Why would anyone open a restaurant today, especially in a city like Honolulu with its exorbitant leases, rocketing food costs, labor shortages and stifling bureaucracy? And let’s not forget the marathon hours a restaurateur must devote to stay afloat. It’s no secret that opening a restaurant is one of the riskiest entrepreneurial ventures to attempt. The National Restaurant Association estimates a 20% success rate for restaurants, with 60% of them closing in the first year and 80% within five years of opening.

Against this backdrop, we’ve seen many local eateries close in recent years. Some were newcomers, while others had fed us for decades. The pandemic surely was a culprit, but customer tastes changed too. For whatever reason, it became too much for a lot of restaurants to go on.

I’ve always marveled at those who take risks, especially big ones.

The precarious culinary climate revealed itself this summer when a power outage in Chinatown and Downtown Honolulu took hold for several frustrating days. More than 50 food businesses were affected; perishable food inventories were lost, along with sales; and some places teetered on closing. It was devastating.

Yet, there’s no shortage of new restaurants on O‘ahu. Almost every week, Frolic Hawai‘i, our dining brand, shares a web or social media post about a new place that just launched. In an early January story looking at the year ahead, dining editor Mari Taketa wrote about 10 new places opening on the island—dim sum destinations, sushi places, dessert spots and more. While some are backed by deep-pocketed investors, others are funded from personal savings accounts or family loans. With all the money, time and wherewithal it takes for an eatery to get going, it’s remarkable that here on our island, we seem to have an endless number of people who want to give it a try.

So again, I’ve wondered, “Why?”

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

In his recent New York Times story announcing his retirement as a food critic, writer Pete Wells turned to his years of experience to tackle that question: “People open restaurants for all kinds of reasons,” he wrote. “Some want to conjure up the flavors of a place they left behind, and consider their business a success if they win the approval of other people from the same place. Others want to dream up food that nobody has ever tasted or even imagined before, and won’t be satisfied until their name is known in Paris and Beijing and Sydney. And there are a hundred gradations in between.”

In other words, they’re visionaries and dreamers, but also risk takers. I’ve always marveled at those who take risks, especially big ones. Somehow, they don’t seem to dwell on potentially devastating outcomes; they just plow forth undeterred. Yet as diners, we don’t always credit these culinary entrepreneurs for their pursuits. Rather, we lean into our expectations for awesome food, impeccable service, affordable pricing, even available parking. If any of those are not up to standards, it’s easy to vow to never patronize them again. Fair enough, perhaps. But I think we should acknowledge what went into getting those restaurants up and running—and what it took for them to stick around.

That’s what I’ve been thinking about as we announce this year’s Hale ‘Aina Award winners. While some were selected by our dining team, the majority are readers’ picks. You may agree or disagree with the choices, but as you read about some of the winning restaurants and restaurateurs, you’ll find that they—and all of the other dinitng entrepreneurs in our city—have tenacity, drive and guts, not to mention talents to feed us in creative ways. And to me, that’s food for thought. And reason to show support.