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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Jaron’s makes way
for surfers, but paddlers
still welcomeA Kailua institution named Jaron's changed hands a couple years back and it has undergone a top-to-bottom overhaul since its Halloween finale.
Former manager Jim Mansell purchased the restaurant in 2001 and has two new partners who have changed the eatery's concept and its name, to Boardriders Bar and Grill.
"I'm a snowboarder, he's a surfer," said Brian Smith said of himself and partner Jason Clark.
Smith describes Clark as a Kailua local who he met in Colorado. The friendship and common backgrounds in the hospitality and foodservice industries led to the partnership.
There are all kinds of sports bars and theme restaurants, so the trio thought to focus on Hawaii's surf sports and adventure lifestyle, Smith said.
The place is decorated with various boards representing longboarders, kiteboarders, windsurfers and skaters.
Jaron's was somewhat of a paddlers' hang-out and its decor highlighted trophies won by local canoe clubs.
Boardriders' goal is to become "the home of apres surf," for locals and visitors, Smith said.
The bar has been extended, pool tables and dart boards have been added and live music will entertain clientele several nights each week. Bay Area roots and reggae band Groundation is to play Saturday night, Smith said as a for-instance.
Twelve new draught beers are being offered and some of Jaron's menu items have been retained, but a new executive chef will oversee their preparation. Smith's brother Scott has returned to Hawaii after a stint in hotel and restaurant operations in Thailand. Most of the old Jaron's crew is still there.
Smith calls Boardriders a "brother restaurant" to Bikini Cantina in Aloha Tower Marketplace, another Mansell venture.
Founded in 1990 by Kern Rogerson and his wife Niki Myers-Rogerson, the restaurant was named after sons Jarret and Aron. It was for a time the spot in Kailua for an afternoon beverage and conversation leading into dinner, as well as for nightlife and Sunday brunch. It was also popular with seniors for early bird "sunset dinners" at discounted rates.
An August 1998 roadway cave-in that opened up huge sinkhole fronting Jaron's was the beginning of the end of the Rogersons' tenure as restaurateurs. The couple wound up having to sell the business after 11 years of toil.
It took six months for Kern to stop twitching, Niki said, laughing. Jarret remained employed at his namesake restaurant until accepting a position with Norwegian Cruise Lines Ltd. "He's off to see the world," she said.
The couple, married 32 years, has moved on, living a "modest but happy life," she said.
"The restaurant business is a very hard business," said Kern.
"We wish great success to them," she said.
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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
