Here’s Why Kapa Hale Is One of Honolulu’s Most Exciting New Restaurants
Keaka Lee’s first restaurant fuses elements of Hawaiian, local, modern American and global.
December 14, 2020
Standing in the kitchen at Kapa Hale, a new restaurant in Kāhala imbued with kapa motifs, chef-owner Keaka Lee is explaining the meaning behind its name. “Kapa tells a story,” he says. “A blank plate, much like a blank piece of kapa, is the canvas with which I tell my stories.”
Kapa Hale is the first restaurant of his own. Lee has spent more than a decade working in top kitchens from coast to coast alongside chefs like Alan Wong, Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony, Benu’s Corey Lee and most recently, Andrew Le of Chinatown’s The Pig & The Lady. He has a lot of stories to tell, and now he can tell them: Kapa Hale opened Dec. 10 in the Kāhala Korner building that houses Olive Tree Café. Years in the making, Kapa Hale is worth the wait.