An Acclaimed Los Angeles Sake Bar Brings Beachside Bites To Hawaii
Noe DeWitt
You never know what to expect from Ototo. Two years ago, the James Beard Award-winning Izakaya spot in Los Angeles dressed itself up as the fictional Netflix restaurant Midnight Diner for a Halloween homage. More recently, the Echo Park space transformed into a Japanese 7-Eleven with a one-night menu of crust-less egg salad sandwiches and custom canned chu-hi. Now, Ototo is popping up on the Big Island of Hawaii for a summer restaurant residency at Auberge Resort Collection's Mauna Lani.
Between now and September 1, chef Charles Namba and his restaurant (and life) partner and beverage director Courtney Kaplan are overseeing a beachy, barefoot version of what the Los Angeles Times called 'L.A.'s best sake bar.' Each evening, Mauna Lani resort guests can enjoy sesame-seed fried chicken wings, chilled hiyashi chuka egg noodles and other Izakaya delights with their Kohala coast sunsets.
Restaurant (and life) partners Courtney Kaplan and Charles Namba want to show how versatile Japanese sake and Izakaya flavors can be.
Ototo
The California-Hawaii-Japan connection certainly makes sense. With flavors that riff on Tokyo's casual taverns and yatai stalls combined with L.A. creativity (like a tasty spin on McDonald's Filet-O-Fish) and fresh-from-the-land-and-sea Hawaiian ingredients, Ototo's outpost is practically a tri-coastal flavor summit.
Surprisingly, this is Namba and Kaplan's first trip to Hawaii, which makes the residency a real-world test of Ototo's playful ethos. I checked in with them to hear how they're adapting their kitchen techniques and keeping that three-way mash-up delicious under Hawaiian skies.
David Hochman: You've done interesting pop-ups before but never anything outside Los Angeles. How did Hawaii happen?
Charles Namba: I'm not really sure, honestly [laughs]. Our PR person thought it would be a good idea. Mauna Lani invited us to do it and we said yes.
Courtney Kaplan: We've done collabs with friends and chefs in L.A., but to actually go someplace completely different was a brand-new experience. We thought it sounded really interesting to have this opportunity for people to eat our food and drink great sake on the beach, if only to prove how versatile these flavors can be.
Drawing inspiration from Japan, Los Angeles and Hawaii, the menu is a three-coast flavor summit.
Nani Welch
Hochman: How does one pack for a three-month culinary residency in paradise?
Namba: I packed one chef's knife and an apron. Mauna Lani took care of everything else.
Kaplan: We're not there the whole time. We still have a restaurant to run in Los Angeles, and there's a great team in place that we worked with. For us, it was about figuring out how to get the most from the fresh ingredients on the Big Island and match those with delicious drink pairings.
Hochman: What excites you most about what's available in Hawaii versus Los Angeles?
Namba: We've obviously got great farmers markets in Los Angeles but things somehow feel even fresher in Hawaii. We're doing a grilled fish in ponzu oroshi butter, with farmers market vegetables that are just bursting with flavor. We've got a 'keiki cuke' sunomono cucumber salad that tastes very much like Hawaii. We're using watercress from a nearby farm.
Kaplan: We're working with a local taro root farmer who's got a five-acre farm. He was showing us pictures of the hundreds of pounds of taro he's harvested.
Namba: But he's also got incredible fiddlehead ferns. It reminds you how much you can grow beautifully on the Big Island.
Hochman: You're pairing sake with burgers and fried chicken. What's the idea there?
Kaplan: I want people to see how much range sake has. We brought over Shiokawa Cowboy sake from Japan to pair with the burger. The sake itself is meaty and savory. Tensei Song of the Sea Junmai Ginjo comes from a coastal brewery. You get some of that salt-water taffy flavor of a small surf town. Then you pour something like Kameizumi Junmai Ginjo Namazake and it's big, tropical, fruity, fresh.
Hochman: What are you doing for fun? Must be hard concentrating on work with all those Mauna Lani beach chairs beckoning.
Kaplan: Honestly, we've been pretty busy with the project. We did do some snorkeling, and got to swim and enjoy the landscape. You can hike near Mauna Lani and look at the petroglyphs close by. There are lava formations around the hotel as well. It's pretty incredible.
Namba: We ate really well. The hotel has a restaurant called Canoe House that's run by Rhoda Magbitang, who was executive chef at Chateau Marmont and other places, and her food is excellent. She has this shokupan Japanese milk bread that I thought was amazing. The texture is perfect. It tastes like Japan. In Hawaii.
Hochman: Does all this Hawaii livin' make you want to give up Echo Park and move to a tropical island?
Namba: I love Hawaii. But after working at restaurants in New York and opening Ototo in Los Angeles—I have to say, I love the rush of the city.
The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%2FTAL-hawaii-volcanoes-national-park-CHAINCRATERROAD0725-5b0675dd67e441848883c6d588986a7d.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Travel + Leisure
4 hours ago
- Travel + Leisure
One of the Most Scenic Drives in the U.S. Has Rainforests, Barren Lava Fields, and Stunning Ocean Cliffs
There are numerous reasons to visit the Big Island of Hawaii. Spanning over 4,000 square miles, the island is filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and sights, everything from black sand beaches to waterfalls, rainforests, and one of the country's most beautiful national parks, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The latter is particularly appealing to those travelers seeking adventure and otherworldly views, with more than 1.4 million people entering the park in 2024 alone. Although the national park has its fair share of amazing hikes, one of the best ways to explore its varied terrain is by car, namely, driving along Chain of Craters Road. One of the two primary roads within the park—Crater Rim Drive is the other—the Chain of Craters Road is about 19 miles from end to end, offering some of the most powerful, jaw-dropping scenes of the volcanic landscape. Without stopping or any major traffic issues, the drive should take around 30 minutes. However, there are numerous lookout points, pull-offs, and short hikes along the way, so a more thoughtful, relaxed drive should take you a bit longer. Chain of Craters Road begins close to the Devastation Trailhead and descends 3,700 feet from the summit of Kīlauea to sea level. Along the way, points of interest include the Puhimau Crater, where plumes of steam can occasionally be seen ( puhimau translates to 'forever smoking'), and the Mau Loa O Maunaulu pullout, where travelers witness lava flows that covered the land from 1969 to 1974. It's also possible to see the largest concentration of petroglyphs in Hawaii: the Puʻuloa Petroglyphs. The field of over 23,000 images can be reached via a 1.4-mile round-trip hike. There's a parking area on the Chain of Craters Road. Notably, Chain of Craters Road has changed over time, particularly as lava flows have covered the route. As of 2025, the scenic drive abruptly ends at a lava flow spot near Hōlei Sea Arch, the 90-foot-tall arch of lava rock that extends from the cliffs down into the ocean. The National Park Service notes that the arch's observation point is located just about 1,000 feet past the gate at the end of the road. Before you begin the drive, you'll want to make sure you've taken the proper precautions. There is no food, water, or fuel along the route, so pack snacks and drinks and fill your car's tank accordingly. Cell phone service also tends to be limited; pre-download your maps and let a loved one know your estimated time of return. Plus, due to the dynamic nature of this drive, always check the National Park Service website for closures or any updates on active lava flows within the park.
Skift
5 hours ago
- Skift
Southwest Airlines Rolls Out Its Own Vacation Packages
Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday that it is launching its own in-house vacations package product as part of a slew of changes the carrier has been making to its business model. The platform, called Getaways by Southwest, will allow customers to earn Rapid Rewards points while booking vacation packages that include flights, hotels, and ground transportation. Southwest will offer vacation packages for over 30 markets, including Las Vegas, Orlando, Hawaii, Punta Cana, and Montego Bay. Customers will also be able to check in two bags for free when they book vacation packages. The move is an interesting one for Southwest, which has recently st
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Meet Colin Cummings: US air force officer and greatest air hockey player of all time
About an hour before our scheduled chat, Colin Cummings accompanies his polite request to delay with a photograph of an image familiar to parents worldwide, a grizzling newborn strapped to his front, resolutely refusing to succumb to her morning nap. Cummings has gone about this week's defence of his air hockey world title rather differently to his many others. Partly, that is thanks to baby Clara's arrival a couple of months ago, which has dominated most of the summer. The rest of it has been dictated by a job relocation to Hawaii where he has been given a three-year posting as a personnel officer in the US air force. The air hockey table at his Oahu home represents the only professional-style playing surface in the whole multi-island state. Shorn of suitable playing partners, Cummings has geared up for his tilt at a sixth successive world crown in an unconventional manner. Irregular solo practises – increasingly infrequent since Clara's birth – have been the air hockey equivalent of a tennis player hitting balls against a wall. He has also attempted to keep track of opponents on the mainland through video streams of their matches, but his main physical activity of late involves surfing Hawaii's famous waves. Related: Brazilian table tennis star denied entry to US due to having competed in Cuba Aged just 26, Cummings is already almost universally considered the air hockey GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Two other players, Danny Hynes and Jesse Douty, are now tied with his 12 world titles, but that pair are generally bracketed alongside a couple of others on the second rung of air hockey's all-time pyramid. Cummings, alone, stands at the top. It was he who, at 16, became the youngest ever world champion in the sport – and Cummings is absolutely adamant that air hockey is a sport. And it is he who has relinquished just one of the 13 world championships held over the past decade. Ask the man himself and he is in no doubt over his GOAT status: 'Oh hell yeah, bro, I got to be. I've even got a little goat sticker on my mallet.' Most people Cummings encounters are surprised to hear that air hockey even possesses a competitive life outside arcades and home basements. Played on a low-friction table, with opposing players attempting to hit the puck into goals using handheld mallets, the elite side of the sport has, in fact, been around for almost 50 years, beginning soon after air hockey's invention. Texas, North Carolina, Illinois and Idaho are America's four major competitive hubs, while the recent boom in barcades – drinking establishments featuring retro entertainment offerings – has provided a resurgence in pockets across the country. Aside from a Venezuelan contingent, and a smattering of Russians and Spaniards, air hockey tends to be an all-American affair. Cummings' route in began when his family relocated to Texas in 2009 and happened to move across the road from the world No 4 player. Invited over for a game by the man's son – who was the top-ranked Under-12 player – Cummings received a pasting and vowed not to let it happen again: 'I instantly knew I had to beat the kid. He was so cocky.' Within six months, the Cummings family found a small table of their own at a garage sale; half a year later, they had upgraded it to a professional-standard table. While Colin emerged as the star, air hockey quickly became something for the whole family to play. His younger brother Connor is now ranked world No 3, while their father, Mike, is No 15. As he has done for close to a decade, Colin tops the pile. In the smallest of niche sporting ponds, the biochemistry graduate is a superstar. But unlike his world-beating peers – think Roger Federer, Lionel Messi or Oleksandr Usyk – he receives next to no external recognition. 'It's definitely a challenge,' he says, of his vastly contrasting lives on and off the air hockey table. 'I have to be versatile. 'I have my air force persona where I have to embody a leadership character. Then there's the air hockey champion persona where I walk into a room and people all want to meet me when I have no idea who they are. Then there's normal life. 'I remember when I won my first world title in 2015, I went back to my day job where I was a salad boy/janitor, just mopping the floor in a hair net. I'd gone from being world champion to mopping floors.' In the fledgling days of his relationship with his now-wife Meg, Cummings sent her a video link of an interview he did with CNN. 'She was like: 'You're the world champion? What the heck?' But she's very supportive.' So much so that husband and wife even joined forces to claim world doubles silver in 2022, although Cummings suggests that was a one-off: 'If I've not been playing at all in Hawaii, then she's definitely not been playing.' The furthest any possible discontent stretches is Meg forlornly enquiring whether they might vacation farther afield than Texas, where the world championships usually take place. That return to familiar soil does at least mean they can forego expensive hotel bills and stay with family for free during competition. In a sport that offers about $2,000 prize money for winning the world title, Cummings suggests he has 'at least broken even, if not made money' over the course of his career. When not based in Hawaii, he had also previously earned modest sums through sponsorship from small companies. The ultimate ambition is to 'break out of this niche bubble and turn into something that's multinational and well cemented'. The closest comparison, he says, would be to emulate the growth of table football or foosball – which has produced men and women's world champions from 10 different countries over the past two decades – and, eventually, table tennis. Until then, Cummings must content himself with the adulation of a select few and the ignorance of the masses. When he returns from this week's world championships, he intends to hold an exhibition tournament at home in Hawaii for his air force colleagues, who all believe they can beat him. 'So I'll toast them all,' he says. Wayne Gretzky never had to deal with such disrespect.
