Ever since birth, Vojdani has worked alongside her dad, Simon Vojdani, who has long been an icon in the restaurant industry, having owned and operated more than 95 fine dining restaurants throughout the country since 1969, including 5 Palms Restaurant.

In 1995, Simon moved with his family to Maui with the opening of 5 Palms Restaurant, which became one of the longest-operating restaurants on the south side — 5 Palms was previously situated at the Mana Kai Resort on Keawakapu Beach for decades.

“We have always been in the restaurant business, and I grew up with my father dragging me between restaurants, showing me the ropes,” Stephanie Vojdani said Sunday. “5 Palms was my first real job back in 1995 — I was the hostess when we opened, my parents were the managers and my little brother, Zack, would be seen walking around lighting candles before he did his homework. It really was a family operation.”

Saying that the timing was right, Simon Vojdani became the new owner of the $11 million Kula Lodge & Restaurant and Kula Marketplace, located on 15200 Haleakala Highway. Stephanie Vojdani will help with operations.

Longtime restaurateur Simon Vojdani (right) is the new owner of the Kula Lodge, which will be operated by his daughter, Stephanie Vojdani.

“Outside of always loving the beautiful property, the timing was right for us — due to unexpected circumstances, we had to leave our location at the Mana Kai after 27 years,” she said. “It has been a long, hard road but we couldn’t be happier to have found our new forever home at Kula Lodge.”

The lodge has been owned by the late Fred Romanchak since 1984. Romanchak passed away on July 30, but his wife Susie continued to carry the torch until selling the business to the Vojdanis.

Before Fred Romanchak’s death, he was “extremely excited” to be passing his legacy over to the Vojdani family, a news release from Kula Lodge said. It was important that the property remained with local owners.

Stephanie Vojdani said Sunday that her father is honored to become the new owner, with her as the operations director, of the Upcountry restaurant and market, and hopes that the upcoming changes will make the Romanchaks proud.

The renovations include upgrading the property and menu but keep “its unique, historic essence,” she said.

Over the next five years, they anticipate giving the chalets “a face-lift while keeping their cabin-like charm,” she said.

There will also be light remodeling, such as new bathrooms, some decor changes and addition of a sushi bar; creating a wine room/private dining room in the old Curtis Cost Gallery downstairs; building a private pool area with fire pit; adding more on-site food options in the marketplace, including sandwiches, pastries and other grab-and-go meals; adding more vegan and gluten-free options to the menu, including the oven-fired pizzas; and adding kosher meal options.

The upgrades are expected to cost roughly $2 million, she said.

“Aside from doing our usual weddings and other such banquets, we want to create our own local-centric events for the community to enjoy such as farmers markets, bringing back the famous ‘Kamaaina Art Walk’ we did at 5 Palms, monthly wine dinners and other events which focus on local products and businesses,” she said. “It’s always been really important for us to support local.”

Immediate changes will include dinner service, happy hour beginning mid-November, a sushi bar, as well as brunch until 2:30 daily, and 15 percent kamaaina discounts on entrees offered on-site, she added.

The new restaurant will have an 80 percent from-scratch kitchen with a farm-to-table concept consisting of 90 percent local produce. Cuisine will be created by executive chef Raul Bermudez, who has been a longstanding member of the team.

“We are so excited to continue to work with chef Raul,” said Simon Vojdani in the news release. “He’s truly a genius in the kitchen and we are blessed to have had him as part of our family for so many years.”

Homero Costilla, a previous manager of 5 Palms in Kihei, has been named director of operations for the new Kula Lodge. Costilla operated several restaurants in Dallas, Texas, before moving to Maui.

Richard Clark, also a past manager of 5 Palms, was promoted to the Kula restaurant’s official sommelier. He previously worked at the five-star Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel before moving to Hawaii in 1986, where he managed at Longhi’s in Wailea and worked 12 years at O’o Farm before joining the Kula Lodge this year, according to the news release.

Also part of the restaurant management team is Meghan Hurley, who has worked at Vana, the Yacht Club and Cafe O Lei Catering.

“Over the years, I learned quite a lot by my father’s side, managing our Keawakapu location full-time until my son, Adam, was born,” Stephanie Vojdani said. “Since then, my father and I have become quite the dynamic duo. We work very well together. He, of course, is still the head of things, as he quite literally knows everything there is to know about the restaurant industry.”

For more information, visit the 5 Palms and Kula Lodge Facebook pages or call the front desk at (808) 878-1535.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.