Oʻahu might be best known for Waikīkī and Pipeline, but did you know the island is also home to one of the oldest Chinatowns in the US? We spend a day with Chinese-Hawaiian chef, mixologist and restaurateur, Peter Hessler, to explore the historic neighborhood’s food scene, queer spaces and Native Hawaiian bookshops.
My nanna calls herself an ‘ABC’—Australian-born Chinese. Growing up, there was always red ginger for winding car rides, red envelopes at birthdays, and, in a surprising show of cultural collaboration, red ketchup on the family fried rice.
The global Chinese diaspora has, arguably, excelled at this kind of fusion. From the Quartier Chinois in Paris to Bangkok’s neon-lit Yaowarat Road, Chinese communities across the world are well-versed in maintaining cultural tradition while leaning into, and adapting with, new societies. It’s why you can find orange chicken at every US airport and fried dim sim at Aussie football games.
So when I learned that Honolulu, the state capital on Oʻahu island, has a Chinatown that rivals San Francisco—the oldest Chinatown in North America—I knew I had to experience the Chinese-Hawaiian cultural synthesis for myself. And maybe even try a famed manapua (Hawaiian-style barbecue pork bun) or two.
But for trusted neighborhood intel, like where to find a good manapua, it’s always best to know a local.
Luckily, I met Peter Hessler.
“Chinatown is like no other place in Hawai‘i,” says Peter, as we walk down Maunakea Street, one of the neighborhood’s most iconic thoroughfares, past marble guardian lion statues and lei stands bursting with garlands of pink plumeria. “It can feel a little Brooklyn-y at times, like the hottest restaurant scene in the world, but it can also feel very traditional,” he says. “It’s been a little grungy in the past, which I love—it still has that soul to it.”
Honolulu’s Chinatown is a compact 15-square-block right on the water of Honolulu Harbor. The earliest recorded Chinese visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, the same year as the English Captain James Cook, and were followed by a wave of Chinese contract workers brought to Oʻahu for the sugarcane boom of the 1850s.
Since then, the Chinatown area has survived multiple fires, operated as a Red Light District during wartime and been rebuilt as a thriving center of commerce. Today, some Chinese-Hawaiians can claim to be seventh generation. But despite being just a 15-minute drive north of Waikīkī Beach, one of Hawai‘i’s most touristed locales, the average traveler tends to overlook Oʻahu’s urban history.
“Queerness has always been a huge part of Hawaiian culture in the past. It was a very sacred aspect of Native Hawaiian life that was lost over the years. I think, as this new generation of modern Hawaiians, we’ve definitely reclaimed that.”
- Peter Hessler, Pono Potions
“Travelers who want a taste of genuine local culture, to eat at a café outside the chains of Waikiki, will definitely be greeted in Chinatown with open arms,” he says. And Peter would know—he’s both Chinese-Hawaiian and the founder of Pono Potions, a changemaking hospitality group centered in Chinatown.
Peter started Pono Potions as an artisanal syrup company in 2019, before expanding to open the Pōʻai by Pono Potions café in 2021 and PEWA by Pono Potions, a restaurant and bar, earlier this year.
“I wanted to create a product that really represented Hawai‘i in a more authentic way,” says Peter. And that authenticity is key to its success—the syrup line, created to flavor coffee and cocktails, is the only one on the islands that uses locally sourced Hawaiian ingredients. The lavender in the latte I drank this morning? Straight from Maui. The hibiscus in the cocktail I plan on drinking later? Grown on Moloka‘i Island.
“Across Hawai‘i, we’re now super-conscious of keeping our resources here because for so many years we’ve been exploited, whether it’s for goods or culture,” he says. Since Captain Cook’s arrival, the Hawaiian Islands have endured systematic exploitation and colonization by both American and European nations. This includes the displacement of Native Hawaiians from ancestral lands, the suppression of ʻŌlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) and longlasting environmental damage from plantation farming. “We’re resilient, but we’ve also become even more mindful of where our products come from and who they’re supporting.”
On this point, Peter is firm: Pono Potions supports local. As we head further into Chinatown, and the sun rises higher, Peter rolls the sleeves of his flannel shirt—block-printed with native Hawaiian flora—up to his elbows. He waves at a passing car; two regulars stop to tell him that they’re en route for a bite at PEWA. At the entrance to a Chinese grocery store, beneath a fire-red shade cloth, Peter smiles at the women stacking shelves before ushering me between waist-high mounds of salted plums.
“This place is awesome. We buy the sweet red lihing (dried plum powder) from here to make our mango syrup,” he says. “Mango is pretty sweet, but we add the red lihing and it gives it a salty umami flavor.”
Across the road, a nondescript, refrigerated produce shop is packed with fresh herbs and orange ʻōlena (turmeric). “Best prices in town,” says Peter, pointing to the USD$1 herb sign. “We get our ʻōlena here, which is grown on Oʻahu. Sometimes the local ginger, too. Everything comes in fresh daily.”
While Peter is of Native Hawaiian and Chinese descent, and his grandparents spent more than 70 years living in Honolulu, he actually grew up on the US mainland in Portland, Oregon.
“But Hawai‘i has always felt like home,” he tells me as we walk beneath a row of whispering palm trees and a towering dragon mural. “So I set down roots, finished college here, and I feel really lucky to be a part of modern culture in Hawai‘i. I’ve never felt more at home in a place.”
A big part of this sense of home lies in the community he’s created at Pōʻai and PEWA. Alongside his partner and co-founder Michael Cabagbag, Peter has helped foster two vibrant, safe spaces for Honolulu’s young artist and queer communities. In fact, in March this year, Peter and Michael were recognized by the Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation and awarded the 2026 Visionary Business award for their efforts.
“Essentially, ‘pono’ is an overarching value that we strive for… It’s living with intention and in constant communication with your community, and your land, to make sure everything is in balance.”
- Peter Hessler, Pono Potions
“[Queerness] has always been a huge part of Hawaiian culture in the past,” says Peter. “It was a very sacred aspect of Native Hawaiian life that was lost over the years. I think, as this new generation of modern Hawaiians, we’ve definitely reclaimed that.”
If Honolulu is the heart of Hawai‘i’s queer scene, then Chinatown is an artery and PEWA is quickening its pulse. The entrance to the restaurant bar is styled like a speakeasy: You enter via a tiny but beautifully designed foyer crammed full of Native Hawaiian artefacts—curated by Michael—before stepping through a rack of vintage aloha shirts to the dimly lit bar. “Even on this street,” Peter says waving around the restaurant, “is a very vibrant queer area with bars like this, and clubs, and a feeling of openness.” The neighborhood is especially alive in October during Pride.
Looking around the restaurant, the lunchtime crowd is varied. “Eclectic”, as Peter describes it. There’s a community group meeting down the back in the private dining room, students are studying over macadamia nut coffees, a group of women take photos of flower-laden cocktails, and a few corporates are enjoying a quick break away from the business district. Everyone appears to be local.
When asked what inspires him, Peter tells me that it’s these folks—the young Hawaiians who are staying to build lives here. “Hawai‘i is so family-oriented, like our whole culture is rooted around family dinners,” he says. “For us [at Pono Potions] it is a lot about building relationships, mending different cultures, mending our past and present. And also just having a gathering space for people to feel comfortable and relax and connect with others in their community.”
Peter slips into the kitchen and returns, arms full. He’s got a plate of fried calamari dusted with Maui onion, a serving of creamy whipped chèvre with guava jelly, and a bowl of crispy chicken wings glazed in yuzu. The PEWA menu, just like the syrup range, has been designed to champion local, seasonal produce.
It’s all part of the bigger Pono Potions picture. “Pono is a lofty Hawaiian word, similar to ‘aloha’,” he says. “Essentially, pono is an overarching value that we strive for… It’s living with intention and in constant communication with your community, and your land, to make sure everything is in balance.”
While Peter and Michael never claim ‘pono’, or ‘pōʻai ’ which means completing a path or journey, these traditional Hawaiian words and values serve as their guiding principles. “I think people my age here are really embracing their ancestors,” says Peter. “It’s inspiring that people can look to the previous generations for guidance.”
While Peter and Michael never claim ‘pono’, or ‘pōʻai ’ which means completing a path or journey, these traditional Hawaiian words and values serve as their guiding principles. “I think people my age here are really embracing their ancestors,” says Peter. “It’s inspiring that people can look to the previous generations for guidance.”
For ʻŌlelo Hawai‘i (the Hawaiian language) to not only be prevalent, but embraced by younger Hawaiians like Peter, is an act of reclamation in itself. For roughly four generations, the Hawaiian language was actively suppressed—in 1896, the government banned Hawaiian language in schools, and by the 1970s, it was classified as endangered. Today there’s a bookshop here in Chinatown, just around the corner from PEWA, that’s entirely dedicated to Native Hawaiian writers and language.
Native Books is on my list to visit after we finish eating. Alongside three vintage shops, the open-air market and the Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery. Which is, according to Peter, where I can get the best manapua in Chinatown.
Learn more about Oʻahu and start planning your journey here.
To visit Peter’s spaces, see Pono Potions, Pōʻai café and PEWA bar restaurant.
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Tayla Gentle is managing editor of Adventure.com and an award-winning freelance writer, video producer and host. She specializes in storytelling that sits at the intersection of culture and responsible adventure.
