LAWA‘I — The pride which showed in Kana‘e Soto’s eyes was undescribable Friday. Two days after Lanakila Kitchen opened its doors in Lawa‘i adjacent to the Menehune Mart, Kana‘e had the opportunity to serve her own family, who came to
LAWA‘I — The pride which showed in Kana‘e Soto’s eyes was undescribable Friday.
Two days after Lanakila Kitchen opened its doors in Lawa‘i adjacent to the Menehune Mart, Kana‘e had the opportunity to serve her own family, who came to try the Good Food to Go menu, opting to enjoy the spirit of the Lanakila Kitchen staff along with their orders.
“The tripe stew is really good,” said Norine Soto, Kana‘e’s mother. “See? It’s all gone — just the soup’s left and I’m having that, too. My husband, Irving, had the French Dip and my son Aikoa had the Club Sandwich. It was all fresh.”
Stu Burley was another customer who came in to pick up a lunch order after stopping in for breakfast earlier in the day.
“This is really good stuff,” Burley said. “I came for breakfast and now I came back for lunch. I’m a soup kind of guy.”
Soups are just part of the menu offering for Lanakila Kitchen, which is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. They are closed Saturday and Sunday, said Carol Horner, the Lanakila Kitchen Project Manager.
“I didn’t think we were going to be this busy,” Horner said, barely having time to see there was less than an hour before closing. “The crowd has been non-stop from this morning.”
The eatery offers a variety of food, from its ready-to-go steam tables to full-service menu with a variety of salads, sandwiches, wraps, soups and stews and a Mexican dish, to four Friday .
But the busy eatery goes deeper than good food which is good for you.
“This is the first time Lanakila Pacific is opening a retail kitchen and is also the first time they are venturing outside of O‘ahu,” Horner said. “Ed Okamoto is a Kaua‘i boy and he still comes home from his job at Lanakila Pacific. He was the one who found this place and sub-leased it from Mark’s Place and Contemporary Flavors Catering.”
Labelled the Lanakila Workforce Resources Kaua‘i and Lanakila Kitchen Kaua‘i, Horner said they currently have two “trainees” recommended by the state’s Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Lanakila Workforce Resources Kaua‘i offers food service training for people with disabilities through a combination of pre-employment assessments, occupational skills training, practical work experience and job coaching — essential components in obtaining and maintaining competitive employment, states a Lanakila flier.
“The trainees are paid and trained, their wages increasing as they progress,” Horner said. “We have two trainees with one more starting Monday. This is more than making money. Whatever the restaurant makes goes back into the program so we can train more people.”
Horner, who said she was hired after being laid off from the hotel industry, said in addition to the trainees, volunteers are also a critical component of the Lanakila Workforce Resources program.
“These volunteers have to meet certain requirements and serve as mentors to the trainees, working alongside the trainees and doing whatever it takes,” Horner said. “My husband, Ed, is a volunteer and comes in from 5 to 7 a.m. to wash dishes and clean the floors before going to work.”
The Lanakila Kitchen is an offshoot of Lanakila Pacific, a 72-year-old operation on O‘ahu committed to serving people with challenged lives, Horner said.
Currently, Lanakila Pacific serves more than 2,600 Hawai‘i residents with programs which build life skills to help support the community, the flier states.
Open for snacks, food-to-go, or sit-down meals and daily specials, the goal of the kitchen is to serve up the freshest variety of delicious foods which are good for you, and the community, Horner said.
Under the guidance of Chef Frank Guillermo, meals are prepared on-site with packaging which is eco-friendly when possible.
Lanakila Kitchen Kaua‘i is also available to provide contract meal services for groups, states the release.
A formal grand opening ceremony was held Wednesday followed by an open house.
Call 332-5500 for more information, or to place an order for pick up.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
