Cupcake shop reopening in Chinatown

The Let Them Eat Cupcakes bakery will reopen to the public at 10 a.m. this morning at 35 S. Beretania Street.

The bakery’s retail operations at 1153 Bethel Street were shuttered by the sudden closure of sister-business Bethel Street Tap Room earlier this month due to a lease dispute.

“There was no eviction,” said Kawehi Haug, owner of the cupcake business and co-owner of the bar and restaurant, out of which she also sold cupcakes.

Because they were subletting the space from the owner of the long-closed RaKuen Lounge, Bethel Street Tap Room owners had “no contractual relationship with the landlord” and had no ability to remain open when representatives came to enforce a lock-out order.

“The current leaseholders are in a legal fight over the lease, but we don’t know the details,” she said.

The fee owner of the property is 1149 Bethel Street Development LLC, whose officers include several members of the Fullard-Leo family, according to city records. The kamaaina family is well-known for its former ownership of Palmyra Atoll and other land holdings.

Let Them Eat Cupcakes reopens this morning with flavors including red velvet, chocolate, German chocolate, vanilla bean, mocha, pistachio, and some gluten-free options, as well as eclairs, cookies, cake pops and scones in various flavors.

Haug and her partners in the bar and restaurant business intend to reopen elsewhere, but “in the meantime, we’ll be launching the Tap Room Test Kitchen, a rotating menu of new recipes and fun foodie experiments that will be available at our Beretania Street shop,” she said. Dishes that garner the most favor “will be on the menu at our new place. We’re also hoping to take the Test Kitchen to farmers markets and other street events,” Haug said.