The owner and chef of Town restaurant in Kaimuki plans to open a sequel restaurant of sorts in Downtown Honolulu called what else but Downtown.

The state recently awarded a lease to Ed Kenney of Town to open and operate the new restaurant as an amenity at the Hawai'i State Art Museum inside the No. 1 Capitol District Building on Hotel Street just 'ewa of the Capitol.

Kenney said Downtown at the HISAM should open in late May between the historic building's lobby and swimming pool, and serve Mediterranean-leaning lunch and light breakfast for both deli-style takeout and casual sit-down dining Monday through Saturday.

Private-function dinners and a full bar are also planned for the restaurant, which will have about 100 seats, including some on the outside pool lanai.

"We're excited," Kenney said. "The connection between the arts and the culinary arts is a strong pull for us."

The restaurant is part of a long-planned state initiative to add food service, a gift shop and visitor center to the museum, which opened in 2002 on the building's second floor, two years after the state bought the property formerly known as the Armed Forces YMCA Building and the Hemmeter Building.

Friends of the Hawai'i State Art Museum, a nonprofit established by the Legislature to organize for-profit concessions to benefit the museum, solicited restaurant operators and selected Kenney's proposal.

The state, which constructed a kitchen and the restaurant's interior in space used for offices by the building's previous owner, recently signed a lease with Kenney after receiving various agency approvals.

Kenney's restaurant will be steps from the Legislature, and in the same building as many state office workers.

The chef also joins a handful of other restaurateurs who in recent years have added to the night life of downtown Honolulu, though Kenney's restaurant will only serve dinner for private events such as weddings, wine tastings and possibly special museum-related functions.

Art museum director Jonathan Johnson said it will be nice to have the long-anticipated food service enhancing the experience of museum visitors as well as serving nearby downtown workers.

"It'll be good for both the business people who work in the area and visitors who visit the facility," he said. "I'll be a regular guest."

Lease rent from Kenney's restaurant will help support the museum, and Kenney hopes the business generates more awareness of the museum, which he admits he didn't know existed before he saw the request for restaurant proposals about a year ago.

Doing business with the state can sometimes be difficult, but Kenney, who said plans were delayed somewhat, joked that this didn't deter him because he had no prior experience doing business with the state. "But I still think it's an incredible opportunity," he said.

The Hawai'i-born Kenney opened his popular Town about two years ago, and also has experience in Downtown Honolulu as former executive chef and general manager of the Richards Street YWCA's Café Laniakea.

"I cooked downtown for two years," he said. "I saw there's a market down here. You can only eat so many $5 plate lunches."

Kenney said that like Town, Downtown will support local farms, use organic ingredients where possible, serve pasta and bread made from scratch, and lean toward Italian-French-Spanish style food in a casual setting.

The building's connection to dining dates back to when the property was the site of Hawai'i's first hotel, the Hawaiian Hotel, which opened under King Kalakaua in 1872.

According to museum director Johnson, the hotel had a French chef who cooked for hotel guests. "There's some great history to great food here," he said.

The hotel later became known as the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and was bought by the YMCA in 1917. The original wooden building was replaced by a concrete and stucco Spanish mission-style building in 1928. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

In 1987, developer Chris Hemmeter paid $11 million to buy the building for his corporate headquarters, and spent about $30 million on upgrades and restorations that Johnson said include luxurious bathrooms in what has become the restaurant area.

Japan-based BIGI Corp. in 1990 bought the building from Hemmeter for $80.5 million, but a decade later sold it for $22.5 million to the state, which had been leasing space in the building.

The museum includes three galleries featuring items from the state's Art in Public Places Collection. The museum, which is free, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Friends of the Hawai'i State Art Museum is still working on establishing a gift shop, adjacent to the restaurant, and a visitor center that would help support the museum.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.