Waikiki Gala Feeds Storm-Battered Restaurants Weeks After Hurricane Lala

Hawaii's Best Kitchens is set to throw its 11th annual “Best Of” culinary gala at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa on August 29, bringing together the islands' top chefs and restaurants just weeks after Hurricane Lala tore through the state and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of residents. General admission tickets are $300 for guests 21 and older, with the ballroom opening at 7 p.m. and reserved table holders getting in an hour early at 6 p.m.

Organizers picked “The Next Chapter” as this year's theme, marking the launch of a new initiative called HBK Philanthropic Partners, according to Aloha State Daily. Darrell J. Chock, owner of Viper Group Media and creator of Hawaii's Best Kitchens, designed the initiative to let smaller local nonprofits share the gala's platform, the outlet reports. This year's event will support three beneficiaries rather than a single charity, according to Hawaii News Now, including SafeRide Hawaii, a nonprofit that dispatches trained drivers to safely take intoxicated individuals and their vehicles home, per SafeRide Hawaii.

A Gala Menu Built Around Island Talent

The lineup of participating restaurants reads like a tour of Waikiki's fine-dining scene. Featured dishes include Arancino Ristorante Italiano's housemade sea urchin tagliatelle pasta, Solera Waikiki's Kuroshio Kona kampachi, and Adez Steakhouse & Lounge's garlic-seasoned wagyu Tomahawk, per the same Aloha State Daily report. Dean & Deluca Hawaii, Hinata Hawaii, and The Buffet at Hyatt round out the list of additional vendors.

Memoirs Hawaii, owned by Jordan Rabe, will bring an exclusive upscale tasting experience to the gala, serving champagne alongside caviar prepared two ways, according to Hawaii News Now. That includes a tasting of premium Osietra caviar sourced from the mainland, which Rabe described as nutty, buttery, creamy, and soft on the palate. Attendees will also have access to curated cocktails and a silent auction of unique items and experiences, the station reports.

Recovering From Hurricane Lala's Damage

The gala lands at a fraught moment for Hawaii's food and beverage industry. Hurricane Lala dumped 20 to 40 inches of rainfall across the state in mid-August and caused severe wind damage that knocked down utility lines and damaged hundreds of homes, according to the State of Hawaii Office of the Governor. Runoff and landslides tied to the storm caused road washouts in rural areas including the Kaʻū District.

At the height of the storm, roughly 60% of Hawaii households statewide lost electrical power, including 113,000 customers on Oʻahu, according to Civil Beat, which cited brittle invasive albizia trees falling on transmission lines as a primary cause of the extended outages. On Saturday, Governor Josh Green formally requested a federal presidential emergency declaration covering Hawaii County, Maui County, and the City and County of Honolulu, seeking immediate federal assistance as Tropical Storm Moke approached the state, per the governor's office.

Stephanie Rodriguez, managing director of SpotOn Hawaii, said local restaurants and clients are struggling after the rough patch, according to Hawaii News Now. Rodriguez and Rabe shared details about the upcoming gala on the station's Sunrise Weekends program, noting that local food and beverage operators are navigating severe storm disruptions and power outages across the islands even as they prepare for the event.

A Charitable Model With Deeper Roots

Hawaii's Best Kitchens has built its reputation over more than a decade of hospitality gatherings, growing since its 2015 founding under Viper Group Media into a statewide food platform with over 214,000 social media followers, according to the Hawaii Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Before this year's philanthropic expansion, the event partnered with that same foundation for four consecutive years, raising nearly $80,000 in scholarships and grants for high school ProStart culinary programs.

Last year's gala, held September 27, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency's Regency Ballroom, marked the platform's 10th anniversary and showcased restaurants including Arancino, Bernini Honolulu, and 604 Hospitality Group. This year's expanded nonprofit lineup builds on that history while widening the circle of beneficiaries beyond culinary scholarships alone. Hawaii's restaurant community has had other moments in the spotlight recently too, including four honorees named to the Hall of Fame earlier this month.