West Oahu residents accustomed to playing second fiddle to townies in Waikiki and Honolulu will be among the first to experience Roy Yamaguchi’s Eating House 1849, his new restaurant concept, as well as Regal Entertainment Group’s state-of-the-art movie theater.
The theater and restaurant will open next year as part of the Kapolei Commons shopping center anchored by Target. The center is being developed by The MacNaughton Group and the Kobayashi Group.
“We’ve known Roy for a long time,” said Jeff Dinsmore, director of development and asset management for The MacNaughton Group. “We approached him and he said, ‘Yes.’”
The movie theater, initially planned to be a 14-screen affair in 2008, will instead be a 12-screen cinema using advanced screening technology and seating, Dinsmore said.
“Kapolei Commons is one of our most successful projects, and we are pleased with the level of interest from retailers and restaurants who want to be a part of it,” said Duncan MacNaughton, chairman of The MacNaughton Group, in a statement. The center is 100 percent committed, though two leases are awaiting finalization, Dinsmore said.
The first Eating House opened on Kauai, at the Shops at Kukui‘ula. The concept pays tribute to Hawaii’s culinary history and was inspired by Yamaguchi’s tavern-owning grandfather and by Portuguese businessman Peter Fernandez.
“It’s a clearly underserved and underestimated (area),” Dinsmore said. “There’s an awful lot of people out there who go home at night and don’t want to get back in their cars” to head to dinner or a movie far away from home.
Yamaguchi’s eponymous and globally known Roy’s restaurant chain has operated in Ko Olina since 2004, and Peter Merriman’s Monkeypod Kitchen restaurant opened in the resort area in 2012.
“This is a good market, and a growing market,” Dinsmore said.
“We’ve been very happy and have been very successful, having a restaurant with Jeff Stone over at Ko Olina, and we strongly believe in the Kapolei market,” Yamaguchi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He wanted to add Eating House to Kapolei Commons and knows “that (it) won’t compete against Roy’s,” he said.
“The concepts are very different, and the way we cook is a completely different style and method of cooking from Roy’s,” Yamaguchi said.
The Roy’s restaurant concept is higher-end than the Eating House, where entrees range in price from $15 to $30. The Kapolei Eating House will be about 5,000 square feet, with a seating capacity of about 150 customers, and will likely employ 50 to 55 people, similar to the flagship restaurant on Kauai.
Eating House 1849 is “still in the planning stages,” Yamaguchi said, and it is tentatively set to open in the spring.
Yamaguchi recently announced an expansion of the Roy’s concept to Turtle Bay Resort, where construction is underway that will make it unique among Roy’s restaurants. “It’s extremely unique for Roy’s to be given the opportunity to have a beachside (location). It’s a first,” he said. That restaurant is to open in April.
He also is looking at other expansion possibilities. “We’re always thinking about different locations, and we’re always meeting with real estate brokers to see what other concepts we can do and what other areas we can put them in,” Yamaguchi said.
The Regal Kapolei Commons 12 theaters will offer all-electric reclining seats, as announced in July 2014, and might possibly serve alcohol, Dinsmore said. Regal will offer popcorn and hot dogs and national brands of candies and snack foods, “but we’re going to do more of a local twist on those products,” he said. “We are working with some local food purveyors” on food options for inside the theater, and, in keeping with movie-house trends on the mainland, also will apply for a liquor license.
The theaters will have wall-to-wall screens, state-of-the-art sound systems, and will seat between 80 and 200 people, “because the seats are bigger,” Dinsmore said.
“You won’t have those neck-breaker seats in the front,” he said, given that the configuration of the wider, electric-powered reclining seats is different. Every seat can be reserved online, in advance of a screening. The theaters will offer competitive pricing for prime-time screenings, as well as discounts for matinee showings, senior and military admissions, “the usual stuff,” he said.
“It’s really something for the west side that creates a gathering place for the community and serves the marketplace,” Dinsmore said. Families will be able to “drive 10 minutes, instead of 30 minutes,” to catch dinner and a movie, he said.
Eating House 1849 and Regal Cinemas will join newly announced tenants such as La Tour Cafe, and existing tenants including Target and TJ Maxx, as well as local businesses including Aloha Salads, Down to Earth and Salon Bobbi & Guy.
On the Net:
>> eatinghouse1849.com
>> royshawaii.com
>> regmovies.com
>> thekapoleicommons.com
>> tmghawaii.com
