When Honolulu’s Outrigger Reef on the Beach hotel underwent major reconstruction and upscaling, hotel management developed equally ambitious plans for its small poolside eatery. The formerly outsourced pool bar/coffee shop known as Chief’s Hut (closed in 2006) was re-concepted into a space that could handle breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as poolside, room service, and high-end catering, all featuring an island-style, musical theme.

“We wanted the new concept to have the feel of an island get-together, where you’d be gathered in your auntie’s back yard at a barbeque, and someone brings out a ukulele,” says Bill Comstock, general manager of the 638-room property located on the popular Waikiki Beach Walk.

The result is Kani Ka Pila Grille. The 122-seat eatery, whose name translates to “let’s make music,” is the smallest of Outrigger Reef’s three onsite restaurants. It also serves as the hotel’s main catering outlet. Within two months of its March 2009 opening, the Kani Ka Pila culinary team was juggling daily restaurant and poolside operations along with banquets that included $100-a-plate board meetings, weddings on the ocean-view deck, and parties for the University of Hawaii football team.

Instead of leasing the restaurant to outside providers, Outrigger Enterprises Group decided to run Kani Ka Pila itself, marking the first significant venture into foodservice for the Honolulu-based hospitality company. Less than a year into operations, Kani Ka Pila has already exceeded financial expectations. The foodservice operation is generating nearly six percent of the hotel’s total revenue and handling about 20 percent of the hotel’s overall foodservice.

Daily covers currently average about 350 and are growing. The focus on authentic Hawaiian cuisine and music by local musicians helps Kani Ka Pila draw nearly half its customers from the surrounding neighborhoods, developing a reputation as one of the best places in the area to experience local music.

“We expect Kani Ka Pila’s volume to increase to 25 percent of the property’s overall meals within a few months,” Comstock says.

HOW THEY DO IT
To overcome its small size and large culinary demands, Kani Ka Pila Grille relies on staff cross-training and efficient cooking equipment.

Chef Beltran views cross-training the Kani Ka Pila culinary staff as a way to increase efficiency. The dish crew does double duty as prep staff, while line cooks take on some sous chef tasks. Tight space constraints—the 1,189-square-foot kitchen is located between the pool and the music stage—forced designers to use the same layout as the previous restaurant. The tear-down and rebuild cost $2.6 million, including a kitchen equipment package tallying just over $500,000.

Several key pieces of equipment along the compact cook line help streamline production. One of the most versatile is the combi oven. With the push of a few pre-programmed buttons, Chef Beltran can steam, fry, bake or “grill” a variety of foods. Pulled pork, for example, cooks about 50 percent faster in the combi compared to the nearby convection oven, “but we rely on both,” Beltran says. The restaurant goes through about 40 pounds of pork every three days.

The combi oven features a time-saving automatic self-cleaning cycle. “You add the soap capsule, put the oven in cleaning mode, and it takes care of itself in two hours,” Beltran adds.

The charbroiler is used for items such as the Pulehu chicken sandwich and the Hula burgers. The range, meanwhile, is for seared items—ahi, crispy pork, and pulled pork sandwiches. It’s also used for readying sauces, simmering miso soup, and poaching eggs for the breakfast menu. And Kani Ka Pila’s fryer is a new model that automatically recycles and cleans its own oil. It also features an oil quality tester that indicates when the oil needs changing.

COST-CAREFUL ISLAND MENU
Kani Ka Pila’s menu, created by Executive Chef Harold Beltran, adds Hawaiian notes to Asian, Mexican, and traditional favorites. Quesadillas and pot stickers are made with pulled pork; ubiquitous ahi tuna is offered as sashimi, grilled in a sandwich, or tucked into tacos; and spring rolls inspire Banana Lumpia, a banana and coconut-filled roll-up served in a pineapple boat with a scoop of ice cream. Abbreviated versions of the main menu are used for the hotel’s room service and banqueting.

“We designed the menu to optimize food costs by using key ingredients in multiple dishes,” Chef Beltran says. Besides pork, other key proteins include ahi tuna and chicken, while local items such as taro, Maui onions, and pineapple boost the menu’s island feel. An array of standard items—burgers, fries, salads, and sandwiches—helps the menu appeal to a broad ranges of tastes.

The outlet’s renovation and multi-use kitchen installation is a unique success story, driving sales property-wide while simultaneously reinforcing a theme that continues to build the hotel as an F&B destination.

Janice Cha has covered foodservice for 12 years, focusing on kitchen equipment for the past seven years.

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