The Return of Alan Wong's, One of Hawaiʻi's Most Celebrated Restaurants

Last year, on an early October morning, in the middle of a marathon of Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival events, I sat down with James Beard Award-winning chef Alan Wong to discuss his return to the restaurant business.

"I'm excited to continue telling the story of Hawaiʻi's culinary history," Wong said. "We have a very rich immigrant plantation history here and I like to speak through my food."

Alan Wong's at The Kahala Hotel & Resort will open March 25 to guests who have booked a minimum four-night stay with a "Legacy of Aloha" package, which includes early reservations for the first two weeks of opening, a $150 dining credit, a $100 spa credit and daily buffet breakfast for two at Plumeria Beach House. For the general public Alan Wong's opens April 8 and reservations can be made now on OpenTable.

Wong was one of 12 founders of Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine in the early '90s. His restaurants — Alan Wong's and The Pineapple Room by Alan Wong — helped define Hawaiʻi's farm-to-table movement. Gourmet magazine included Alan Wong's on its America's Best 50 Restaurants list in 2001 and 2006, and from 1996 to 2009 it was named Restaurant of the Year at Honolulu Magazine's Hale ʻĀina Awards. In 1996, Wong won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Pacific or Northwest. The Pineapple Room closed in July 2017 after 18 years in business and Alan Wong's closed in November 2020 after 25 years.

Chef Alan Wong at the 2025 Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Festival. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

Wong said he looks forward to supporting local farmers, ranchers, fishers and producers again. To start, the menu will comprise exclusively Alan Wong classics, including his famous ginger-crusted onaga and The Coconut — a dessert of haupia, or coconut, sorbet in a chocolate shell. Over time, he plans to welcome collaboration with Chef de Cuisine Spencer Yamanaka, a former chef de partie at the original Alan Wong's.

Hawaiʻi-born Yamanaka earned an Associate of Science degree in culinary arts from Kapiʻolani Community College, apprenticed as a baker at Waioli Tea Room and, after working at Alan Wong's, served as executive chef and general manager at Pint + Jigger.

The restaurant's new general manager, Mark Shishido, is also an Alan Wong's alumnus who served as beverage director at the original Alan Wong's and general manager of The Pineapple Room.

The Kahala Hotel & Resort is an ideal home for a high-profile restaurant like Alan Wong's. Since 1964, The Kahala has been the premier resort for VIP and celebrity visitors, including world leaders, international royalty and Oscar winners. In preparation for Alan Wong's arrival, the resort refreshed its 338 guestrooms and suites, installing new flooring and linens while preserving its classic charm. Guests will also enjoy its signature tropical gardens and an ocean-water lagoon home to six dolphins.

Elevated hospitality is a value shared by The Kahala and Alan Wong's — both committed to creating lasting memories for their guests. "I'm looking forward to seeing the people," Wong said. "I took pictures with families with kids that were, like, this high, and all of a sudden, now they're this high in their 20s. So I'm looking forward to taking pictures with them and their kids."

Wong decided to return to the restaurant business when The Kahala Hotel & Resort presented him with the opportunity to take over the former Hokuʻs Restaurant space. In addition to his work at the restaurant, Wong serves as a co-founder of the Hawaiʻi Food & Wine Foundation, which he established with Roy and Denise Yamaguchi in 2011. He plans to be at Alan Wong's regularly, especially during the opening months.

"The success of Alan Wong's was the people in the restaurant working," Wong said. "You can't just drop in and say, okay, this is the culture. You gotta live it, breathe it."

Reservations for April 8 and beyond are available now on OpenTable.

Opening timeline:

March 25: Alan Wong's at The Kahala Hotel & Resort opens to Legacy of Aloha guests.

March 29: Sunday Brunch at The Kahala returns with no changes to the current menu. Although located inside Alan Wong's, it will not feature Wong's menu.

April 8: Alan Wong's welcomes the general public. Reservations are required. Dinner only. Closed Sundays and Mondays.