Friday, February 18, 2011 at 12:10PM
-As seen in West Hawaii Today, December 8th, 2010:
Lighthouse Delicatessen opens in
downtown Hawi
The community of North Kohala is now home to a new dining experience.
Located next to Lighthouse Liquors in the Kohala Trade Center,
Lighthouse Delicatessen offers delicious sandwiches and specialties,
munchies and desserts, meats and cheeses by the pound, as well as beer
and wine by the glass.
"It's a perfect place to crush a sandwich and a beer," said Chris
Scelza, one of four friends who also opened neighboring Lighthouse
Liquors almost a year ago. "It's a city-style deli with a Kohala twist."
Lighthouse Delicatessen is named in honor of the recently demolished
Kauhola Point Lighthouse, and is the offspring of four North Kohala
residents -- general manager and chef Chris Scelza, local yoga
instructor Bobby Hoyt, marketing manager Marci Elizondo and carpentry
guru Rick Klaus.
The remodeled space is now open and features tables indoors and out,
with more seating capacity than before. The floor, kitchen and
ADA-compliant bathroom is completely new.
"We wanted to start fresh so we stripped everything down," Scelza said.
"Although it has a restaurant feel, you can eat in or take something
home."
The idea for the deli grew from a desire for food items not readily
available in North Kohala.
"We live and shop in Kohala and cannot find a variety of fresh breads,
meats and cheeses here. Now we'll be able to offer all of these things,
as well as specialty items like imported mustards, organic olive oils,
aged balsamic vinegars and freshly baked baguettes," Scelza said. "As
we've learned from all the people in the community we speak with, it's
obvious that they want this, and that we'd be fulfilling a need."
Some of the items displayed in the massive deli case are large slabs of
Boar's Head meats, French brie cheeses, fresh Italian buffalo
mozzarella and Asiago cheeses, and 3-foot-long links of dried Italian
sausages.
The deli is proud to support local farmers, seeking out as much produce
as possible from local organic farms. Chef and staff have visited some
of the farms and have secured the services of a produce liaison,
Jessica Wieloh, to coordinate the procurement of a wide variety of
greens, sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, horseradish, carrots,
citrus, herbs, green onions, cabbage, eggs and more depending on the
season. Lighthouse Delicatessen uses several different farms to
complete that list.
The deli is also working with farmers to make consistent orders so the
farmers know they'll have an outlet for certain vegetables they plant.
"We tried to do it right and be mindful of the earth," said co-owner
Hoyt. "We're passionate about what we're doing, we put a lot of hard
work into this. We're always being positive and offering the best
service we can -- we want to share with the community and we want them
to enjoy what we have to offer -- a friendly and attractive place to
savor a generous sandwich put together by people who really care about
offering the freshest and most delicious products we can get our hands
on."
Lighthouse Delicatessen is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except
Tuesday, and serves brunch from 9am to noon on Sundays. The deli is
also available evenings for private parties and catered family-style
dining.