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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Kenny’s in Kalihi
to get makeoverKenny's Restaurant in Kalihi will undergo a major renovation project beginning in June.
"We're aiming to open the new Kenny's Restaurant with a re-grand opening sometime in September," said project manager James Yim, although the restaurant will stay open during the projected six-to-eight-week process.
Yim and Wes Zane, president of Matters of Taste Inc., serve Kenny's as consultants for Kam Center Specialty Corp., parent company of Kenny's. The corporation's president is John T. Fujieki, also chairman and president of Star Markets Ltd.
Zane and Yim's work for Kenny's started nearly two years ago and has involved employee training and the suggestion for the top-to-bottom renovation.
The project will include a new interior, a new entrance and a new menu that will keep the restaurant's signature dishes so as not to scare away loyal clientele, Zane said.
"The marketing of the restaurant will not be solely as a neighborhood restaurant, but also as a destination in the sense that it's really one of the best-kept secrets for Hawaiian fish that you don't see on any other menu," Zane said.
The two rattled off fish names including papio, opelu, akule, ono and broomfish, also known as loulu.
General Manager Warren Matsunaga goes to the fish auction daily and his connections are so good that "normally he gets fish that the fishermen tend to keep for themselves. That's a big focal point on the menu," said Zane. Among the fishy names the pair dropped was Mike Sakamoto, the local fishing celebrity who has headed Kenny's fish program and appeared in its commercials.
The new digs won't be nautical however.
"I think with the design we wanted to provide that Hawaiian tropical influence but to keep it contemporary. We didn't want to give the impression that it's a fish house. It's Kenny's Restaurant, not Kenny's Coffee House. We want to get away from that," Zane said.
The design will have to balance the desire to update, with the familiar comfortable environs in which generations have grown up.
In addition to the front-of-the-house changes, the back of the house will also be upgraded with modern equipment, Yim said.
Kenny's catering and take-out services will continue uninterrupted. It will also offer "hard hat specials" and other incentives to dine-in during the construction process and to return once it's ready for prime time. At that time it will also offer beer and wine, something it has not done since the 1960s.
Many restaurants close during renovation projects leaving operators with no revenue stream and employees out of work.
"The Fujiekis were very clear that they did not want to displace employees or create hardships for their people," Zane said.
The makeover is also likely to spawn a new advertising campaign, updated to reflect the times. Yim and Zane remember Kenny's and its advertising from their younger days, like the slogan, "Meet your friends at Kenny's," and the muffled jingle that started with piano chords and the singers' memorable words, "Kenn-eeez, at the Kam Shopping Center in Ka-lee-heee."
The tenor of the new advertising is in the planning stages.
"The one thing we don't ever want to lose is the local flair, the local style, the whole design and menu we're upgrading but at the same time sticking to our roots," Zane said.
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