Waioli Tea Room & Bakery will close after service Sunday and will reopen Nov. 11 with a new operator: its owner, the Salvation Army.
"They’re going to keep the employees, keep the menu, keep it as it is, which is wonderful for me," said Brian Jahnke, who has run the restaurant and special-event venue for the past decade.
The signature curry chicken salad and other favorite items will continue to be prepared and served by the same people.
He told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in February that he decided not to renew his lease because utility costs had doubled, making the operation "not profitable for me."
Alcohol sales generally boost profitability for a food-and-beverage venue, but since the property is Salvation Army-owned, and since the Salvation Army also is well known for its rehabilitation programs, alcohol is prohibited on the property.
He might have received 90 percent more wedding business, he said, "but the Salvation Army is not going to budge on that."
Lest anyone take Jahnke’s observation as bitterness, his tone was upbeat and effusive Friday. "I’m thrilled," he said.
"We have so many incredible customers. I’m going to miss the people. I’m going to miss the place, but I will not miss the work seven days a week," he said, laughing.
The Salvation Army’s goal is to run the restaurant as a for-profit operation and plow the proceeds back into its Adult Rehabilitation Center, or ARC. It may eventually take food from the restaurant to "have the ARC guys run a lunch wagon. … That’s a good concept," Jahnke said.
That the Salvation Army will keep everything the same, with the exception of new aloha shirts bearing the Salvation Army shield, doesn’t mean there won’t be some changes to the venue.
Jahnke won’t be there, for instance. He’s been collecting phone numbers so he can stay in touch with regulars who have asked him to let them know where he winds up next.
The Salvation Army will buy all the kitchen equipment, furnishings, dishes, glassware and table settings from Jahnke, so he’s leaving them essentially a turnkey operation which also happens to be on both the state and national registers of historic places.
After Waioli Tea Room closes to the public Sunday, it will host one last private event for the cast of "Les Miserables," which has been running at Paliku Theater at Windward Community College. It is a personal affair for Jahnke, who plays the Bishop in the production.
"Brian’s done a great job. We appreciate everything he’s done" for the restaurant operation, said Major John Chamness, divisional commander of the Salvation Army in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.
Tearoom employees become Salvation Army employees Friday, and the restaurant will have its soft opening Nov. 11 under the watchful eyes of Rafael Escalera and Renay Pinoncialman.
Escalera runs the Adult Rehabilitation Center in Iwilei, while Pinoncialman works with the ARC Command on the mainland and will be in Hawaii on temporary assignment. Both have backgrounds in food service operations, Chamness said.
The Salvation Army has operated the restaurant off and on since it opened in 1922, but has not been the day-to-day operator for "at least a couple decades," Chamness said.
Between Sunday’s closing and the reopening two weeks later, the restaurant will get some sprucing up on the inside, and its parking lot will be repaved.
Once reopened the hours of operation will be the same until further notice, Chamness said.
Lunch will be served from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; the restaurant will open at 8 a.m. for breakfast Saturdays and Sundays, and will offer weekend lunch service from noon to 3:30 p.m. Afternoon Tea is available any time the tearoom is open, with 24 hours advance reservations.
The Salvation Army won’t make a big deal of the restaurant being reopened until the week of Nov. 25, Chamness said, adding that hours and food offerings may expand or change in the future, but at first "we just want to get in and operate the business for a while … and focus on a few things and do them very well, creating great meals for our customers," he said.
As for Jahnke, once the dust settles from the closings of the tearoom and theatrical production, he’ll take some time with a host of family members and friends who are in town. He’ll take a mainland road trip to visit more family, and in December, when he returns to the islands, he will "maybe go to Christmas parties, rather than putting them on," he said.
And, of course, he’ll stop in to the Waioli Tea Room. "I want to come back and have somebody wait on me," he chuckled.
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On the Net:
» www.thewaiolitearoom.net
» www.hawaii.salvationarmy.org
