Katrina Valcourt

Honolulu

Managing Editor at Honolulu Magazine

Executive Editor at Honolulu Magazine

Really lovable after about two years.

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Articles

Bar Leather Apron’s Waikīkī Pop-Up Sold Out in a Day-So Kaimana Beach Hotel Is Planning More

2 weeks 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.
It’s Everywhere: The Pickleball Craze

3 weeks 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.
Hui Mahi‘ai ‘Āina Has Created a Community for Formerly Homeless People

3 weeks 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.
Bitten by the Pickleball Bug

3 weeks ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

It happened to me too, and I’ve never liked sports. I’m not big on sports. I watch the Olympics every two years and try to stay active, but I’d rather spend time on creative endeavors than organized team sports. That changed in 2024, when I watched the Vancouver Canucks in action at Rogers Arena, then found myself screaming for Shohei Ohtani at Dodger Stadium.
‘Ōpio Fest is HIFF’s New Signature Spring Showcase

1 month ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

Every spring, the Hawai‘i International Film Festival presents a mini festival of early-year films from Sundance and other recent festivals around the world. And since last year, it’s also showcased student films. Now, the two have combined forces for one event called ‘Ōpio Fest, running April 8–13 at Consolidated Theatres Kāhala.
Q&A With Representative Kim Coco Iwamoto

1 month ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

One of your priorities has been to address homelessness and housing security by investing in affordable housing. How will you approach this issue at the legislative level? Even our newly constructed affordable housing is unaffordable. We need more rental subsidies to keep people housed. My vacant home surcharge bill will raise the needed funds by collecting the general excise tax revenue that would have been collected had that home been rented and occupied by residents.
The Hawai‘i State Archives Is Home to the Largest Vintage ‘Ukulele Collection in the World

2 months ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

It’s no coincidence that shortly after Hawai‘i’s participation in the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, which included live music performances, Hawaiian music outsold every other genre in the U.S. “The ‘ukulele was very influential in shaping music as we know it today, but most people don’t know that story,” says Hawai‘i State Archivist Adam Jansen.
Tune In: Our Favorite Local Songs to Listen to Now

2 months ago | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

“Sunburn” by TheBrewz and Nathan KawanishiIn November, local producers TheBrewz released an EP, No Shadows, with lo-fi hip-hop artist Nathan Kawanishi on indie label Nettwerk Music Group, known for signing Barenaked Ladies in the ’90s. craftbrewzmusic.com, @thebrewz808“4VR” by KeilanaBorn and raised in Kapolei and now living in Brooklyn, soul and R&B singer Keilana spent fall on tour with Mike Love. Her second album is expected to come out later this year.
Learning Hawaiian on Duolingo

Dec 27, 2024 | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

At a recent Honolulu City Council meeting, resident Anita Lorinc, who also goes by “Kai,” claimed that Hawaiian is a “dead language” after a few people who had testified before her began their testimony in Hawaiian. The backlash was swift, both at the hearing and publicly. The revitalization of ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i has come a long way since it was banned in the late 19th century, but it’s clear there’s more we can all do to keep it alive and well.
Where to Drink Kava, or ‘Awa, on O‘ahu

Dec 10, 2024 | honolulumagazine.com | Katrina Valcourt

Kava, the beverage known as ‘awa in Hawai‘i, has been around the South Pacific for thousands of years, yet it’s not a mainstream pau hana drink. It’s consumed more as a cultural practice or to unwind and connect sans alcohol, and it’s the latter reason that’s recently brought attention to it nationwide. With the steady rise in popularity of low- or no-ABV drinks, more places across the country have begun serving kava, particularly at hip sober bars.