Page 2 - Dining Out - July 25, 2021

Restaurant Insider with Anne Lee
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ANNE LEE
speaks with Diamond Dining president/CEO
MICHAEL NISHI
Photos by
REID SHIMABUKURO
Located on top of Waikiki Shopping Plaza, you will find delicious modern Mexican dishes with unbelievable views. Búho Cocina y Can- tina has been a favorite spot for locals and visitors alike. They opened back up about a month ago, and Diamond Dining (which oversees Búho Cocina y Cantina an Shokudo Japanese Restau- rant & Bar) president and CEO Michael Nishi and I sampled some of the pop- ular locally sourced Mexican dishes as he shared what’s new and upcoming.
AL: How did you get into the restaurant industry? MN: I was born in L.A. and raised in Japan. I started my restaurant career when I was 24. My father worked in the restaurant business for more than 30 years, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps.With my experience, I managed to open a bar when I was 30
SPECIAL SECTIONS MANAGER
Nicole Monton
Phone: 808-529-4857 diningout@staradvertiser.com
and operated that for four years but wanted a change. Luckily, In 2014, I had the opportunity to come to Ha- waii to work with Zetton Inc. Zetton and Diamond Dining formed a partnership in Ja- pan, I joined Diamond Din- ing as vice president in 2018.
AL: What types of chal- lenges did you face due to the pandemic?
MN: We had shut down Búho as there were no tourists in Waikiki, but kept Shokudo open, as we were fortunate to have a big local follow- ing. We were able to create takeout options for the com- munity and created bentos to feed and thank the first responders. We reopened Búho in June. With having an open-air dining concept here, many guests feel more at ease and comfortable.
AL: What type of ex- perience does Búho provide?
MN: We offer an authen- tic Mexican cuisine expe- rience, with homemade sauces and dishes that were created by our former ex- ecutive chef Arturo Silva, who was born and raised
SALES MANAGER
Anne Lee
Phone: 808-347-1093 alee@staradvertiser.com
2 / Dining Out / July 25-31, 2021