When Appetito Craft Pizza and Wine Bar opens in mid-October, it will be the first of WDI International’s Hawaii restaurants to be led by a female general manager, female chef and female beverage director.

The restaurant is likely to become known for its amazing lightly crusted portobello mushroom fries served with pesto aioli, available from lunch through dinner, but it also will serve breakfast in the old Keoni by Keo’s space at the Ohana Waikiki East Hotel by Outrigger.

WDI International Inc. operates restaurants in Hawaii, Guam, California and New York, and is a subsidiary of Japan-based WDI Corp. WDI stands for World Dining Inspirations.

General Manager Kelly Nguyen started with WDI as a server at Tony Roma’s Aiea in 2012 and quickly rose to manager. She has kept rising, most recently serving as assistant general manager at TR Fire Grill in Waikiki, a spinoff of the Tony Roma’s concept that is just the second TR Fire Grill to open in the U.S.

Fire Grill is across the street from where Appetito is being configured with indoor and outdoor seating for up to 200.

Naomi Ito, chef de cuisine, was found in Tokyo, working for a catering company. WDI flew her to Hawaii in 2011 to intern at its Taormina Sicilian Cuisine at Waikiki Beach Walk. She immediately excelled at pasta- making, and as it was Ito’s dream to live in Hawaii someday, she fell in love with Taormina and all that she was learning there, she said.

Now sous chef at Taormina, Ito has been developing dishes for Appetito alongside Nguyen and Hiroyuki Mimura, Taormina’s executive chef, including those unusual and delicious portobello fries. She spent about a year perfecting the recipe for the mushroom strips, along with the restaurant’s other recipes.

Jill Shiroma has designed a wine program and cocktail menu that will reflect its global influences, including made-to-order sangria using “good wine,” Nguyen said, not cheap stuff that sits in a pitcher loaded with fruit.

Shiroma’s recipes for refreshing white and luscious red sangrias, prepared by beverage manager Brenton Sugibayashi for a recent tasting, are crafted with fresh fruit and additional flavors.

The Principessa, or princess, in Italian, comprises silver tequila flavored with guava and additional notes, creating a not-too-sweet beverage.

“We never set out to have a women-led team for Appetito, to be honest,” said Shige Kikuchi, WDI Hawaii director. “We just happened to have three very talented women in Kelly, Chef Naomi and Jill, and the timing was perfect to bring them together.”

Appetito means “appetite” in Italian, and while traditional, Neapolitan-style pizzas fired in a 1,100-degree oven are sure to be popular, Appetito will not be straight-ahead Italian.

Some menu options: a Caesar salad made with romaine lightly charred on the grill, topped with croutons, tomatoes, hard-cooked eggs and white anchovies; a colorful and light shrimp pesto pasta; and eggs scrambled with smoked salmon.

Tiramisu can be a very heavy dessert, but Ito’s matcha version is light and not overly sweet. Garnished with sweet azuki beans, it is served in “masu,” wooden boxes designed for sake.

Appetito was slated to open in the spring, but delays have pushed the opening to the fall. Meanwhile, @appetitowaikiki is building buzz on social media via Instagram and Facebook.

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