We’re not Hawaiian, but as you’ve seen on the blog, we’ve spent some time there and Hungry is a huge fan of Hawaiian food. Why? The answer is simple. Hawaiian food screams love and spreads the aloha spirit. Hawaiian food embraces the mana of the islands, from the mighty volcanoes to the powerful yet serene oceans. Every time you grab a plate of loco moco from the local family restaurant, or a pile of pancakes covered in lilikoi and macadamia nuts from the town’s diner, you want to throw up the shaka as you walk out the door. There is just something magical about the Hawaiian culture because of the loving people that you’ll find there.
Lately, especially in Los Angeles, Hawaiian food was been booming because of the recent trend of fast and easy food, that is also healthy. Subway started this model and Chipotle showed the world that it could be done with more than sandwiches. In the past, we’ve discussed the boom of make-your-own-pizza-on-the-go in Los Angeles, and we’ve been vocal as we’ve seen the same trend with poke, a Hawaiian favorite. In fact, Hungry, who arrogantly makes his own favorite poke, put a tutorial up on YouTube for his favorite kind. Unfortunately, we’ve been mainly disappointed with the poke frenzy in Los Angeles, since it is clear that most shops are modeled for profitability and capitalization of the market, rather than passion.
In Hawaii, almost, if not all of the poke that we had, did not follow this model. They would have dozens of varieties prepared already, which were all marinating for hours before being consumed. In most places in LA, you get unseasoned fish and have them add toppings, eventually pouring a sauce on top. There are two issues with this. First, the flavors don’t have the opportunity to come together and develop properly, since you consume it immediately. Second, there is no master chef deciding which combinations will produce the best results. If you come into my home and eat my ahi poke, it is only served one way… my way… the best way.
Now, all of a sudden, we have one of these poke shops in Chicago trying to trademark/copyright the name, Aloha Poke Co, so that no other poke spots can use the word Aloha in the name. I can’t think of anything less aloha than that. They clearly don’t understand or care for the aloha spirit. Furthermore, their menu screams boring. I would try their food because that is what I do, but I can tell you right now, it will be average at best, in terms of trendy poke spots. It will be below average at best, in terms of real poke spots. With such a selfish and arrogant move, they do not understand the mana that Hawaiian food has, so their food will inevitably be, not worth your time.
Remember, sharing food in the name of nothing but profit will never allow you to be hungry and fit!
