Restaurateur’s green sister puts produce on the table

Holoholo Bar and Grill owner Jill Owens is helping her sister realize her vision for sustainability and feeding her customers aquaponically grown produce at the same time.

Liesel Santimer "is kind of the health nut in our family," Owens said.

In between her education at Gonzaga University and pursuit of her master’s degree at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Santimer experimented with aquaponics, growing kalo (taro) and some other produce in small beds in Hono­lulu.

She has since moved to Hawaii island, where the family has a farm on former McCandless Ranch land, and she’s scaled up her efforts.

"She made five 100-foot beds for her aquaponics," Owens said, "and I told her, ‘If you grow stuff, I’ll buy it from you.’"

Santimer asked what her sister would want, so they discussed a variety of lettuces and herbs, including mint, for her sister’s Moiliili restaurant, opened in November.

Among other green, leafy things, Owens wanted baby romaine lettuce, kale, green leaf lettuce, mint and other herbs.

Santimer just came back to Oahu for a visit with a cooler full of produce, which Owens eagerly sampled. "I loved it. … We started serving it last night," she said Friday.

Santimer’s degrees had nothing to do with agriculture, Owens said, but her passion for the Hawaiian culture and sustainability led her to establish Waiea Aquaponics in August.

As Santimer told her sister, "I can show people how to grow stuff."

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ON THE NET:

» holoholobarandgrill.com

DONBURIYA UPDATE

The mystery about the closing of Don­bu­riya Dondon at Ala Moana Center’s Makai Market food court has been solved.

Parent company Avanti Group Ltd. sold the remaining lease on the prime corner spot to another company, President Mike Endo told TheBuzz.

Avanti also owns Soba-ya in the food court, and sales figures showed that the businesses were pretty much competing against one another, he said. Sales figures also showed that it made sense to sell the Don­bu­riya space, since that space’s figures dipped once a kiosk was placed in a spot that somewhat obscured the noodle shop from view. Soba-ya continues to thrive, as do other Avanti stores at Ala Moana Center including Rokkaku and the Lupicia tea shop. Avanti also owns the popular Tsuruya Noodle Shop at Pearlridge Center.

Ala Moana Center officials declined to name the company that will open in the former Don­bu­riya space, saying the buyer of the lease will make an announcement when it is ready.

Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.