OUTRIGGER Resorts Celebrate World Ocean Month With New Kauai Restaurant and Events Across Hawaii

JUST IN TIME FOR WORLD OCEAN MONTH, Hawaii Regional Cuisine pioneer Roy Yamaguchi will debut his latest restaurant concept, The Ocean House, at OUTRIGGER Kaua‘i Beach Resort & Spa in June. Pairing well with Yamaguchi’s local seafood-driven menu is the hotel brand’s long association with ocean sustainability initiatives — from coral planting to beach cleanups and educational outreach — across the Pacific but especially in Hawai‘i, home to nearly two-thirds of OUTRIGGER’s 33 properties.

“The ocean has always been central to how we think about hospitality,” said Jeff Wagoner, President & CEO of OUTRIGGER Resorts & Hotels. “With Chef Roy at the helm, Ocean House becomes something truly special — a dining experience shaped by one of Hawai‘i’s most celebrated culinary voices, in a setting that reflects everything we value about this place.”

The ocean also inspires the new restaurant’s executive chef, Samual Taganeca, who trained at San Francisco’s Cordon Bleu and interned at Atelier Crenn and Michael Mina’s restaurant group before moving to Hawaii with his wife in 2016.

“Whenever people come out to Hawai‘i, when you ask them, ‘what do you want to eat,’ it’s always something local, something tropical, and something from the ocean.”

Taganeca and his wife take their girls to beach cleanups, similar to the one OUTRIGGER Kaua‘i will host on June 7. “They enjoy it,” Tagenaca said. “it’s our kuleana to take care of the planet, and when we leave, we should leave it better than we found it. When we find rubbish on the beach or the road, we pick it up.”

OUTRIGGER Kaua‘i General Manager Chris San Nicolas also endorses that philosophy. “At OUTRIGGER, we love to make sure we’re protecting our ocean,” she said. “It’s important to take care of our land, our ocean and our reefs.”

The OUTRIGGER Reef Waikīkī Beach Resort will host a virtual-reality simulation in its lobby by Kuleana Coral Restoration, a local nonprofit that uses contemporary science and indigenous management practices to monitor Hawaiian coral reefs. A portion of the proceeds of a special “Coral Cocktail,” served throughout June at the resort’s Kani Ka Pila Grille, will benefit the nonprofit’s work.