Features
No matter how you make it, chicken teriyaki is savory, sweet and sublime, The Washington Post, May 2024
Poi Dog Debuts at Joe’s Steaks + Soda Shop, Fox 29, June 2023
Poi Dog Brings a Little Hawai’i Home One Dip at a Time, Beyondish, June 2023
When One Door Closes, Another One Opens, 34th St Magazine, March 2022
Chef shares family’s Chinese wontons with a touch of Hawaii for Lunar New Year, Good Morning America, February 2022
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with this Recipe, PHL 17, February 2022
Food to Celebrate the Year of the Tiger, NBC 10, January 2022
Q&A With Kiki Aranita: Transforming a Restaurant into a Retail Brand, Back of House, December 2021
On Food: Family, Community and History, WHYY, November 2021
After closing Poi Dog, chef Kiki Aranita’s food life turns to fiber art and bottled sauces, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 2021
Heritage Radio Network’s Why Food? Podcast, Episode 151, January 2021
How Spam Became an Essential Part of Hawaii’s Cuisine, Food & Wine, January 2021
The Communal Table Podcast with Kat Kinsman, Food & Wine, January 2021
After her restaurant closed, Poi Dog owner switches gears to sauce venture, KYW Newsradio, December 2020
How COVID-19 is Hurting Women-Owned Restaurants, James Beard Foundation, October 2020
Women Chefs and Restaurateurs Reshaping Philly’s Food Scene, Philadelphia Magazine, January 2020
With Their Restaurants Closed, Chefs Turn to Instagram Live to Inspire Home Cooks, Eater, March 2020
Sweat Diary, Philadelphia Magazine, October 2019
Would you write a cookbook for next to nothing?, The New York Times, Priya Krishna, October 2019
4 Chefs Show Why Philadelphia is a Tapestry of Flavors, The Angle by W Hotels, October 2019
The Dish with Kiki Aranita, FEASTIVAL, June 2019
How Philly chefs use honey to boost cooking, baking and morning coffee, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 2019
Philly’s New Sisterhood of Chefs, James Beard Foundation, January 2019
American Express Essentials' Chef Talk: Street Food Around the World, May 2018
20 Questions with Kiki Aranita, CityWide Stories, January 2018
Philadelphia's New Food Establishment, Philadelphia Magazine, January 2018
Behind the Line with Kiki Aranita, Philadelphia Magazine, July 2017
Ancient Roman cooking brought back to life, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2016
Interview on NPR : Dining out with a big group? Learn the social etiquette of splitting the check
Some Cool Mentions
Give the gift of food: chefs share their favorite cookbooks of 2023, The Guardian, December 2023
8 Best Slices of Pizza in NYC, according to Chefs, Eat This, Not That, July 2023
Locals Explain Hawaiian Food, MSN, April 2023
The 5 Organization Habits of Highly Successful Kitchens, Made In Cookware, March 2023
How to Tell If Fish is Bad, Eating Well, March 2023
The Mailatas quickly fell in love with the restaurant, which began in 2013 as a food truck on Temple’s campus and became a brick-and-mortar space about five years later, and were frequent guests until Poi Dog closed in 2020 during the pandemic.
But they continued to follow Aranita. Niki frequently attended her pop-up events, and when Aranita launched her Poi Dog sauces, the Mailatas were some of her early supporters. They enjoyed the sauce so much that Jordan, an ambassador for Australian food truck G’Day Gourmet, brought her Huli Huli sauce to G’Day Gourmet owner Mike Peacock, and a collaboration was born.
“I didn’t realize my flavors would reach as large an audience as they have, especially after closing the restaurant,” Aranita, who also has contributed to the Food section at The Inquirer, said. “I would have thought I would have served more people out of the walls of the restaurant, but with the sauces, it’s a much wider audience, and it’s so exciting to see other chefs work with it.”