Business Monday: Executive chef in Hilo quit to open his own restaurant along the Hāmākua Coast

At the end of the iconic Hāmākua Coast scenic route is a small local restaurant that sources a majority of its ingredients from local farmers, ranchers and fishermen, and serves up one original weekly special.

“We have a base menu with customer favorites on there, then every week we change our special, which can be a sandwich or anything we can dream of,” said Joshua Ketner, the owner of Piʻilani Kitchen.

“The caveat is that we never duplicate. Every week is something different, which is a fun challenge for me and the staff. We often plan months ahead because we have so many ideas.”

Ketner had been working as the executive chef at the Hilo Bay Café since its opening in 2003. But he decided to quit and pursue his own venture in 2024 after a rare space to lease became available near his home in Pēpēʻekeo, a former plantation community 8 miles north of Hilo.

“I’ve lived in Pēpēʻekeo now for about 10 years, so when this spot became available, I had to take the opportunity to bring my flair of food somewhere different,” Ketner said. “I loved transitioning from running a kitchen in a crazy restaurant setting to creating my own niche with a small kitchen and small staff.”

He leaned on his decades of knowledge and experience in the restaurant business to hire the crew, buy the equipment and create the lunch-only menu.

It includes five hot sandwiches, two cold sandwiches, two salads, kālua pork or birria beef nachos, and kālua pork tacos. And, of course, there is the one original weekly special.

Piʻilani Kitchen is located at the former site of the well-known, plantation era Low Store, which was open for nearly 100 years. It had served the rural community as a gas station, arcade, auto body shop and convenience store before its final iteration as a general store and deli.

The Low family closed the business and sold the building in 2021 to Onomea Farm Hub, which is focused on creating a gathering space for families with businesses that utilize locally grown food and products from small, local vendors. Piʻilani Kitchen is located between Onomea Country Market and The Lei Bar.

“Onomea Farm Hub had a small space available for sublease and I knew that people in my neighborhood missed having a place to eat nearby,” Ketner said. “It was a frequent stop for regular customers driving between Hilo and Waimea and people living in the small communities in and around Pēpēʻekeo.”

One of the most popular items is shave ice, especially with tourists who stop at the restaurant after completing the scenic route between Papaʻikou and Pēpēʻekeo.

“We like to keep it local here with regular customers that I have come to know very well,” Ketner said. “We also have a good flow of tourists that are happy to have a place to sit for a meal.”

He said social media has helped grow the business over the past two years.

“We started with dorm room-sized refrigerators,” Ketner said. ” However, I think our two focus points of great customer service and great food can make it hard to fail.”

Each plate includes pickles, which Ketner makes from island cucumbers purchased from Waimea, ʻōlena and ginger from Hilo, onions from Oʻahu and vinegar from the mainland.

“Customers kept telling me that I should jar the pickles and sell them in stores and after a while, I thought it was a pretty good idea,” Ketner said. “I went through the process with the Department of Health, got them lab-tested, and was certified to start selling them.”

Now, Piʻilani Pickles are available at KTA Puainako, Locavore Store, Poke Market, Kimura Country Market and the Seaweed Snack Shop.

“The process took a while, but it is cool to see them in stores actually being bought,” he said.

Piʻilani Kitchen employees four people with a “fair and healthy” work environment which keeps turnover low, Ketner said.

“There are a lot of toxic kitchen environments out there and (Ketner) makes sure that never happens here,” said Fly Manglicmot, who joined the team at the end of 2025 as a cook. “When you enjoy the people and environment, you end up looking forward to coming to work. I also like experimenting for the specials every week and having a much smaller space to clean.”

Ketner said he has enjoyed the transition from working in a big kitchen where there is not a lot of customer interaction to a position where he gets to talk with and know his customers, constantly receiving feedback on the food and atmosphere.

He also enjoys moving through challenges when they arise and being present when things are running smoothly.

“Running your own business does become a lifestyle,” he said “You can have some semblance of work-life balance, but unexpected things do pop up and you can’t really clock out. However, when you rest your head at the end of the day, you know you are growing and building something for yourself and for the people you serve every day.”

Piʻilani Kitchen, located at 28-1114 Old Māmalahoa Highway, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday to Wednesday and is closed on Thursdays each week.