Renowned chef and restaurant owner Nobu Matsuhisa will open his first Hawai'i eatery late next month in Waikiki.

Matsuhisa is in Hawai'i to oversee the remodeling of the 7,500-square-foot ground-floor space formerly occupied by the Parc Cafe and Kacho restaurants. He said he has been coming to Hawai'i for more than 20 years and has dreamed of opening a restaurant in Waikiki.

Matsuhisa said he and his partners picked the Waikiki Parc Hotel because of its proximity to its sister hotel, The Halekulani, and because of the major facelift that's going on around the hotel.

"It's booming. The Trump Tower is coming, Waikiki is growing," Matsuhisa said. "There's a lot of energy. I like energy cities."

The Waikiki Parc also is undergoing a major renovation, and the Nobu restaurant is a big part of it. Peter Shaindlin, chief operating officer of Hotel & Resorts of Halekulani, declined to reveal the cost to remodel the space to be occupied by Nobu restaurant, but said it is "considerable."

"It is a multimillion-dollar investment, seven-figure investment," Shaindlin said. "To the best of my knowledge, in the history of Honolulu restaurants, this would be on a par with the most significant investments made to date in an interior."

The restaurant was designed by New York-based Rockwell Group.

With restaurants across the country, as well as in Japan, Italy, England, the Bahamas and Hong Kong, Matsuhisa said he will spend as much time as possible at his Waikiki restaurant. He said he even plans to do some cooking.

"I'm the chef," Matsuhisa said. "I like to stay in the kitchen as much as possible because Nobu is my food and I have to keep all of the same qualities."

He said the restaurant will open with his signature dishes, described as "eclectic Japanese cuisine," but will eventually incorporate locally grown produce.

Nobu Waikiki will accommodate about 200 and feature a sushi bar, bar lounge and private dining area.

Notar said the restaurant will hire about 35 employees, including some who lost their jobs when the Parc Cafe and Kacho restaurants closed.

As far as possibly opening another Hawai'i restaurant, Matsuhisa said it's too early to talk about that.

"The next step is success at this restaurant," the chef said. "Right now, we're not thinking about another restaurant. We will concentrate on this restaurant first."