By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Samuel Kwok enjoys a cup of coffee at the Travel Cafe
& Florist, while co-owner Sarah Yau puts the finishing
touches on a rose flower arrangement. Kwok's wife,
Ellen Poon, is behind the counter preparing food.

---

Somewhere beyond bookstore cafes
and cyber-cafes, there is the
Travel Cafe & Florist

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

IT'S a clean, well-lighted place on Kapiolani Boulevard where you can have flowers with your espresso -- or plan a trip.

The newly opened Travel Cafe & Florist makes the most of limited space, combining a deli coffee shop with a flower shop and travel library.

"The business climate in Hawaii is not the best," said Samuel Kwok, part-owner in the hybrid enterprise. "To survive you have to create a couple of ideas."

Born in Hong Kong and well-traveled in China, Kwok spent 20 years in the local travel industry before deciding to try something new.

His business partner, Sarah Yau, studied flower-arranging in China. All they needed was an office, a flower case, and a deli counter with sandwiches, salads, and gourmet coffee and tea.

"I always wanted to open a cafe," he said. "I think flowers and coffee go pretty well together."

It's not a high-volume business, so pedestrian traffic and nearby office buildings are the cafe's targeted market.

Kwok, 41, is a travel consolidator who deals with agents, so you can't make travel arrangements at the 1400 Kapiolani Blvd. cafe. But you can peruse the travel library for ideas.

"It's something to do," he said. "They might not necessarily be travelers but at least it's some reading material for them."

The neatly arranged travel office -- computers, copiers, and desks -- is just off the coffee shop, entered through a homey, glass-paneled door. Just outside is an elegant couch and an ornate wooden hutch.

"I want to provide a nice, cozy, comfortable place where people can come in and have coffee and lunch," Kwok said.

Yau, 35, was also born in Hong Kong. She and Kwok came to Hawaii to attend school and later worked together in the travel industry.

Yau, Kwok and his wife, Ellen Poon, work as a team in the little cafe. Yau trims flowers, while Poon, 39, tends the deli and Kwok works in the office.

"Sam had this idea for a long time," Yau said. "When you work for somebody, you devote yourself to the company. You don't have time to plan for yourself."

Kwok, who also owns the Forum Restaurant at the Chinese Cultural Plaza on Beretania Street, has big plans for his little cafe.

If all goes well, he hopes to develop his own label of gourmet coffee. And he plans to open multi-purpose coffee shops in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.