Posted at 4:03 p.m., Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Big Island chef Peter Merriman expanding to Kauai
Advertiser Staff
Big Island restaurateur Peter Merriman said he will open a fine-dining restaurant and a cafe within the planned luxury residential golf community Kukui'ula on Kaua'i.The acclaimed chef joins Maui Divers, Quiksilver, Tommy Bahama and Sole Mio in planning to expand on Kaua'i as tenants in a 91,600-square-foot Kukui'ula shopping complex scheduled to open in early 2009.
Kukui'ula is a master-planned residential resort on 1,010 acres near Po'ipu in south Kaua'i. The project is slated for up to 1,500 homes, an 18-hole golf course, a 20-acre lake, a 31-unit boutique hotel, a spa, an 8-acre farm, a recreational center, a 20-acre community park and a 5-acre beach park.
Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin Inc. is developing the estimated $725 million project with Arizona-based DMB Associates Inc. as Kukui'ula Development Co. LLC.
The commercial center broke ground in August and is being developed by an affiliate of Washington, D.C.-based retail real estate firm Madison Marquette.
Merriman is one of the fathers of "Hawai'i Regional Cuisine." His original restaurant, Merriman's, opened in 1988 in Waimea on the Big Island.
Merriman's Kaua'i will be a 4,000-square-foot fine-dining restaurant featuring island fish. Merriman's Café will be 3,000 square feet and serve casual Mediterranean fare.
The restaurateur said his Waimea business buys 90 percent of its food from Big Island producers, and that he plans to replicate the model on Kaua'i.
