Since the sudden announcement on November 25, Honoloa has continued to receive expressions of sympathy. The entrepreneurs behind the culinary project have delighted poke bowl fans for “six years and three days”.
An adventure which experienced turbulence due to the health crisis which did not spare Honoloa, the first entity to have completely focused on Pacific cuisine, but not only that.
However, the two restaurants, the one in the Gare district and the one in the Ville Haute, were more than promising. An observation that Thomas Cougouille readily agrees with, whom we met at the start of the very last service at the restaurant on rue de Bonnevoie this Tuesday, November 26.
Poke bowl, késako?
It is a traditional culinary specialty of Hawaiian cuisine, made from rice, marinated raw fish, diced, seasoned and served with side dishes as a starter or main course.
A specialty that has crossed the oceans and experienced a real boom, particularly on Instagram in 2017, to the point of being available in several forms, often very far from the original formula known as dietary.
The young entrepreneur, however, has no resentment in the face of “a succession of hard blows”. “We started in 2018 on rue des Bains, with the desire to offer something warm, in an atmosphere that makes people smile.”
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A successful bet, with a resolutely Hawaiian atmosphere distilled in the two addresses, with several poke bowls on the menu, an island decoration with hula dancers on the walls, paintings full of waves and surfboards… Always with music lively, reminiscent of vacations in the background.
“Go with events and not against them”
And the last day of the Gare district address was no exception, despite a palpable nostalgia in the eyes of the employees and the manager present. “The last service on rue des Bains took place on Monday,” explains Thomas Cougouille, one of the three co-founders of Honoloa, who believes that we must “go with the events and not against them”.
According to him, quitting before the end of year holidays was the best decision for everyone. “When we opened our second address on rue de Bonnevoie in 2020, we never thought that the situation would get so bogged down from the point of view of the pandemic, and after that that the war in Ukraine would further complicate the situation for the hospitality industry with inflation.”
It was with dismay that they saw several businesses close all around their perimeter, including Emo, which did not lack customers, but which, like Honoloa, was no longer profitable due to the increase in rent, index and energy prices. A certain decline in presenteeism among workers in the office until the end of social agreements on teleworking was another factor with consequences.
“The rise in prices has impacted everyone, whether it is us vis-à-vis our suppliers, although they have done everything they could, but also and above all our customers, who have blamed the inflation , the increase in energy prices, fuel… Those who came three times a week went to two days, and those who came twice went to one…”
Already other projects
With a direct impact on cash flow, knowing that the three entrepreneurs had made the decision not to increase prices too much for customers. “We were also supported by the owner of our address on rue de Bonnevoie, who was very understanding, we can never thank him enough for that.”
And now? No question of returning to a previous life as an employee. Thomas Cougouille assures him: his future still lies in entrepreneurship, with one idea in mind: “We must capitalize on teleworking and no longer endure it.”
He has already joined forces with other people, this time to develop a start-up. On the agenda, reconciling certain employers with remote working. Little hint before the opening of this chapter: it will not be so much a home office, but rather a sort of “exotic remote”…
