Chef Elmer Guzman is taking a step away from suburbia and away from his signature dish — poke — as he readies for the opening of a cafe in Waikiki.
Guzman, owner of the Poke Stop shops in Waipahu and Mililani, is taking over a small restaurant in the Luana Waikiki Hotel &Suites, at 2045 Kalakaua Ave. near Fort DeRussy Park. Formerly the Protea Cafe, the site has been closed for about a year, Guzman said.
It has only 20 to 30 seats, he said. “It’s a tight, tight place but we’re making it happen.”
Besides the two Poke Stops, Guzman runs a catering operation and a Poke Stop counter inside Hawaii’s Favorite Kitchens in Kapahulu. He’s also opening a Poke Stop Express in October in Chinatown.
Those are all casual, carryout places; his new place — “this is going to be a tablecloth kinda restaurant,” he said.
The space is undergoing some fixing up and a decor change. He plans to open in late October with breakfast service, adding dinner early next year.
Guzman was executive chef for Sam Choy’s Kapahulu restaurant and before that worked for Emeril Lagasse in New Orleans. He plans a merger of Pacific Rim and New Orleans flavors at the Luana, with an emphasis on local produce.
He’s hoping to come up with a name that reflects a tie to farm-fresh ingredients, but is still working on that, so the restaurant is for now unnamed.
The menu is in progress, however. Among set dishes: a kale salad with Pinoy Dressing (a Caesar made with bagoong instead of anchovies); Duck, Duck, Goose (duck breast, duck confit and goose lumpia), which he originally developed while working for Choy; shrimp and waffles, reflective of his New Orleans background; and the Snip and Serve Salad, which he presented at a recent wine dinner at the Mililani Poke Stop.
He imagines prices on the low side for Waikiki: $8 to $10 for appetizers and capped at $26 for entrees.
Guzman remembers staying at the Luana during state tournaments when he was on Maui’s Baldwin High School’s basketball team in the ’80s. “Now I’m full circle,” he said.
