Chef Chris Kajioka is taking over the former Cafe Miro space in Kaimuki, a partnership with Michelin-star chef Mourad Lahlou of San Francisco, as well as Justin Park and Tom Park of Bar Leather Apron.

Kajioka said today that the new Miro Kaimuki will open in two to three months, giving him three Honolulu restaurants by year’s end.

Kajioka is chef and co-owner of the acclaimed downtown restaurant Senia and is opening a Kakaako collaboration with the Parks, Bar Maze, also in the next couple of months.

The timing is not ideal, he said, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. “It was fate — and something I couldn’t say no to.”

Cafe Miro closed on Saturday after 23 years at 3446 Waialae Ave. Kajioka said the chance to take over the space from owner Shigeru Kobayashi came up only two months ago when Kobayashi decided to retire and sell the business.

Kajioka’s partner, Lahlou, owns the Bay Area restaurants Mourad and Aziza, both of which have earned Michelin Guide stars for their contemporary Moroccan menus.

Kajioka opened Mourad in 2011 as chef de cuisine, and calls Lahlou “my brother.”

They plan a menu of French and Japanese influences, similar to Cafe Miro’s.

Trevor Webb, of the Los Angeles restaurant Kismet, will be chef de cuisine at Miro Kaimuki.