The Art of the Cafe

The Hawaii State Art Museum wants to take its planned restaurant operation beyond basic cafeteria fare

WHEN the Hawaii State Art Museum opens its cafe this year, it aims to join a still-small group of museums nationwide that offer more than just a cafeteria-style pit stop for patrons.

The state issued a request for proposals from prospective operators earlier this year, and officials are interviewing contractor-candidates -- and tasting sample menus of the light breakfast and lunch the cafe will offer "to begin with," said David de la Torre, director of the Art in Public Places program and the Hawaii State Art Museum.

The State Art Museum cafe can accommodate 75 diners inside and 25 at poolside, but take-out service is also envisioned in the RFP. The kitchen he calls "pristine," is ready for the operator to stock and start prepping and cooking.

HiSAM Cafe is the working name of the yet-to-open food service operation. It will also have separately run sibling-services, including a store and an information kiosk.

The museum's new Friends of HiSAM nonprofit corporation will oversee the cafe and store, said de la Torre. The program and museum are part of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

HiSAM has hosted private, catered parties and receptions on-site, which is part of the service the contractor will be asked to provide.

Upscale dining already is well-established in at least two other Oahu museums: the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Contemporary Museum.

The academy's popular Pavilion Cafe "has gone through several evolutionary steps," said Stephen Little, Academy director. For years it was staffed by volunteers, but it has been professionally run as a full-service restaurant since 2001, he said. Chef Mike Nevin oversees lunch-only service at the cafe Tuesday through Saturday.

"You get the full range in museums, from nothing, to a cafeteria, to fine-dining with white tablecloths," he said.

The Pavilion isn't aiming for the white-tablecloth level, he said, but it is so popular that even mainland members making an annual trek for a look-around and leisurely lunch have occasionally been turned away for lack of a reservation.

Hawaii-grown and Hawaii-made ingredients liberally pepper the menu. Dishes include a warm Big Island Goat Cheese & Nalo Greens salad with seasonal fruit and a honey-thyme vinaigrette for $12.95; a feta, tapenade and Hauula Tomato sandwich on house-made foccacia with a green salad for $8.95; and half a roasted island chicken with pesto pasta for $13.95.

Meals can be washed down with a soft drink or a selection of specialty coffees or teas, beers or wines.

Nevin also caters private functions and receptions at the academy, "for a fee," Little said.

"It's not like having a wedding at a hotel. Anyone who has a private event here is surrounded by works of art of relatively extraordinary value," Little said. That requires security personnel and other steps to protect the facility and its contents.

The cafe generates less than 10 percent of the academy's $15 million budget, Little said.

It is owned and operated by the academy and employs 8 full-time and 9 part-time staff members, said Eric Watanabe, chief financial officer.

Nevin came to the Academy from the full-time restaurant world. He was very interested in entering the nonprofit realm and in gaining more control over his schedule, Watanabe said.

The Contemporary Museum's Contemporary Cafe has been operating since the museum opened in 1988. It was initially run by a contractor, but "we took it over shortly thereafter," said Georgianna Lagoria, director.

The Cafe is "an amenity, it's a part of the experience," she said. Located high atop Makiki Heights Drive, "we are away from commercial centers ... people make a real effort to get here and we want them to spend some time. Also, our staff and volunteers need some place to eat, too."

Chef Adam Gilbert creates "good, fresh cuisine with sort of, different kinds of ethnic references. He's been wonderful," Lagoria said. He came highly recommended with a resume including Hawaii and mainland restaurants.

His cafe menu this quarter includes a range of appetizers and dishes including a crostini of the day -- baguette toasts with a savory topping for $4.00; a miso Caesar salad at $8.75; a chicken namasu sandwich for $9.50 and a vegan black bean burger with accompaniments for $9.75.

Neither beer nor wine are on the menu, but freshly squeezed lemonade is, as are specialty teas and coffees, iced or hot.

The cafe, together with the museum store, contribute less than one percent to the overall $3.5 million annual budget.

"It's a good year at the cafe when our costs are covered," Lagoria said. Six to 7 employees handle lunch service.

The menus of both the Pavilion Cafe and the Contemporary Cafe may be previewed online.

Contemporary Museum officials hope to move the cafe into a recently purchased historic property next door. It is a circa-1950 home designed by legendary architect Vladimir Ossipoff.

The current cafe would be converted into educational space for school groups or for workshops by visiting artists. Those events are currently staged outdoors, but "we want to have a beautiful, covered space," said Lagoria.

The plan requires government approval, which is still pending. At a public hearing last month, a few concerns were expressed, "and we have been trying to address them ... we have been a good neighbor and we'll continue to be a good neighbor."

The Contemporary Cafe is not the only one facing a change.

Museum dining fare has long been basic, such as the plate lunches and quick-service hamburger-and-hot dog meals and snacks served at the Pae'aina Cafe at Bishop Museum.

Renovations are planned in the coming 12 months, "allowing for changes in the menu and experience," said Blair Collis, vice president for sales and marketing.

The cafe has been in its present location since 1981 under various operators, serving everything from hot dogs to local cuisine, he said.

Chef William Cordes runs the cafe under contract with the museum, but also operates a lunch wagon and provides limited food service to the U.S. Navy, under contract.

His Bishop Museum deal allows him to use the kitchen for his other operations.

The Pae'aina Cafe generates less than one percent of Bishop Museum's $16 million annual budget, "though the figure is rising, as the museum's facility rentals department is becoming increasingly busy," Collis said.