy Boutique LLC.

They are likely to open in the fall.

Her work-plate full of openings, Parmley said the goal is to create a retail destination for visitors and residents, so they can have access to the "clothing, specialty gifts and all the things that a lot of (Oahu) people take for granted. We will be able to have all that right on the Big Island in close proximity."