Pearl City’s new Foodland Farms, opening Wednesday , looks and feels a lot like its slightly bigger brother at Ala Moana Center, but the store was designed with neighborhood habits in mind.
So the deli area is less about mall shoppers and tourists; more about families headed to kids’ sporting events, potlucks or just picking up dinner, said Keoni Chang, the company’s vice president and chief food officer.
Case in point is the okazuya stand, one of a number of food stations that circle a substantial self-serve hot line and salad bar. The traditional Japanese deli of ala carte items was a concept Chang long wanted to bring to Foodland, and this neighborhood, with its high AJA percentage, was the right fit, he said during a preview on Monday.
Build a takeout box of tempura, spaghetti salad, nori-wrapped chicken, corned beef hash, bitter melon champuru, “our own version of sticky, sweet, garlicky chicken,” shoyu hot dog — 28 items are on the opening menu. “Gotta have gobo,” Chang added, “gotta have nishime.”
He sees the okazuya as a culinary art form that is fading as the old shops close.” We’re trying to document something that might go away.”
Bonus: Unlike at mom-and-pop okazuya, this one won’t run out of food and close early.
There are also stands for custom burritos and street tacos, fresh-baked pizza, fried chicken and poke.
And, of course, it’s a grocery store, 15,000 square feet bigger than the 60-year-old Foodland nearby that it replaced.
Oh, and it has a bar, with three times the seating of Ala Moana’s wine bar, with more of a focus on local draft beers and cocktails. In another nod to the neighborhood, one drink is called Monkey Bar ‘54, named for the spot inside the old Pearl City Tavern (it really had monkeys).
The new store is in Pearl City Gateway Center, 1150 Kuala St. (the old Babies R Us, across the street from Walmart and near Pearl Highlands Center). Hours are 5 a.m. to midnight daily (grand opening at 10 a.m. Wednesday ). Call 453-4509.
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Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Advertiser
Taste Waipahu
Restaurants from throughout Waipahu will serve up signature dishes at Taste of Waipahu, 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday at August Ahrens Elementary School. Proceeds benefit the Waipahu Community Association. Call 677-6939.
Premium pop-up
Ward Village is hosting its first Pacific Plate pop-up dinner, under Chris Kajioka, culinary director for the property.
Kajioka is bringing in three all-star chefs from Los Angeles and New York for two nights of dinners Nov. 8 and 9 at Scratch Kitchen & Meatery in South Shore Market.
In the kitchen will be Jon Yao of Kato, Los Angeles; Matt Lambert of The Musket Room, New York City; and Mei Lin of Nightshade, Los Angeles. They will create a six-course dinner, with wine pairings, with Kajioka. Both Kato and Lambert’s restaurants have Michelin stars.
Tickets start at $150; Chef’s Counter tickets with a view of the kitchen are $175; drink pairing are $50 more. Purchase tickets online only at wardvillage.com/pacificplate.
Seatings are at 6 p.m. each night.
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Star-Advertiser staff
