Hawaii-happy partners Preston Tripp and Ashlee Alewine felt compelled to bring an edible piece of the tropical Pacific Rim to the Central Coast.
An award-winning chef, Tripp conceptualized and whipped up dishes for restaurants from California to Oahu, Hawaii. Alewine’s Central Coast roots brought the couple back to the Five Cities—the place where they first met and now run Pono Pacific Kitchen in Grover Beach.
“This has always been home for the most part for me. So moving back here seemed natural,” said Alewine, who runs Pono’s business side. “You’ll notice on the menu the inspiration taken from everywhere he’s [Tripp] lived, taken things from different restaurants that he has helped do menu consultations and creations with. I know there’s not another Pacific Rim in SLO County.”
The Pacific Rim spans the lands surrounding the Pacific Ocean that include countries from Asia, the Americas, and of course, Hawaii. Pono’s menu reflects Tripp’s riff on the Rim.
For starters, there’s the special Pau Hana menu that hungry visitors can tuck into from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Alewine calls it a casual dining experience at the bar and (dog-friendly) patio—Pono’s “Hawaiian happy hour”—that serves up small plates different from the usual menu and knocks off $2 from draft beers and wines by the glass. Dig into dishes like the Pono Papas Bravas, a crispy fingerling potato, shichimi, and kimchi aioli medley; the spicy tuna crispy rice cake; and buttery garlic chargrilled oysters with asiago.
“It’s a hang out, relax, and take a breath after work, get to know your neighbors [event] where you sit on a gorgeous patio and hear the waves in the background,” Alewine said.
The ocean sweeps across Pono’s interiors too. Airy and sunny thanks to its open floor plan and big windows, the inside is resplendent with turquoise swatches, wood detailing, and cream and sunset orange accents. It echoes the serene meaning behind the word “pono”—living righteously and in perfect balance with all the elements around you.
While the Pau Hana offers a more laid-back atmosphere, Pono hasn’t forgotten its original reason for being: a more upscale dining experience, according to Annie Steil, Pono’s marketing and floor manager.
“There is a tremendous need for fine dining here, and that’s something Ashlee and Preston noticed. They’ve lived in this area, worked in this area; we’ve all been in the restaurant and hospitality industry for a couple of years. Ashlee and Preston recognized the need and wanted to provide that for the community,” Steil said.
The main menu includes fan favorites, like the fried chicken and caviar. Dive into crunchy deboned chicken resting atop a bed of fragrant garlic fried rice and drizzled with kimchi aioli. The elevated surf ’n’ turf option includes briny pops of salmon roe placed in ruby red dollops over the chicken. It’s Tripp’s favorite item to cook.
Alewine and Steil are partial to the seafood. Alewine loves the macademia-crusted mahi mahi—a generous slab of golden-brown fish slathered in a Thai peanut vinaigrette and mango salsa, seated on black forbidden rice. It’s fresh, light, and a true call of the tropics.
“My favorite is the misoyaki butterfish. It’s a Central Coast catch, too. Butterfish is black cod. For the appetizer, there is a ton of love for the duck confit spring rolls. We probably sold 30 or 40 of those last night. The beef tartare with sea urchin is beyond incredible,” Steil said recently.
Pono holds a coveted position when it comes to sourcing its uni (sea urchin). Working in the restaurant industry since he was 15, Tripp’s networking skills landed his kitchen the chance to receive a daily supply of sea urchins from Santa Barbara. Alewine told the Sun that 95 percent of the sea urchins that are fished in Santa Barbara are shipped to Japan, making Pono part of the enviable 5 percent.
Tripp’s connections also gained Pono another signature ingredient: ahi straight from Hawaii. But a lot of the restaurant’s bounty comes from closer to home. They get bread from Grover Beach Sourdough next door. The team explores the Arroyo Grande Farmers Market on Wednesday mornings where they regularly purchase from Chavez Farms, Hayashi Farms, Righetti Ranch, and Harris Ranch. Alewine and Steil said they have an extensive wine program, too, where they feature local wines.
“We have a lot of [wines from] Santa Barbara, Santa Maria Valley, and Santa Ynez. Most people go Paso, and I was all, ‘Let’s do something different.’ We of course have a ton of Paso wines. But when developing the wine list, I thought, ‘When I go tasting, where do I go? Edna Valley, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez.’ So I kinda reflected that in my wine list,” Alewine said.
While Tripp and his culinary team maneuver the food backstage, Alewine and Steil, who met 12 years ago as servers at The Cracked Crab in Pismo Peach, hold down the front of the house.
“We try to intentionally touch every single table and we try to introduce ourselves. You can’t grow without feedback, and we love to put a face to the name,” Alewine said. “Every day I walk in here, it just feels right. I feel like Preston, Annie, and I, we’ve been training our whole lives for this. This is what we were born to do.”
New Times Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal is waiting for more fried chicken and caviar. Help her kill time at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2022.