Eat The Street For Japan

by Maria Kanai
photos by Rie Miyoshi

Last week my photographer Rie Miyoshi and I attended the third Eat The Street, a lunch wagon rally event organized by Poni Askew of Streetgrindz.com. This month, the event was for a cause. In light of the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, the lunch wagons donated either a portion or all of their proceeds to the American Red Cross to aid relief efforts. It was an awesome way for people to help out a recovering country while enjoying some delicious street food. Here's how it went!

There were some changes from the last ETS in February. First of all, it was even bigger! 32 lunch wagons instead of last month's 26. Trash cans were set up in the middle, tables were set up for easy eating, and the lines actually were fairly short…except for Gogi's Korean Tacos truck! As usual, this was a crowd favorite.

This was another thing that was different! Local artists Lightsleepers worked on a beautiful, Japan-themed painting on twelve canvases that were to be auctioned off, the money once again being donated to the American Red Cross.

The first truck we went to was Shogunai Tacos. Most of the lunch trucks had a Japan-themed dish, and I got Shogunai's Osaka Jo. It was delicious, with the perfect fusion of Mexican and Japanese. The ginger pork was flavored nicely with the shoyu and lemon, and I loved the furikake and bean sprouts. It was actually really filling at $6.50, and my friend and I split one between the two of us.

The biggest surprise of the night? The line at Melt was actually manageable, and I got to try out their famous sandwiches for the first time! I think the lines were short because of their limited menu; Japanese beef curry, their famous tomato soup, and just one Melt sandwich, which was a Kabocha and Bacon melt.

You can see the kabocha (pumpkin) covered with delicious Gouda cheese. The bread was perfectly toasted with a nice crunch, and the cheese, well, was melting in my mouth. It certainly lived up to its hype. However, I did think $9 was a little pricey...

Then I ran into Poni Askew herself! Although she was busy running around organizing everything, she was able to take some time to answer some question. She let me know that she plans on holding these events at the last Friday of every month. As for the changes, she is going to take them slow. "We want to ease into the momentum, and not change too much at once."

We wanted something sweet, and we had loved the icecream at Aloha Ice Cream Tricycle. We got the watermelon icecream this time, for $4. Once again, the cookie crust at the bottom did it for me. I'm usually not a big fruit-flavored-icecream fan, but there were "chocolate" seeds for my chocolate fix.

SOUL Patrol's very own Chef Sean Priester! They were cooking food right outside the truck. SOUL's Japan themed dish was togarashi-spiced catfish with Japanese cucumber relish.

We got the Mexican paella for $7 at Camille's on Wheels, just to take a break from the tacos. The rice was filled with plenty of shrimp, chicken, and shichimi! It was just the right amount of spicy, and the different meats and seafoods were perfectly flavored.

Me and Onopops' Mexican Chocolate. It had an interesting tangy flavor to it that I wasn't quite used to. The chocolate is grown in Hawaii, and I bought the popsicle for $3. I just wasn't used to the strong aftertaste, kind of bitter and very thick, so this wasn't my favorite, even though I look very happy.

Over $7200 was raised for Japan, from a combination of food sales from the lunch wagons and separate donations. Once again, this was the biggest Eat The Street yet. At least 3500 people showed up to eat and participate to help a nation in need, making it an unforgettable night. Keep a lookout for the next event, which is planned to be held on the last Friday of April!

Poni Askew: Visionary Behind "Eat The Street"

by Maria Kanai

Twenty-five lunch wagons and vendors. 3000+ people. A parking lot the size of a city block. The second "Eat The Street" was no doubt the biggest food event in Hawaii, offering hungry customers everything from French crepes to Gogi Korean tacos in a massive, all-out food truck rally that took place last week.

maria kanai / KA LAMAKUA

Poni Askew is the talented visionary behind "Eat The Street", a food truck rally that she hopes will become a monthly event.

So, who came up with this ingenious idea?

Meet Poni Askew, organizer extraordinaire and the inspired mind behind the feast events. Poni studied Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies at UH Manoa for two and a half years and was on her way to becoming a Hawaiian immersion teacher, when she moved to Nashville for 13 years where she did bookings for the music and talent industries. 

Since then, she's shifted from the entertainment industry to food and beverages. Despite her deviation from college plans, she says she's now found her niche. (And no matter how you look at it, this is encouraging news for us college students.)

"I'm in my place, that's my element," she says happily, "It's fun. Meeting everybody, getting out there, meeting different people.  The people [lunch wagon owners] are entrepreneurs, motivated people starting a new business and making it work. I have a lot of respect for them."

It all innocently began with streetgrindz.com, a website Poni and her husband Brandon opened last September as a place to list the lunch trucks in Hawaii. As fate would have it (or more likely, very clever planning), the lunch wagon craze hit Hawaii around the same time and Street Grindz was in the middle of the momentum.

"Unless you're driving around between 11 to 2 pm, you don't get to eat at these food trucks."

"It's the specialty lunch wagons that are coming out. You've got Korean tacos, Melt, Xtreme tacos; something you can't eat every day. Also," Poni adds with a smile, "These trucks have this "the more the merrier" kind of thing. They like to travel in a tribe, and they believe if you build it [a lunch wagon], more people will come.

The more, the merrier is right. Poni hit the same idea with "Eat The Street."

"The next smart thing to do was to start pulling them together," Poni says, "Unless you're driving around between 11 to 2 pm, you don't get to eat at these food trucks. The hours are part of the beauty of the lunch wagon; short, fast hours. It's a catch 22. With "Eat The Street", we're bringing them together on a Friday night, and Kaka'ako is near downtown, so it'll be a great pau hana spot for the weekend."

Since then, it's been nonstop for Poni. Her driving force is her determination to get Hawaii recognized for its street food. "Everybody's getting wild about food trucks in LA, but we've been doing it for so long. We've put our claim on the map for our destination to eat street food too, and we can't let LA take our trophy away from us," she laughs, half-jokingly. "We have great food in Hawaii!"

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To see more of Maria's Eat the Street coverage, check out her review here!

Photoshow: February Eat the Street

Story by Maria Kanai

Photos by Rie Miyoshi

If you’re a food lover like me, you’ve probably heard of January’s “Eat The Street,” Hawaii’s first food truck and street food rally ever.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to make it, but then I learned that Poni Askew, the mastermind behind the rally, was planning another one for February 25th…except this time, it would bigger, sporting partnerships with Nonstop Honolulu and Kamehameha Schools. And in the case of food, bigger is always better, right?

I counted down the days. I invited all my friends in selfish hopes for a food buddy. I even interviewed Poni herself! When the great day arrived, I was ready for some good feasting.

courtesy rie miyoshi

When we got there, the event was just starting, so the lines weren’t too bad. Well, most of the lines. Superstars Gogi Korean Tacos and Melt had people across the full length of the Kaka’ako parking lot.

 

courtesy rie miyoshi

So my friend and I stopped by T.A.S.T.E first. They’re the ones who started it all, with their unique fusion of Asian and Mexican food. As an international student from Japan, I appreciated the light Asian flavors; not too heavy, and perfectly blended. My favorite was the char siu with shoyu aioli and hoisin vinaigrette (left). The rib eye with Kal Bi marinade and wasabi dressing (right) was pretty good too, and I loved the wasabi dressing. At $3 per order though, I thought it was a little pricey.

courtesy rie miyoshi

The Gogi line was an hour and a half. We were there for 6:00 to 7:30 pm, but we delegated friends to grab more food from Dixie Grill.

courtesy rie miyoshi

We got a pulled-pork sandwich for $6. The meat was perfectly cooked and soft, and tasted wonderful with their famous Dixie Grill spicy sauce. It was perfect to curb our appetite during our Gogi wait.

courtesy rie miyoshi

There was a flash mob! Student from the drama club in Nanakuli School performed for us in the middle of the parking lot, dancing hip hop to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.

courtesy rie miyoshi

Fairy Cakes Hawaii is new to the street scene. Their debut “whoopee pies” for $4 looked delicious, and I was sad that I didn’t get a chance to try them.

courtesy rie miyoshi

Despite the crowd, the atmosphere was very relaxed and comfortable, and the huge space really helped keep things moving. There was good music, and as the night wore on, it got cooler and thankfully, the weather held up.

courtesy rie miyoshi

Around 7:30 we finally made it to the front of the line! We got the Gogi Quesadilla with BBQ Chicken for $5 and a BBQ Short Rib tacos for $2. The chicken was nicely flavored, and the Korean + Mexican tastes were unique. The taco was tiny though, so I was glad to have gotten the four quesadillas. It was worth waiting for the hype, and I was glad I finally got to try it.

courtesy rie miyoshi

Sold-out Melt. They were one of the first to run out of food, which wasn’t surprising considering how long their line was. They come to UH though, so I still have a chance to try their famous grilled gourmet cheese sandwiches.

courtesy rie miyoshi

Aloha Icecream Tricyle for desert. We got their Mauna Kea Deelite for $4. My favorite part was their crumbly crust, which made the three layers of icecream seem more “pie”-ish. Their chocolate fudge combined with coconut flavors was wonderful. (In the background, you can see Ed Morita, who blogs for Nonstop Honolulu. He took our picture and we talked story with him after!)

courtesy rie miyoshi

I got a “Romeo et Juliet” crepe for $7 from Le Crepe Café. My crepe had generous amounts of nutella, strawberries, and bananas, with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. Delicious way to finish off an awesome night!