There’s a Waikiki celebrity chef restaurant shakeup happening right now! With the opening of the new International Market Place, Waikiki got yet another celebrity chef restaurant: Michael Mina’s Strip Steak. Roy Yamaguchi even opened his second Waikiki location at the International Market Place, Eating House 1849. But, it isn’t all good news in Waikiki, especially if you’re a fan of Japanese food.
Today, local news outlets reported that Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant, Morimoto, will be closing on December 8, 2016. The Chef’s first, and so far only Hawaii restaurant is located at The Modern Honolulu (formerly the Waikiki Edition). There’s been no reason given for the restaurant’s closure, but all staff are reportedly being retained. A new, unnamed restaurant is set to open in the space soon after Morimoto closes.
Personally, while I’m a fan of Morimoto-san, Morimoto Waikiki was kind of hit-or-miss. I liked some dishes there, but others like the wagyu steak were shockingly bad. I mean, how do you make a chewy, tough wagyu steak? And even though Morimoto is going away, Morimoto-san will be opening two more restaurants in Waikiki: Morimoto Asia and Momosan. Morimoto Asia will be a fusion restaurant with influences from, well, all over Asia. Momosan, on the other hand, will be a ramen restaurant like the NYC location of the same name, though this location will include a beer garden. Both of Morimoto’s new restaurants will be part of the newly renovated Pacific Beach Hotel, which will eventually be re-branded into the Alohilani Resort.
The other celebrity chef restaurant in Waikiki closing is Nobu Waikiki. Like Morimoto, however, Nobu’s is not leaving forever. Instead, Nobu’s is relocating from its current spot on the ground floor of the Waikiki Parc hotel. The new location will be on the ground floor of the upscale residential tower Waiea in Howard Hughes’ Ward Villages project.
Not much in the way of details have been provided about the above restaurants. Oddly enough, though, Nobu is scheduled to close, a re-opening date remains unannounced. The Waikiki Parc was supposed to close in Fall 2016, but is still accepting reservations through August 2017. No date has been given on the opening of Morimoto’s new restaurants either, but the 24 Hour Gym occupying one of the restaurant’s future location is already broken, though. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens!