If all had gone according to Peter Merriman’s original plan he’d be celebrating the one-year anniversary of Oahu’s first Merriman’s restaurant this week, rather than its debut.

Opening day had been set for July 2017 in the upscale Anaha condominium complex in Ward Villages. Then it was pushed to the holidays.

Merriman’s finally opened Saturday.

An opening is always a moving target, but in a case of a major player such as Merriman, the delay has amped up expectations. In site visits starting 10 weeks before Day 1, we set out to capture the flavor of the final stages in this high-profile premiere.

Merriman said the delay was largely due to construction costs that more than doubled from the time the lease was signed until construction began in 2017.

Plans had to be scaled back and redone, he said. He had to give up two pricey features: a bread-baking station in the dining room and a glass enclosure around the open kitchen that would have cut noise. Bread is still baked fresh, but out of sight, and carried out on cinnamon wood planks. The buttermilk biscuits are already drawing raves.

An element that could not be curtailed: a 400-foot duct system that carries exhaust from the kitchen, through the parking garage, a block away to Queen Street, where it is vented out of range of the Anaha residential units.

Merriman won’t talk specific numbers, but said the project cost “multi­millions” — 10 to 20 times more than the $180,000 it cost to build the first Merriman’s in Waimea on the Big Island 30 years ago.

(And by the way, in those days he didn’t always have power for an exhaust fan “so we must have just opened a window.”)

THREE WEEKS from opening day, Jon Matsubara, executive chef at the new Merriman’s, is walking the property. It’s still a construction zone, but the kitchen equipment is in place and he’s clearly enthused. He walks from piece to piece, pointing out his favorites.

There’s a fryer that uses beef tallow to make french fries, stove units that flip over to make wok stands, a grill that reaches 1,700 degrees.

“That’s like lava!” Matsubara said.

He was still awaiting final permits, a health inspection and a liquor license.

“Every single day counts, from now till the opening,” he said. “We call it a critical timeline.”

Still, some equipment arrived dented and had to be replaced; specially designed floor tiles never arrived from Mexico and after a two-week delay had to be swapped for something else. Opening day was pushed back another week.

In the end, the essentials were in hand. Three days before opening, bar stools and patio furniture had yet to arrive, but rental furniture was in place.

And then … At the last minute, Merriman decided he wanted a piano in the dining room.

“I thought it would be fun,” he said. “So we got a piano.”