Katrina Valcourt

1 week ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

Ryan Kalei Tsuji and Tara Kanani Shimooka’s speakeasy-style bar closed last year but found a new permanent home (with validated parking). W hen The Lei Stand opened in late 2022, it was not easy to get in. Reservations at the hip, speakeasy-style bar often filled up well in advance, which meant it was not somewhere you just wandered into for pau hana or a night of Chinatown bar hopping. In summer 2024, much to the surprise of fans, it ceased normal operations,.

2 weeks ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

Starting this month, your state ID or driver’s license needs a gold star to be valid for domestic flights and for access to certain federal buildings and military bases. The Real ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005 as a security measure, standardizes the documents that can serve as acceptable identification. Honolulu County started rolling out Real IDs in 2018, ahead of the federal compliance deadline of May 7, 2025.

1 month ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

The hotel says future pop-ups will feature other noted local mixologists, each serving up signature and exclusive new cocktails. If you’ve tried to get a reservation at James Beard Award-winning Bar Leather Apron, you know how difficult it can be. There are no openings for parties of two in April or May; June reservations at the Downtown bar open at 7 a.m. May 1 and will likely fill up in minutes.

1 month ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

Pickleball Basics  •  Perfect Your Game  •  Love at First Lob  •  Serving Fashion  •  The Pickle Pros   •  Ready, Set, Dink!  •  Where to Play It’s the fastest-growing sport in America, a stat backed up by a 2024 report from The Sports & Fitness Industry Association and Pickleheads, which says pickleball has grown 223.5% in three years.

1 month ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

At the end of Hilu Street in Waimānalo, Hui Mahi‘ai ‘Āina’s residents welcome us to a vast green space behind Aunty Blanche McMillan’s home. She zooms over on a golf cart, greeting those she hasn’t seen since returning from New Zealand, where she taught people how to implement concepts of kauhale, or communities of tiny homes, to house the homeless. Everyone is happy to see her, though she jokes that some work didn’t get done without her. McMillan grew up in a family of 17.