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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"type":"text","text":"He caught some birds in this paradise though!"}]

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Plant Group Hawaii Got Fish

<title>🚧 Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Got fish on da line?</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @plantgrouphawaii, who may not have gotten any bites – but still scored an impressive haul.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Got fish on da line?

He caught some birds in this paradise though!   Make sure you follow @PlantGroupHawaii on Instagram!  For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter!

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Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

The Hawaiʻi International Film Festival, presented by Halekulani Hotel, returns for its 45th year with events on Oʻahu, Maui, Lānaʻi, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi Island and Molokaʻi. 

This year, the festival's theme is "convergence."

The festival starts with events Oct. 15 to 26 in Honolulu and Oct. 28 to 30 in West Oʻahu. There will be screenings on Maui Oct. 19-20 and Nov. 8 to 9; Lānaʻi Oct. 21-23; Kauaʻi Nov. 1 to 3; Hawaʻi Island Nov. 7 to 9 and 13 to 16; and Molokaʻi Nov. 14-16.

“Held each year at the close of the calendar, HIFF serves as both a cinematic ‘yearbook,’ showcasing the standout titles from Sundance, Cannes, Toronto and Busan, and a festival of record for bold new voices from across the Asia-Pacific,” said Anderson Le, HIFF’s artistic director, in a written statement. “In the mix are also world and U.S. premieres from major films from the Asia-Pacific Rim that will screen at HIFF before their domestic releases.”

The festival will include 72 feature films and 143 short films. There will be 115 Hawaiʻi premieres and 36 world premieres. Passes start at $200 for weekend access or $500 for access to all screenings. Attendees can also purchase admission to individual films. 

The festival opens with the Hawaiʻi premiere of “Rental Family.” The center piece film is “No Other Choice,” by director Park Chan-wook.

The event also includes the inaugural HIFILM Industry Conference, which runs Oct. 24- 26 in Honolulu, and features three days of panels, workshops and networking events focused on the state's film, television and creator industries. 

"Our 2025 lineup celebrates bold storytelling from around the world, while the industry conference strengthens Hawai‘i’s place in the global film and media ecosystem,” said Beckie Stocchetti, the executive director of HIFF, in a written statement. “With this year’s theme of convergence, HIFF brings together filmmakers, thought leaders, and industry innovators from Hawai‘i, the Asia-Pacific, and beyond — continuing to serve as both a bridge between cultures and a launchpad for creative collaboration. HIFF has for over a decade stood as the nexus for creativity in the Asian-Pacific Rim and at HIFF45 we are proud to present a festival and conference that amplify HIFF’s mission to connect audiences, artists and ideas across the Pacific.” 

HIFF will present seven awards for excellence in filmmaking. Two categories are Academy Awards-qualifying for Best short film. 

A number of awards for vision and career achievement will be presented, including the HIFF45 Halekulani Vision in Film Award to Park Chan-wook, the HIFF45 Halekulani Golden Maile for Career Achievement Award to Melanie Lynskey, the HIFF45 Halekulani Vanguard Award to Yuriyan Retriever, the HIFF45 Halekulani Maverick Award to Kenji Tanigaki, and the HIFF45 Leanne K. Ferrer Trailblazer Award to 

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"Rental Family"

<title>🚧 Tickets on sale for Hawaiʻi International Film Festival</title>

The festival includes events on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Kauaʻi, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi. This is the only Academy Awards-qualifying film festival in the state. Events start Oct. 15. Tickets are now on sale for individual movies or passes to all movie screenings.

Tickets on sale for Hawaiʻi International Film Festival

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

i scones. Honey mac nut buns. These are just some of the pastries you’ll find at recently opened 

The bakery is owned by three friends who wanted to open a spot for their community, according to one of the co-founders, Adriana Rodriguez.

“Oddly enough, none of us started out as bakers,” Rodriguez says. “Our general manager started with us back in September and has learned how to make everything.”

Rodriguez — who owns the café with Erik Lobner and Ky Soltes — says that Lobner still works as a chef as The Club at Hōkūli

“Myself and Erik are both savory chefs,” she says. “We will (soon) start offering breakfast and lunch.”

The bakery originally started by renting kitchens and delivering wholesale to various coffee shops in Kona. They were invited to be a vendor at farmers markets, and “the response was overwhelming,” according to Rodriguez, who says the team took their time looking for storefront spaces in Kona. The business was originally supposed to open a shop in Captain Cook, but when things didn’t work out, “just when we were about to give up, we found this space,” Rodriguez says.

“It was an old bakery that never really opened their doors,” she says. “I reached out to the landlord and brought pastries by for weeks until they said yes. The building was basically turnkey, so we were really lucky.

“My family flew out from California to help remodel the space, and we were able to open in less than three months,” she adds.

The bakery’s original concept was doing pastries and coffee — something fast that people could grab on their way to work, according to Rodriguez.

“We wanted people to start their day with us,” she says. “Lele means ‘to start, to jump or to burst forth.’ I know everyone thinks Kona is a sleepy town, but trust me, it’s alive and bustling in the early morning hours. There’s so many people commuting from across the island; there’s something magical about it.” 

The bakery offers a variety of sweet and savory pastries, ranging from scones ($5) and muffins ($5) to malasadas ($5) and brioche buns ($8). The business’s huge cinnamon rolls, ube crinkle cookies and scones are some of the most popular treats. (I’m partial to its soft, chewy brown butter triple chocolate cookies).

“I love our savory scones; they have jalapeno, bacon, and cheddar, and are drizzled with local honey,” Rodriguez says.

While the bakery is officially open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays to Mondays (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays), pastries start coming out of the oven at 7 a.m. — and customers are welcome to stop by if they see anything out on display, according to Rodriguez.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Nothing beats a warm pastry, right?” she says."}]

As a small neighborhood bakery, Lele’s prides itself on making everything in house from scratch. They buy as many local and organic ingredients as possible, according to Rodriguez, who says the bakery is closed on Tuesdays so they can drive to Waimea to pick up produce from Kekela Farms.

“I source our fruit locally — usually what is ripest — and I make a batch of jam for the week,” she says. “We use that for our brioche morning buns and malasada fillings.”

After the bakery starts its breakfast and lunch menus, it will add on dinner service as well. Follow the biz on Instagram for updates.

“About two years ago, Erik was really sick and we had to shut down operations,” Rodriguez recalls. “I had people all over the Big Island that we didn’t even know, offering to help in any way they could. It was a very humbling experience; we will never forget it. We wanted to open something for all those people — a love letter and ‘thank you’ to our community.”

Open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (or until sold out) Thursdays- Mondays

Leles Bakery owners 091225

<title>🚧 Lele’s Bakery is a “love letter” to its community</title>

Opened by three friends, Lele’s Bakery is a neighborhood spot that features made-from-scratch pastries using high-quality, locally sourced ingredients.

Lele’s Bakery is a “love letter” to its community

Chef Kale Afong wants to make one thing very clear — his new restaurant, 

, which just soft opened in Kalihi, is not a straight-up Korean barbecue spot.

“It’s Korean barbecue- and yakiniku-inspired,” he says. “It’s Korean barbecue inspired because you take the meats and grill them on the table. It’s yakiniku-inspired because I’m putting more of a Hawaiian influence on the side dishes. There’s so many yakiniku places, and I wanted to be different. But it’s all-you-can-eat because that’s what everybody wants. Locals like all-you-can-eat; it’s kind of a Hawaiʻi thing. We wanted to match that vibe and give the people what they want.”

You have to admit, the restaurant name is pretty catchy. But Afong says he didn’t intend to be named after him.

“We were using chat GPT and Google (to think of restaurant names),” he says. “Kale’s Hale was one of the first names we came up with, but I didn’t like it. We went through hundreds of names — Hawaiian, Japanese and Greek names — we were just going through so many names. I didn’t like it, but Kale’s Hale was the best option we had.”

The new biz is located in the former space of Katsuriki BBQ House (close to Rainbow Drive-In in Kalihi).

“I love banchan; I will go to a restaurant based on the banchan,” Afong says. “This is yakiniku-inspired with a whole bunch of pūpū. About 20 pūpū dishes will be on the regular menu; we have a rotating list of specials that we have every other night.”

For the eatery’s soft opening, customers can take advantage of a discounted rate of $39.99 (regular price is $59.99). So, what does that include?

As soon as customers are seated, they can take their pick from the different featured banchan, many of which are Hawaiian-forward, according to Afong.

“We’re replacing seaweed soup with Hawaiian lūʻau soup,” he says. “I take the lūʻau leaf and we’re making a lūʻau soup. Instead of poke, we’ll have kalo poke. I have a lot of ʻulu, lūʻau leaf and kalo throughout the menu to showcase more Hawaiian food. The kalo plant is a Hawaiian staple.

“There is a difference between Hawaiian food and Hawaiʻi food,” he adds. “Hawaiʻi food is more like our lomi salmon, mac salad, and loco moco. Loco moco is Hawaiʻi food, but not Hawaiian food. The difference gets a little blurred on social media and through the world. We want to showcase some of the differences; we have a lot of products from local farmers and from Hawaiʻi.”

Of course, you’ll still find Korean barbecue-style banchan like kimchi and pickled vegetables since they’re local favorites, according to Afong.

Moving onto the main event — the meats. The selection includes pork belly, short ribs, chuck roll, marinated chicken, pork jowl and hanging tender, to name a few.

“Hanging tender is my favorite cut of steak,” Afong says. “It’s very expensive. They’re really odd cuts, but they’re a delicious, high-quality steak that tastes like a piece of filet mignon. We have all these high-quality meats, along with the pūpū — that’s our base menu.”

On top of that, Kale’s Hale has access to Kagoshima wagyu, which comes from a prefecture in south Japan, according to Afong. The high-quality wagyu is known for its marbling and tenderness. Afong says the eatery brings in whole cows, and customers will each get a wagyu sampler as part of the AYCE experience.

“The sampler is a couple ounces of wagyu, which is a lot,” he says. “It’s rich, and we’ll also have wagyu as a la carte enhancements.

“Our wagyu grade is A5 and then there’s something called the beef marbling score, also known as BMS,” he adds. “Our Kagoshima wagyu score is a BMS 12, which is the highest score you can get for BMS.”

That score means that the wagyu has an exceptional texture and boasts a rich marbling. As excited as he is to feature Kagoshima wagyu, Afong says having customers learn more about the product is equally important.

“We’re bringing the education to where the cut is coming from,” he says. “We want to show the difference between the high-end cuts and not-so-high-end cuts, and there’s a price difference. We have to do a better job communicating the differences between the cuts. The a la carte menu for our wagyu is actually super affordable; we’re selling three ounces for $35 to $40.”

While the eatery is currently only open for dinner (daily from 5 to 10 p.m., last seating is at 9 p.m.), stay tuned — lunch service will be starting soon. And that’s just the beginning for the restaurant, according to Afong.

“Once we get lunch going, I want to bring back 24-hour dining on Fridays and Saturdays,” he says. “That’s what we’re striving for. We’re also really focusing on customer service; we have nothing to do with the old restaurants (formerly in this space). We’re brand new; we want to break that stigma. Customer service is going to be our top priority — quality food that’s slightly elevated, and a great customer experience.”  

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Got fish on da line?

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Got fish on da line?

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Daddy Day Care

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Man’s best friend

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Fruitful tree

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Morning kine action

Most read