Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 11, 1 November 2011 — Kitchen of dreams [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kitchen of dreams

Papakōlea cooking up 'ono opportunities

By Naomi Sodetani Cecilia "Aunty Cissy" Silva, 79, lifted the lid off one of five huge heavy-gauge steel pots on the stove and plunged a giant spoon into the steaming beef lū'au for a hnal stir. "I feel so honored they let me be the first one to use this kitchen," Silva beamed. Helped by two young women, the spry kupuna heaved another vat off the burner and poured an avalanche of ehieken long rice into a buffet-size serving tray. Nearby, a young man in a crisp white coat lowered a fryer basket of panko-dusted discs into the sizzling oil. Moments later, Davit Soo, 21, artfully drizzled hoisin-lime aioli over the sweet potato-kālua pork cakes, nodding to his crew of fellow Kapi'olani Community Center culinary arts students to whisk the appetizers away. Chefs old and young offered their talents and hopes for a brighter future at a community pā'ina held Oct. 8 to dedicate and celebrate the newly completed certified commercial kitchen located at the Papakōlea Community Center and Park. One hundred fifty community members and supporters gathered at midday to weleome this resource conceived to springboard new eeonomie development opportunities in this tight-knit community - and to enjoy the first mea'ai created within its walls. "It's such a blessing for the whole community,

it brings us closer and stronger together," said Puni Kekauoha, Executive Director of the Papakōlea Community Development Corp., or PCDC. The gleaming, airy kitchen is a chef's dream eome true: fully loaded with state-of-the-art commercial appliances, stainless-steel work surfaces, new electrical wiring and plumbing, ventilation and safety features. Rivaling the best restaurants in town, the kitchen is an extreme makeover of its tiny, dingy orange-formica'd former self. Silva and other residents had expressed their desire for a commercial kitchen during a communitywide visioning project that resulted in the 1997 report Papakōlea: A Vision for the Future. But the dream of a fully functioning kitchen began decades before. Back in the day when the original building's icebox was cooled with iee blocks, Silva recalls the old-timers saying, " 'One day we going have a kitchen in that hall we ean eome and eook from, that going feed everybody.' I feel blessed to see their vision eome to pass." Silva got her start by helping the late community leader Joseph Kahoaka Sr. "eook kālua pig in his big imu in his back yard," just a stone's throw away from the center. Since 1961, she has cooked for countless occasions - "fundraisers, baby lū'au, weddings, parties, you name it" - from her humhle Papakōlea kitchen,

renting a certified kitchen as needed to cater large gigs. Her biggest, a two-school graduation banquet, fed 1,500. "We got some real cooks here," Kekauoha said. "All these years the kūpuna fed all of us, and they did this from their homes. When I told Aunty Cecilia, 'We're finally going to have a new kitchen,' she was crying. She said, 'Oh baby, we going eook up!"' It took many years and many hands coming together to make the vision a reality. Joe Ferraro, Principal of the Ferraro Choi and Associates Ftd. architectural firm and past President of the Honolulu Sunrise Rotary Club, whieh provided funds to build the Papakōlea entrance marker in the early 1990s, drew up the architectural plans for the kitchen pro bono. Contractor Chad Johnston of the Hunt Building Co. - and a son of Papakōlea - also brought heart to managing the project. At the kitchen's doorway, a plaque honors Alexander Kaleipapanuionamoku Wong. Wong's daughter Allene founded the Kahiau Foundation. Administered by the Hawai'i Community Foundation, the Kahiau Foundation provided $298,000 to fund the entire renovation and outfit the kitchen with major appliances and equipment. Allene said her father "had great memories growing up here, so I'm glad we could do this in his memory and honor his love for the Papakōlea 'ohana. I think he would be very happy." Kekauoha said the Wong 'ohana "remembered the kūpuna, and it's their gift to the future SEE KITGHEN ON PAGE 10

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Puni Kekauoha, above, beams in the sparkling new commereial kilehen, where she says "the phones have not stopped ringing." At left, Aunty Cissy Silva said she felt honored to be the first to use the new commercial kitchen. Since 1 961 , she has cooked for countless baby lū'au, weddings and parties from her humble Papakōlea kitchen. Photos: Naomi Sodetani

KITCHEN Continued from page 5

generations. They gave us the money to enahle Papakōlea to heeome prosperous business people. They want to see Papakōlea thrive." Given the great demand for commercial kitchens in Honolulu, "the phones have not stopped ringing," Kekauoha noted. When not used by residents, nonresident bookings will generate ineome to help support PCDC programs and the group's own long-term sustainability. When the kitchen publicly opens its doors in January, it will serve as an incubator for food service and food-manufacturing businesses headed by entrepreneurs from Papakōlea. Along with myriad service-learning opportunities, the kitchen will enahle homestead youth to operate an afterschool concession stand for center and park users.

Papakōlea's "garden to plate" initiative has mobilized loeal 'ōpio to restore a nearby eommunitv gartlen locatetl he-

tween Lineoln Elementar5 whieh provides water for the garden, and Stevenson Middle School, whieh provides the land. Fresh produce from the garden will be used in meals prepared by the youth-run business op-

erating aunng arternoon and evening hours. "One day I'U open my

own restaurant, but it would be great to start my own catering business and get my name out there," mused Soo, of KCC, as he wiped down the counters. "Cooking with Aunty was really eool. I was watching her ways, because I know I ean learn a lot from her." Delegating tasks in preparing the appetizers also helped the Kalāwahine resident to hone himself as a future executive chef. "That's exactly what this

kitchen is supposed to do," Kekauoha said, "support ideas, dreams just like that, to make them possible." ■

Naomi Sodetani is a freelance writer, documentary producer and former Publications Editor of Ka Wai Ola o OHA.

www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

lnset, culinary delights look as good as they taste. Above, the community gathers at the kitchen to celebrate its first run. Below, Kapi'olani Community College eulinan/ arts students put their skills to work. Davit Soo, left, says he dreams of one day opening his own restaurant. Photos: Naomi Sodetani