When the pandemic shut down her restaurant, this food creative turned to sauce

Published 10:30 am Tuesday, February 8, 2022

By From Feast and Field

Poi Dog lavender

Kiki Aranita and her business partner Chris Vacca poured their hearts into building a restaurant that did homage to the complex food Kiki enjoyed growing up in Hawaii.

Much like the culture of Hawaii itself, their restaurant Poi Dog Philly’s fast-casual food was a hybrid, also influenced by Filipino, Japanese and Portuguese food customs. With traditional Hawaiian-style plate lunches and the signature dish of mochi nori fried chicken with furikake and togarashi-yuzu mayo, the restaurant became a beloved Philadelphia fixture, earning two Best of Philly awards in 2014 and 2017. 

But like many restaurants, Poi Dog was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, closing for good in the summer of 2020. Aranita, who is a food journalist in addition to a chef, wrote movingly about the experience for Food and Wine.  

Faced with the closure, Aranita scaled-up production of three signature sauces which are now sold across the country. The sauces, like the food at Poi Dog, draw from a mix of influences.

Aranita talked about the process of originating her sauces: “the Lavender Ponzu is entirely my creation. I think a lot of people are familiar with how ponzu tastes, but they don’t necessarily know how it tastes with a floral component like lavender. The chili peppah water is very well-established in Hawaii. The guava katsu—that was one of the first things we served in the food truck. The version that I make now, which tastes exactly the same, is vegan,” she told the Counter.

She started Poi Dog with a food truck, later turning it into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. When circumstances changed and she had to transform her business model, Aranita kept what was meaningful about her brand, continuing to offer fans a taste of what made Poi Dog so appealing.

“I’ve always been of the philosophy that constraints give way to creativity,” Aranita told The Counter. During this trying time for chefs, Aranita found a way to generate something deliciously new.

Shop for Poi Dog sauces here.