Roy Yamaguchi to
bring cachet to Ko Olina
Chef Roy Yamaguchi is taking over Niblick Restaurant at the Ko Olina Golf Club, with plans to open in October.
The 200-seat Roy's at Ko Olina will be the first restaurant opened by a "name" chef on the Leeward side. In fact, outside the exclusive Azul at the J.W. Marriott Ko Olina Resort and Spa, fine-dining west of town is non-existent.
"There's nothing there, from Pearl City out," said Rainer Kumbroch, operations manager for Roy's. "There's not really a special occasion restaurant for the people of West Oahu."
Kumbroch would not discuss details of the lease, which was signed yesterday. Jeff Stone, managing director of Ko Olina Resort & Marina, said in a statement that Yamaguchi's international recognition makes his restaurant an important addition to plans to redevelop the Ko Olina area.
Yamaguchi, arguably the state's most successful restaurateur, opened the first Roy's in Hawaii Kai in 1988 and now owns more than 30 restaurants throughout the state, across the country and in Japan. But except for a two-year period running the in-house restaurant at the Doubletree Alana Hotel, Yamaguchi has had no other Oahu location.
"You pick and choose," Kumbroch said. "We get a lot of interest and inquiries." The risk would be introducing competition that hurts the original location.
"The area that's going to least affect us in Hawaii Kai is the farthest away," Kumbroch said, "and Ko Olina certainly fits that."
Niblick overlooks the 18th hole and handles lunch, some catering and post-golf casual dining. The new Roy's will cater to golfers, as well as serve lunch and dinner.
The restaurant will require "pretty aggressive renovation to give it that Roy's feel," Kumbroch said. This includes building a "show kitchen" open to the dining room.
The only other Roy's on a golf course is at Pebble Beach in California. Yamaguchi is an avid golfer and that no doubt added to the appeal of the site, Kumbroch said, but "Roy is smart enough not to make that kind of decision just because golf might be cheaper."
Yamaguchi believes in the potential of the area, from development plans for the resort and harbor area through the growth of Kapolei as Oahu's second city, Kumbroch said.
The potential market is visitors, local families and business people, he said. "People are going to make a choice as to whether they're going to go to town to entertain clients or go to Ko Olina."