Siblings Hiroshi and Kimie "Kiibo" Satta, were both born and raised in Japan.  After High School, Hiroshi started training in Japanese Cuisine, serving as an apprentice under various Chefs.  While Kimie's dream was to live in Hawai'i, Hiroshi's goal was to become head chef of his own restaurant.  In April of 1976, Kimie and Husband Yoji, along with Hiroshi and Wife Etsuko opened the doors to Restaurant Kiibo.  Over the years, they had made a name for themselves in the small town of Lihu'e, on the beautiful island of Kaua'i. 

 

3 years after opening, due to unforeseen circumstances, Kimie and Yoji moved back to Japan while Hiroshi and Etsuko stayed and continued operating Restaurant Kiibo.  Eventually, Kimie and Yoji were able to move back to Kaua'i giving Yoji the opportunity to become Head Sushi Chef.  In 2016, Yoji retired and both he and Kimie moved back to Japan.  Hiroshi was able to keep the restaurant running and has been successfully doing so for over forty years.  

 

Throughout the years Hiroshi taught his children the recipes to his dishes and trained them in the restaurant business.  As they got older, they chose different career paths but were always there to show support and lend a helping hand.  To Hiroshi's surprise, in 2018 his son Dean took interest in running the business.  While living on O'ahu he started commuting weekly and quickly became Hiroshi's Sous Chef.  In 2020 he along with his Husband Kevin, who has been in the food industry for over 15 years, made the decision to move to Kaua'i and run the restaurant together full time.

 

With over 50 years of wear and tear, problems started arising with the structure of the building making it difficult to run the restaurant.  In November of 2020 with the help of Hiroshi's sons, Shane and Alan, they decided to completely renovate the building.  

 

After almost a year of being closed, Kiibo has re-opened and will continue to serve Kaua'i with authentic Japanese cuisine, like their popular shrimp tempura, sukiyaki, teriyaki and katsu.

 

"We would like to say THANK YOU so much to all of our customers who have supported us for over 40 years.  We are so happy to be open again and hopefully, we can all overcome these tough times during the COVID-19 Pandemic.  We look forward to serving you for many more years to come!"

 

Sincerely,

Hiroshi, Dean, Kevin & The Satta Family