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If you crave something different to eat or are looking for an old favorite that seems to have disappeared, you may find it at the new Ohana Hale Marketplace, located in the former Sports Authority site in Kakaako. Read more

If you crave something different to eat or are looking for an old favorite that seems to have disappeared, you may find it at the new Ohana Hale Marketplace, located in the former Sports Authority site in Kakaako.

About 30 food vendors are installed, with more to come. The marketplace, which has been compared to a swap meet with about 150 stalls full of a mind-boggling array of novelty items and edibles. There’s a big plus having it all under a roof with the relief of air-conditioning and nice restrooms. Customers can sit and eat in comfort at the many tables arranged in front of a stage for live entertainment, or on the patio outside.

Owner Chris Ulu and his partners, who held a grand opening in October, wanted to give beginning entrepreneurs a chance to build clientele and not have to break down and set up their stations every week as they would at a swap meet. “They’re getting their own store,” he said. “They put their heart and soul into it, and some people make it real nice.”

Ulu rents space on a month-to-month basis (a 10-by-10 stall for $1,500 to $2,100) so tenants would not be tied to two or three-year leases if their businesses didn’t turn a profit. Of the 225 stalls available for lease, 65 percent are occupied.

Foot traffic has improved considerably as word has spread about the marketplace, and this month Ulu signed up more tour bus companies and a marketing agency to get the word out.

A positive vibe has developed among the tenants: “We’re just like family; that’s what makes it great. Everyone is helping each other out,” Ulu said, citing a vendor who actually ran the cash register for another vendor when an employee was late and customers were waiting. “That’s the whole concept, a family under one roof.”

For a list of vendors, visit ohmhawaii.com.

Here’s a sampling of the eateries:

FAT CHEEKS HAWAII

Prices $1 to $12. Delivery via grubhub. Call 773-4129 or email fatcheekshawaii@ gmail.com.

Chef Jared Brown and pastry chef Levina Moy moved from New York to Hawaii in July after they saw a marketplace ad on Craigslist, and by August had opened Fat Cheeks. They jumped at the opportunity to move to a place known for its cultural diversity, and brought flavors from their Latin-Asian backgrounds to the variety of rice bowls and sandwiches on their menu.

“It’s an interesting mix of both cultures — they blend both of us and make it accessible to everybody else,” said Brown, who grew up in New York City’s Spanish Harlem. Brown was sous-chef at a Thai restaurant for the past five years and his wife is from a family that operates a longtime Cantonese restaurant in Boston. In 2017 they launched The Fat Elephant, a pop-up dinner series of Latin-Asian fusion in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.

Their most popular items have been the braised Papa’s Pig sandwich for $10 (garnished with pickled onions, avocado and cotija cheese on a homemade baguette), and his spicy Kickin’ Shrimp sandwich.

The $12 rice bowls, with a choice of meat and two sides, come with Abuela’s Butter Rice, made the way his mother made it, with guajillo chili peppers. Choice of meat includes braised pork, spicy shrimp and his grandmother’s chicken and potato stew. Sides include Mama’s Mac Salad (distinguished by its tuna, cilantro and celery), coleslaw, garlic broccoli and cucumber salad.

Moy’s freshly baked bread has been the surprise best-seller in the past few weeks, since they started displaying it on the counter where it easily catches the eye. Brown said they’ve had to order a second oven to keep up with demand.

They tried to duplicate the type of the bread delivered fresh daily to New York bodegas (corner grocery stores). “It delivers an excellent chew. Even toasted, it holds up no matter what you put on it,” said Brown.

OHANA HALE MARKETPLACE

333 Ward Ave. (former Sports Authority) >> Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily (open until 5 p.m. Sundays)

>> Parking: Free

>> Info: 797-2001, ohmhawaii.com

Moy experimented with 30 variations, adjusted to accommodate Hawaii’s humidity, altitude and water. Finally, “we nailed it!” Brown said.

Moy also makes baguettes ($2) with different fillings — pepperoni is everyone’s favorite — and they usually are still warm from the oven when purchased because they sell out so quickly.

She’s also put her own spin on char siu manapua ($5), with her specially made bread and unusual seasonings.

LOCAL CRAVINGS

Prices for bowls: $10 to $20. Call 688-7296 or email localcravingshere@gmail.com.

Owner Jim Shigemoto’s spicy ahi poke bowl, plus a variation with spicy crab added, got rave reviews for five years when Local Cravings was open in City Square Shopping Center in Kalihi. Shige­moto closed 18 months ago when rent went up, and because of impending rail construction around Dillingham Boulevard.

When Local Cravings re-opened two months ago in Ohana Hale, it only sold locally made snacks and cookies, said partner Kalvin Kaneshiro. In early December, they started offering hot rice bowls with laulau, kalua pig, roast pork and char siu for $10, and those did so well they moved to a larger space last month.

They’ve recently added three fresh poke bowls in addition to occasional specials.

“It’s made with lots of aloha,” Shigemoto said of his poke bowls. “The way I mix it, there’s a certain way. You don’t just throw everything together.”

Shigemoto cooks everything before starting at his full-time job as head cook at Lanakila Pacific. (He also plans to carry Lanakila brand scones and desserts at his stall.) He’s had lots of experience in the food industry, including opening two small restaurants and managing the prepared-foods section for 17 years at Foodland, where he developed some 50 recipes.

Other products at the stall: locally made dried marlin jerkies, taegu cuttlefish, cookies, dried fruits (li hing dried mango, etc.) and bread mixes.

All can be assembled into gift baskets, and items will be available online once a website is set up.

SOUP HOUSE

Price range: $4 to $11. Call 382-4443.

With an array of heavenly-smelling soups — and offers of free tastings — beckoning passers-by, the Soup House puts the spotlight on healthy, authentic Korean cuisine that calls for lots of vegetables over heavy fried meats.

Owner Suji Kim rises at 5 a.m. every day to make soups that are so loaded with ingredients that they are more like stews.

Top sellers are the kim chee and soft tofu stews, and the thick shrimp curry rice soup. Once customers sample her soups, “guarantee, they love my food,” Kim said.

Half the menu items are made by business partner Sara Kim (no relation), who rolls the gimbap, or Korean-style sushi (made with unseasoned rice, unlike Japanese-style sushi). Her rolls are loaded with items like tuna, ham, fishcake, eggs and vegetables, including the super-green sesame leaf.

The two Kims cooked together in other locations, and both learned to make Korean food from their moms. Suji Kim also works at Halona Lounge making bar pupu.

Soups, served with rice and three sides that change daily, run $9 to $11. Side orders, $4 to $7, include popular chop chae noodles, gimbap rolls, savory (leek, kim chee, seafood) pancakes and steamed vegetable and meat dumplings.

Grab and Go focuses on takeout food, convenience meals and other quick bites. Email ideas to crave@staradvertiser.com.