Chef Spotlight

Chris Kajioka

Chris Kajioka, Chef and Co-Owner of Senia
Oahu's historic Chinatown is a dynamic culinary hotspot where new eateries seem to pop up monthly. Honolulu native Chris Kajioka, who cooked at prestigious eateries on the U.S. mainland, returned to Oahu and critical acclaim at Vintage Cave. Together, Chris Kajioka and Anthony Rush opened the highly anticipated Senia in Chinatown where diners can opt for the main dining room, the intimate Chef's Counter, or the private upstairs room.

Q: How would you describe your menus and cooking philosophy at Senia?
A: Anthony and I seek out the best ingredients and apply the techniques we have learned through the years to create something that is hopefully really delicious. We both believe that great food starts with great ingredients.

Q: What are the most popular or signature dishes on Senia's a la carte dining room menu and at the Chef's Counter?
A: The charred cabbage has become the signature item on the a la carte menu and the Maui venison tartare on smoked brioche has been on the tasting menu from the beginning. Both dishes speak of the high quality of the local ingredients.

Q: What and/or who inspires your cooking?
A: Amazing ingredients inspire my cooking. Also, the reaction of our guests when they have a great experience pushes us to be even better the next time.

Q: Where do you source most of your ingredients?
A: Hirabara Farm in Waimea on the Big island. I have a very special relationship with them. In my opinion, there are the best at what they do and the climate in Waimea is very suitable to a wide range of products. We are very lucky to partner with them and have a small section of the farm dedicated to growing us Caraflex Cabbage.

Q: How would you describe the food and dining scene right now on Oahu?
A: Dynamic, ever-changing, delicious.

Q: Besides Senia, where would you suggest visitors eat to really experience the diversity and dynamism of Oahu's dining and food scene?
A: Sushi SHO is a perfect example of how amazing our dining scene has become. Chef Nakazawa was one of the best to ever do it in Japan and he decided to challenge himself with new ingredients and a new culture in Hawaii. To me, that is inspiring. Helena's Hawaiian Food is also an institution that every visitor should experience. The food is a melting pot that speaks directly to one's soul.

Restaurant Roundup

Where to Eat Now

Restaurant Round Up: Where to Eat Now
Honolulu's urban neighborhoods – Chinatown, Kakaako, Kaimuki, and Kapahulu – are bursting with a diverse choice of eateries, cuisines, and price points, making it easy to experience Oahu's culinary magic.

Chinatown
Chef driven eateries abound in this historic enclave. Andrew Le turns out modern, globally accented Vietnamese fare at his phenomenal eatery The Pig and The Lady. At Fete, Robynne Mai cooks and serves foods she craves whether it's cuisine inspired by the Korean flavors of her childhood or trips to her husband's native Georgia. Dusty Grable and Jesse Cruz provide diners with a refined ramen bar at Lucky Belly and an ever changing menu at Livestock Tavern. And at Grondin French-Latin Kitchen, Jenny Grondin and David Segarra showcase their dual French-Ecuadorian heritages in a cozy bistro setting.   

Kakaako
Head to SALT at Our Kakaako, the neighborhood hub for dining, shopping, and special events, where you'll find farm fresh dishes at Peter Merriman's Moku Kitchen, classic Hawaiian favorites at Highway Inn, and riffs on American comfort food at Hank's Haute Dogs. Elsewhere in Kakaako, Brian Chan focuses on unique brunch options at Scratch Kitchen & Meatery.

Kaimuki
Ed Kenney has three of his four Oahu spots here – Town, Mud Hen Water, and Kaimuki Superette – all guided by his mantra, "Local first, organic whenever possible, with aloha always." Kevin Hanney serves hearty modern American food at 12th Ave Grill while Lee Ann Wong delights with delectable brunches at Koko Head Café. Newer restaurants include Vegan Hills with healthy plant based options and Broken Rice with Vietnamese specialties.

Kapahulu
Just minutes from Waikiki, this local neighborhood is famous for beloved Hawaiian food spots. Generations have flocked to Leonard's Bakery, for famous malasadas, hole-less Portuguese donuts. Rainbow Drive-In, home to some of Hawaii's best and most reasonably priced typical "plates lunches," even appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. Ono Seafood, a hole-in-the-wall seafood spot, serves up amazing poke (fresh, raw, chopped Hawaiian fish dish) and other seafood specialties.

Ono-Licious Oahu

Food Tours & Classes

Ono-Licious Oahu: Food Tours and Classes
Discover the bounty of Oahu's farms, hole in the wall eateries, and bean to bar chocolate with exciting tours and classes.

Kahumana Organic Farm & Café
Non-profit Kahumana in West Oahu combines farming and social work in order serve a diverse community including individuals transitioning from homelessness, the developmentally disabled, and youth. Take the Farm-to-Table Tour and learn all about Kahumana's organic, production-based, regenerative farm where they sustainably raise free-range chickens and different vegetables and fruits while engaging in aquaponics and permaculture. Opt for the Deluxe Farm-to-Table Tour and visit both of Kahuman's farm parcels. You'll enjoy everything on the Farm-to-Table Tour, taste salads straight from the colorful fields, feed the friendly sheep, discuss beekeeping near the 40-hive apiary, see the indigenous staple crops, meet the chickens, and tour the solar greenhouse. Both tours feature a delicious, fresh meal in the onsite café featuring Kahumana produce.

Mana Ai
Head to Mana Ai, Daniel Anthony's family home and farm on the Windward Coast, to learn all about taro (kalo in Hawaiian), the ancestral crop that sustained the Hawaiian people for millennia, plus paiai and poi, the hand pounded products created from the beloved kalo. As one of Hawaii's leading authorities on poi and paiai, Daniel was featured on Andrew Zimmern's TV show Bizarre Foods. On the Thursday farm tour, Daniel will show you around the three-acre farm parcel where he and his family follow indigenous Hawaiian farming practices, raise taro, and cook their meals in an imu (a traditional underground Hawaiian oven). Following the tour, Daniel will do a full poi making demonstration that includes poi and paiai tastings. Enjoy lunch and then plant native kalo, ti leaf, or mamaki. Daniel also offers custom experiences such as cooking in his family's imu, poi making workshops, and workshops to make hand-carved poi pounders and pounding boards. To book a tour and learn more, visit malamatourshawaii.com/cultural-exchange or call Daniel Anthony at 808-542-1326.

Naked Cow Dairy Farm & Creamery
Naked Cow Dairy Farm & Creamery, the only dairy farm on Oahu, began 11 years ago with the idea of bringing back the small dairy of yesteryear when cows were treated naturally without hormones and antibiotics. Today, Naked Cow Dairy produces milk, gourmet creamery butters, unique artisan cheese, and fresh cream top yogurt. On the Basic Farm Tour, guests feed, interact, and learn about cows and chickens; enjoy a cheese and butter tasting; and meet the rest of the menagerie including sheep, a horse, turkeys, goats, duck, and geese. With the Extra Tour option, you can watch and learn about milking cows and watch cheese or butter production. The Deluxe Tour adds a cheese or butter making class and a light lunch. Other options include The Sunset Wine & Cheese Tour and a Mozzarella Cheese Making Class.

Kahuku Farms
Visit family owned North Shore Kahuku Farms where a fourth generation now runs this agricultural concern that grows papayas, watermelons, bananas, cacao, pomelo, lilikoi, dragon fruit, and acai berries. On the one-hour Grand Tour, ride through the fields and learn the farm's history. The half-hour Smoothie Tour features a wagon ride and the opportunity to see the papayas and apple bananas that are used in the Papaya Power smoothie you receive as part of the tour. Enjoy healthy, delicious acai bowls in the Farm Café and pick up farm made honey, dressings, and condiments at the Farm Shop.    

Taste of Kualoa Farm Tour
Kualoa, a 4,000-acre nature preserve and working cattle ranch on Oahu's northeast coast, preserves and perpetuates Hawaii's culture and history through a variety of programs and activities. On the new Taste of Kualoa Farm Tour, take an open-air trolley ride through Kualoa's 55-acre native fruit and tropical flowers gardens located on the edge of beautiful Kaneohe Bay. Taste some of the many products grown and raised at Kualoa, from fruits and vegetables to macadamia nuts and fish, while learning about Hawaiian aquaculture and agriculture. In June, Kualoa will launch an exciting new Kualoa Farm to Table Experience.

Madre Chocolate
Head to Madre Chocolate in Chinatown for their award winning, small batch chocolate made bean-to-bar right on Oahu with cacao grown in Hawaii and Central America. Madre Chocolate sources cacao directly from cacao farmers and crafts chocolate bars from lightly processed cacao that preserves many healthy antioxidants while providing a deep rich flavor. Enhance your understanding of the cultural heritage and ecological diversity surrounding cacao with Madre Chocolate experiences. The Chocolate Farm and Factory Tour visits Nine Fine Mynahs Estates on Oahu's North Shore where Madre sources its cacao. Madre Chocolate also offers in store Make Your Own Chocolate Bar, Whiskey and Chocolate Pairing, and Wine and Chocolate events.

Hawaii Food Tours
Experience the local food scene with Hawaii Food Tours. The Hole in the Wall Tour is a five-hour adventure through Chinatown and off the beaten path Honolulu neighborhoods to experience the comfort foods of Hawaii that reflect Asian and local flavors. Enjoy 15 different food samplings—everything from tropical fruits to Korean barbecue, dim sum, and Chinese-Hawaiian treats. The tour stops at a noodle factory, famous Hawaiian bakeries, Chinatown markets, and other local favorites. The North Shore Tour is a six-hour excursion featuring two sit-down lunches that showcase traditional Hawaiian foods like garlic shrimp, kalua pork, lomi salmon, and haupia pudding, a visit to a sugar mill and coffee plantation, and plenty of gorgeous scenery.

Toast Masters

Breweries & Distilleries

Toast Masters: Breweries and Distilleries
Oahu boasts craft breweries and distilleries producing excellent products made with island sourced ingredients and lots of passion

Distilleries
Manulele Distillers handcrafts small batch Ko Hana Hawaiian Agricole Rum from ko—sugar cane brought to Hawaii by Polynesian voyagers nearly one thousand years ago. On the Ko Hana Rum Tasting Tour, you'll start with a glass of fresh pressed cane juice, visit the custom rum still to learn how native Hawaiian sugar cane is distilled into agricole rum, tour the garden, and learn the history of ko. The tour finishes up at the tasting bar where you'll compare white and aged rums and return home with a souvenir tasting glass.

Hawaiian Shochu Company, a small distillery on the North Shore, produces NamiHana, a traditional Japanese shochu spirit made with premium Hawaiian sweet potatoes and Koji rice. NamiHana is brewed using the traditional handmade techniques of the Kurose brew masters of Kagoshima, Japan. Hawaii is ideal for brewing shochu because the year-round climate is similar to Kagoshima's fall season when sweet potatoes are harvested and Hawaii's sweet potatoes are ideal for shochu. NamiHana is served at Alan Wong's, Roy's, and many Japanese restaurants on Oahu. Visitors are welcome at the distillery by appointment for tastings and purchases.

Breweries
Kakaako boasts several excellent breweries offering great food, ambiance, and beer handcrafted right on the premises. Honolulu Beerworks is a craft brewery that uses locally sourced and unique, imported ingredients in their brewing. The open-air brewpub with communal seating and two beer gardens serves a menu showcasing fresh seasonal ingredients that pairs perfectly with their handcrafted brews. Aloha Beer Company is a locally owned and operated brewery and Tap Room with a menu focusing on pupus (Hawaiian appetizers), shared plates, salads, sandwiches, and craft cocktails. The brewers are happy to show guests around and explains their craft when they are in house. Waikiki Brewing Company has both Kakaako and Waikiki locations, each with an onsite brewery. The brewing operations are in full view of the bar so it's easy to see what's going on and the brewers are always happy to discuss the process when time permits. Over on the Windward Coast, Lanikai Brewing Company is an authentic Hawaiian craft beer company that uses premium, local, rare, and exotic ingredients grown by local farmers and foraged across the Pacific. The tasting room is open Thursday-Sunday. Bring your own or buy food from onsite food trucks to enjoy with Lanikai's craft brews.