While the Kava tender serves the kava’s shock in a shell, everyone in the new bar in Hilo’s heart will then say ‘Ola!’ Before you drink together.
The word fijian, ‘Bula’, has been traditionally used to cheer with kava, but the new Kava Republic owned by the family is using the word ʻōlelo Hawai’i ola for its adult Kava in Hawaii.
The duo dada-daughter Laynt and Yaelle Olivier recently opened the Republic of Kava on 301 Kewe. On Friday, they will expect a magnificent opening to show the place that provides an inherited part of the Polynesian heritage and a community connection space and relaxation.
Many clients have already shown their support for the new business, which has been filling a void that has been felt since closing in 2020 Hilo’s last bar, Bayfront Kava Bar.
Laurent Olivier, who is originally from New Caledonia, a French territory involving dozens of islands in the South Pacific, said he saw a Kava bar when he was first transferred to the United States in 2000.
“In America, it felt like everyone was in a rat race, like everyone was always moving or stressed,” he said. “I realized that they just needed to drink some kava.
Laurent Olivier used “his roots” and opened one of the first Kava rods on the 2002 continent in Boca Raton, Fla.
The 60-year-old said it was difficult to start his first bar because at first no one wanted to try Kava, a drug made from the terrestrial roots of the plant found in the Southern Pacific taken as a drink, extra or extract.
“Three months after we opened, Kava was marked by [U.S. Food and Drug Administration]”Said Laurient Olivier. “Everyday newspaper was in our Kava bar because we were the only one.”
In 2002, the Federal Government issued a consumer advisory warning of the potential of liver damage from dietary supplements containing Kava. While this seemed negative at the time, publicity actually helped Laurent Olivier get a boost of curious customers who are now interested in trying kava.
While the US Food and Drug Administration has published a memorandum on Kava that is not safe for human consumption and is classified as a dietary supplement, the Hawai’i Department of Health has stated that the Kava prepared in the traditional method – mixing the noble diversity of the root ʻAwa (Kava) with water or water.
In 2009, Laurent Olivier opened his second grass Kava, Bula Kafe, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Which is still open today. After gathering two daughters and living on the continent since he emigrated from the New Kaledonia, he knew in 2017 that it was time to return to an island.
“Because I’m an island, I was about to go back to somewhere known and grow Kava somewhere I knew it could bloom,” Laurent Olivier said. “I started to grow Hawaii myself, but it was a lot of work. And with the lava, it’s not easy to find good land.”
Kava was a canoe culture for the earliest Polynesian columns of Hava traveling along with Kalo, ʻulu (bread fruit) and sweet potatoes among other major crops.
The root was prominent in the culture of Kanaka Maoli and was used in social, medical and religious and ceremonial settings. It had virtually disappeared from everyday life in the mid -1900s, with only isolated communities that kept tradition and culture alive until its resurrection during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s.
Kava as a drink flows from the roots and the lower part of the flow of the plant, which gives it a terrestrial aroma. Those who consume drink know that it works when the mouth or tongue starts to feel a little numb and the body relaxes, but the mind remains stimulated for the following day.
After a few years in the development of his farm, Laurent Olivier is now one of the greatest ʻawa farmers in Hawai’i, the only place where Kava grows in the North Pacific.
When he found an opportunity to occupy a free space in the center of Hilo, Laurent called his 27-year-old daughter and asked her to leave her engineering work in Florida and move to Hawai’i to start the Republic Kava together. Although unexpected, it was an easy choice for him.
“He always told me to go to school for a good degree if the FDA removes Kava, so this is what I did. The next thing you know, December 31 is my last day and I’m on the plane on January 4 this year,” Yelle Olivier said. “I grew up around the bars of Kava, but this is the first time my father and I went to business together and we have been able to collect this united place in just 2 months.”
Since the beginning of this new venture, Yeelle Olivier has helped laurent create a menu of various kinds of kava, coffee, kombucha and other non -alcoholic beverage options.
They also hired a staff of six and have created an authentic Kava experience with a space where people can calm down or talk to old and new friends.
“Kava helps you relax and feel gentle, but it’s also more than that,” said Yeelle Olivier. “Well at the atmosphere and we hope that people will come with curiosity to learn about the history and culture behind Kava.”
Laurent Olivier said it is important for people to have a community space to simply sit and rest after a long day full of stress.
“There are not many places that can offer it without alcohol,” he said. “I want everyone to appreciate Kava, but more than I want customers to feel that we are serving them happiness in a place where they feel safe and can be themselves.”
The duo planned weekly events to wait in Kava Republika and kept an open night open to see if people were interested in that type.
“Kava and music go well together because people tend to want to sing more when they are calmer,” Yeelle Olivier said.
“I think having open germs, clashes with poetry, art shows and everything that gives people a place to whitewash after a long day,” she added. “We also have a quiet corner with many shops, free wifi and public bath. The idea is that you come in to stay for a while without a hurry to leave.”
Republic Kava will open from 9am to 9 afternoon in Hilo on Friday. Follow Kava Bar’s Facebook or Instagram pages to stay up to the new business.
“We have poured our hearts in creating a space that honors Kava’s tradition and provides a welcoming environment for the community,” Yelle Olivier said. “We are excited to share our carefully worked kava and the culture it represents with Hilo.”