TheBuzz
Erika Engle
Jackie Chan’s first
U.S. restaurant to be
in HonoluluActor, recording artist and entrepreneur Jackie Chan is to open his Jackie's Kitchen restaurant at Ala Moana Center in September.
Keep reading, this is a bonafide international scoop.
"This is his first domestic restaurant in the U.S.," said Robert Cortes, development partner and acting general manager.
Chan operates more than 40 restaurants under various concepts in Asia, serving sushi, Korean food and the Hong Kong-style cuisine for which Jackie's Kitchen is known.
The menu for the Hawaii restaurant will serve traditional Jackie's Kitchen dishes and will have items tailored to local and visitor palates as well, Cortes said. Pressed for a way to label the concept, Cortes suggested "Asian fusion," but said it wouldn't be Hawaiian regional cuisine ala Roy Yamaguchi or Alan Wong.
Mike Longworth is the executive chef. He's best known for his seven-year tenure at Sam Choy's Breakfast Lunch & Crab and last year opened Buca di Beppo at the Ward Entertainment Complex.
Appetizers will likely include ahi-stuffed potstickers, different styles of won ton soup and crab cakes. Some dishes are named for Chan's movies, such as "Shanghai Noon Noodles" and the "Twin Dragon Burger," a one-pound burger.
Chan "loves food and having a place to go to eat his favorite foods, like a home and family environment that's comfortable," Cortes said.
He figures on 70 or more employees to staff the operation during its projected hours, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., serving lunch and dinner, including take-out service. The planned capacity is 150 seats, including seating for 42 in its full bar. There will also be a merchandising area for as many as 300 different items, including Chan's lines of sunglasses, clothing, caps, coasters and coffee mugs.
The restaurant will occupy 5,000 square feet next to Rainbow Collection on the fourth floor of the center. "We're going to make it a destination within a destination," said Cortes. "Our definition of service is consistently exceeding our guests' expectations on every visit."
Chan, Cortes and his partners are well aware that neighboring locations of California Pizza Kitchen and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. are top-ranking revenue generators for their respective chains.
The first Hawaii restaurant is the primary focus at the moment but the partners are also in talks for locations in Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, California and on Maui, he said.
Center General Manager Dwight Yoshimura wouldn't say who found whom, but said "We're always on the lookout for good food."
The Hawaii restaurant plans were revealed last year in an online diary for Chan fans written during the filming of the movie "Shanghai Knights."
"I met with producer Roger Birnbaum to discuss 'Shanghai Knight,' my friend Curtis (Wong) to discuss Jackie's Kitchen (to be opened in Hawaii), and my agent to discuss merchandising for 'Jackie Chan Adventure,'" he wrote. Wong, a longtime friend of Chan, is a co-founder of Jackie's Kitchen as well as a magazine publisher, Cortes said.
Chan's business interests include a line of Chinese-style clothing, according to his agent Willie Chan (no relation), in a March 2000 open letter to fans. Other investments include StarEast, a celebrity-themed complex with a restaurant, disco and karaoke lounge, Global Food and Jackie's Kitchen, he said.
The publicly traded Global Food Culture Group Ltd. changed its name to Jade Dynasty Food Culture Group Ltd. last October on the Hang Seng stock market.
It is primarily involved in restaurant operation and investment holdings.
"There will be a time when (Chan) will come in to do a special event," Cortes said. "I don't know if it will be the grand opening. It depends on his movie schedule."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, 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