Hawaiian pop-up Kine Musubi is preparing to open its first brick-and-mortar location in a 300-square-foot space at 128 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side. Owner Chi Ian Chan, who runs the pop-up with his wife Lizzy Han, told What Now New York that they are aiming to open the permanent location by the beginning of August.
Chan launched Kine Musubi after he moved to New York from Hawaii in summer 2022.
“I went out looking for some spam musubis, but I wasn’t able to find any authentic Hawaii musubi,” Chan said. “I decided to make my own, and I thought it was really good, so I decided to start selling it on our local neighborhood Facebook page. The reaction turned out well with the community.”
After seeing success in his community, Chan began operating Kine Musubi as a pop-up brand, serving authentic spam musubi reminiscent of what he grew up eating in Chinatown in Hawaii. At the same time, Chan was searching for a permanent home for Kine Musubi, which he finally found on the Upper West Side.
The new location will be strictly grab-and-go, offering the brand’s signature items. However, there will be more flexibility in the menu. When operating the pop-up, the food was prepared beforehand, but at the brick-and-mortar on the Upper West Side, they will be able to offer customizations and modifications for the musubi since everything will be made-to-order.
Customers can also look forward to Chan’s homemade sauce — a recipe that took him about a month and a half to perfect — based on flavors he recalls from a favorite mom-and-pop shop in Hawaii.
This is the first step for Kine Musubi toward a big future, Chan hopes. Eventually, he is looking to expand the brand, though for now, they are focusing on opening the first store.
“We want to bring the flavors of Hawaii to the East Coast,” Chan said. “We’re hoping to open at least a few locations within New York and beyond.”
