New Restaurant, Arden, Now Open at the Lotus Honolulu Hotel
PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS
10.31.23
The Lotus Honolulu at Diamond Head now has a new restaurant, Arden, which opened at the hotel earlier this month.
Described as “Contemporary Hawaii Cuisine,” the restaurant is helmed by chefs Makoto Ono and Amanda Cheng and focuses on incorporating locally sourced ingredients into its dishes.
Hawaii-based real estate development and investment company MacNaughton acquired the Lotus Honolulu for $30 million in 2018, as previously reported by Pacific Business News. Arden is owned and operated by the company’s hotel-focused division MacNaughton Hospitality.
When asked why the company selected this concept for the hotel’s new restaurant, Emily Reber Porter, COO of MacNaughton, said, “chefs Makoto Ono and Amanda Cheng are a talented and truly genuine husband-and-wife chef duo.”
“Their cooking draws on multiple techniques including European and Japanese, infusing passion into locally sourced ingredients to form inspired expressions of contemporary Hawaii cuisine,” Porter told PBN.
The chefs previously led restaurants in Canada including Mak N Ming and Pidgin, with Ono as executive chef and Cheng as pastry chef.
“We discovered chefs Makoto and Amanda through a mutual friends-and-family connection, and our CEO Ian MacNaughton dined at their restaurant in Vancouver years ago, following their careers and talent since then. We were delighted to learn they were interested in making Hawaii home,” Porter said.
“Our shared vision for this restaurant brought Arden to life. The chefs’ passion for supporting local farmers, fishermen and purveyors resonated with our company and our dedication to our community.”
Arden purchases ingredients from a number of local farms and other businesses — a lengthy list that includes Sumida Farm, Tropic Fish Hawaii, Mari’s Garden, Kahumana Farm, The Rice Factory, Sweet Land Farm, Koloa Rum, Kauai Shrimp, Maui Nui Venison, and Choco le’a, among others, according to Porter.
“Chefs Makoto and Amanda use local ingredients in all of their dishes, with some consisting exclusively of local ingredients,” Porter said.
The menu features appetizers such as a li hing tomato salad made with Kahumana Farm tomatoes; venison tartare; and hamachi with a lilikoi ponzu sauce and a jalapeno salsa. Entrees include a mushroom rice made with rice from The Rice Factory; pepper-crusted ahi with Sumida Farm watercress; and lamb lollipops. For dessert, options include a dark chocolate and banana cake layered with chocolate mousse.
Arden is located on the second floor of the Lotus Honolulu, in the space that formerly housed TBD… restaurant, a pop-up concept that opened in 2019 and closed in September. According to information provided by MacNaughton, Arden is 3,200 square feet, with capacity for 125 people, along with a private dining room that seats 10.
MacNaughton did not disclose the cost of changes made to the space in conjunction with the new concept, but Porter noted that the company “updated the interior décor of the restaurant – with new colors, textures and materials, also bringing in new tabletops, lighting fixtures and furniture.”
“The overall experience is a lot lighter and brighter, really playing off the natural surroundings and its location sitting in between Diamond Head and Kapiolani Park, and the magnificent white sands and Pacific Ocean,” Porter said.
The company did not say how many employees Arden currently has, but Porter noted that the restaurant is still hiring.
“We have a growing staff as we launch this restaurant – and [we’re] open to a few more team members as our following grows,” she said, adding that interested workers can contact the restaurant manager at aloha@ardenwaikiki.com about available positions.
The restaurant is open from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
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