Baku will open for business Friday with a view overlooking Kalakaua Avenue, rounding out the eight restaurants on the Grand Lanai at the International Market Place.

Its menu of steaks, pork, duck and lamb, small plates, skewers, raw plates, sushi, rice and tempura dishes seems like it could have been crafted by any number of local Japanese restaurants. But part of what sets Baku apart is that it has a robata grill — and has its roots in North Carolina.

Robatayaki foods in Japan are cooked over binchotan charcoal, capable of reaching a temperature of 800 degrees. The Waikiki restaurant also will add local kiawe charcoal.

THE FOOD

The Baku showstopper likely will be the USDA prime tomahawk steak. A 38-ounce cut will be market-priced at more than $100 and will be served sliced, with ponzu, fresh wasabi root, truffle and assorted flavored salts. Orders for medium-rare tomahawks will take about 30 minutes, said executive chef Joseph Rose.

Other Hawaii-raised beef dishes also are likely to be Baku rock stars.

The 8-ounce filet mignon is served with roasted bone marrow and sukiyaki sauce with a raw egg yolk. Beat the egg into the sauce, then spread marrow onto meat and dredge it through the sauce.

The 14-ounce USDA Prime New York strip comes to the table alongside grilled Hamakua mushrooms and Rose’s Asian chimichurri, crafted with the familiar ginger-scallion combination as its base, but with additional flavors to complement the beef.

Baku will use local ingredients where possible and serve specialty items such as Hokkaido scallops. With its Japanese influences, the restaurant will offer traditional dishes, such as chawanmushi, robatayaki shishito peppers grown on Hawaii island, and Japan-inspired short rib and foie gras gyoza.

Skewers are perhaps the best-known robatayaki food item, and the Baku menu includes chicken, beef, pork and tofu, plus Rose’s play on liver and onions: skewered chicken livers served with bacon puree and onion jam.

THE BUSINESS

Founders Steve Houraney and Afshin Ghazi extensively researched robata in Japan before opening in 2013 in Charlotte, N.C. They sold the restaurant last year and have been working to open the new venue in Waikiki.

General manager Keith Mallini’s time in the Hawaii restaurant industry includes leading the old Hanohano Room in the Sheraton Waikiki and, more recently, at Starwood Hotels & Resorts on Hawaii island. He and Rose previously worked together in Chicago and have reunited to open Baku.

Rose, an alumnus of Japengo in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, is joined in the kitchen by chef de cuisine Ala Sutton, recently of Stripsteak and a former owner of French restaurant Le Guignol.

HIGHLIGHTS

The six seats fronting the kitchen with a direct view of the robata grill are likely to become coveted spots. The bar offers 17 seats, and the rest of the restaurant features indoor and lanai seating for 150 guests.

Tables near the lanai, which overlooks Kalakaua Avenue, give the impression of being nestled in the International Market Place’s grand banyan tree, said Mallini.

GAME PLAN

Baku will open for dinner Friday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m., and full hours of operation will commence at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 15.Reservations are available via the restaurant or at OpenTable.com.

Regular hours will be 11:30 a.m. to midnight daily, with lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., happy hour and pupu from 2 to 5 p.m., dinner until 10 p.m., and a late-night bar menu and cocktails until midnight.