Pioneering restaurant inspires chef Yamaguchi’s Kauai venture

Hawaii chef and restaurant owner Roy Yama­gu­chi has opened another restaurant; however, it’s not called Roy’s.

Yamaguchi opened The Eating House 1849 on Saturday at The Shops at Kukui­‘ula on Kauai. The restaurant is named after what Yama­gu­chi said was one of the earliest restaurants constructed in Hawaii, an establishment opened in the 1800s by Portuguese businessman Peter Fernandez.

The physical structure of Yama­gu­chi’s Eating House was designed by architect Brian Fuji­wara based on Fernandez’s restaurant using old plantation blueprints.

The food at Eating House is inspired by Yama­gu­chi’s grandfather, who served Hawaiian-style comfort food in a tavern and restaurant he owned in Wai­luku, Maui, during the 1940s.

Yamaguchi previously operated another restaurant on Kauai inspired by his grandfather’s business. That venture was called The Tavern at Princeville, and it closed last year after almost five years in operation.

Yamaguchi opened his first Roy’s in 1988 in Hawaii Kai on Oahu. Today there are nearly 30 Roy’s restaurants around the nation, including six in Hawaii.