Poi Dog Supports Maui Relief With a Charitable Collab at The Linc

The Maui BBQ Meat Pie featuring Poi Dog’s Huli Huli sauce will be available at G’day Gourmet inside the Lincoln Financial Field concourse (Section 111) starting August 1st. / Photograph courtesy of Punch Media

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the weekly Foobooz food news round-up. We’ve got a few quick things to get through in order to get you up to speed this week — some news from Jersey, more Olympic celebrations, back-to-back collab dinners and great meat pies for a really good cause. So let’s kick things off with…

Meat Pies for Maui and Poi Dog’s Big News

For anyone who has regularly tuned into this weekly column, it should come as no surprise that, of all the restaurants we lost during (and immediately after) the pandemic, Poi Dog was one of the ones that hurt the most.

I loved that place. I really did. I am not, by nature, the happiest guy on earth, but I was never not happy when I was in Poi Dog’s dining room. Furikake-spiced fried chicken over white rice, Spam musubi, Okinawan donuts for dessert — the food was a pure kind of joy, and between the bright, primary colors and the ukulele music, the vibe hit like a warm breeze on a sunny day. It could take the edge off the worst of days and make the good ones really shine. I wrote about the place when it was open. Owner Kiki Aranita wrote about it when it closed (and got nominated for a James Beard Award for it, too). And I’ve been mourning the place ever since.

One of the reasons I talk about it so much in this column is because I like remembering it for what it was and supporting everything that came after just to keep the spirit of the place alive. Which is why I’m happy to let y’all know that, starting August 1st, a piece of Poi Dog is coming back to, of all places, Lincoln Financial Field.

See, in the year since wildfires devastated Maui, Aranita (who grew up on O’ahu) has been finding ways to support people still affected by last year’s fires. She’s been doing charity dinners, collabs, pop-ups — everything she can think of. And at one of those dinners, a guest told her about G’Day Gourmet, the beloved Australian meat pie joint that operates out of a concourse space at the Linc. Turns out, that guest was Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata. Turns out, Mailata (who is Samoan/Australian) is actually the brand ambassador for G’Day Gourmet, and he was kind of in love with the Huli sauce that Aranita has been bottling under her Poi Dog Sauces label. Turns out, he liked the sauce so much that he’d given a bottle to “Big Mike” Peacock, founder of G’Day Gourmet, and he really dug it, too. And thus a plan was hatched.

Starting August 1st, there will be a Poi Dog/G’Day collaboration meat pie on the menu at G’Day Gourmet at the Linc: a Maui BBQ meat pie combining Peacock’s Aussie pie-making skills with Aranita’s sauce. For the whole football season (and maybe longer), $1 from every Maui BBQ meat pie sold will be donated to Chef Hui — the non-profit supporting residents still displaced by the wildfires.

To celebrate the launch of the Maui BBQ pie, Poi Dog and G’Day are throwing a party at Love City Brewing tonight, July 30th, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., called “To Maui, With Love.” Entry is free; there’ll be pay-as-you-go Hawaiian-inspired charitable food and drink specials all evening and possibly even a special guest (whose name I can’t tell you, but it rhymes with “Shmordan Shmailata”).

And you know what? That’s not even all the Poi Dog news I have for you this week. Because I’ve also heard that Aranita just signed a deal to get Poi Dog’s Huli and Guava Katsu sauces on the shelves at 50+ Whole Foods stores in the region, which is an enormous win for a small, local business. So next time you’re cruising the aisles at your local Whole Foods (like I know you do), keep an eye out for Poi Dog Sauces. You won’t be disappointed.

Now what’s next?

More Places to Get Drunk, Eat Snacks and Watch the Olympics in Philly

Cocktails at the Gold Medal Olympics pop-up bar at Ocean Casino Resort / Photograph courtesy of Ocean Casino Resort

Last week, I shared a few options for food-and-drink-minded Philadelphians to get in the Olympic spirit. Unsurprisingly, now there are a bunch more options.

First place to look is at Laura Swartz’s run-down of all the Olympics-related activities happening in and around the city. It covers a lot of ground, so I’m just pulling out some details on the food and beverage offerings.

Libertee Grounds is doing “Red, White & Boozy” Jell-O shots, plus plates of steak frites to go along with the mini-golf (which should absolutely be an Olympic sport).

Evil Genius has their “If You Ain’t First, You’re Last” ale on tap in Fishtown. Plus, they’re showing the Olympics every day in the taproom and have their very own “Beerlympics” scheduled for August 17th with four-person teams competing in beer pong, corn hole, shuffleboard and other events that are probably more the speed of the average Philadelphian bar patron.

Craft Hall has five Olympics-themed cocktails on the board, one for each of the Olympic rings. Check ’em out right here.

I also heard that Iron Hill Brewery locations are offering $5 Kings Gold pints all day long whenever Team USA wins a gold medal. Dock Street South in Point Breeze is playing the Olympics on their projector screen and offering a $20.24 Olympics special that gets you an Americana pizza, a pint of Dock Street Golden IPA and a red, white and blue popsicle, or a bag of chips.

Ice Cream, Collard Greens and Bánh Mì at the Museum

Bánh bao / Photograph courtesy of Angie’s Vietnamese

It’s not every week that I end up with three museum-related pieces of news on my desk. And yet, here we are.

First off, the Barnes Foundation is bringing the chefs behind Strong Roots 9 to Philly for a one-night-only, four-course dinner on Friday, August 2nd. Strong Roots 9 is an organization of chefs and farmers, founded by Tia and Matthew Raiford, and “dedicated to nourishing the mind, body and soul through food, products, experiences and partnerships [that] engage the world with African-American foodways.” And they’re coming to town with grilled focaccia with whipped fetta and pork-stuffed collard greens, tomato and herb salads, berbere-spiced short rib with smashed sweet potato and Alabama lane cake with bourbon zabaglione for dessert.

Sound good? Yeah, it does. Tickets are $85. Get yours here.

Next, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is continuing its chef in residence program this weekend with Lynh Pham of Angie’s Vietnamese. Pham will be in the museum’s cafe serving up mì xào giòn (vegetarian stir fry over crispy noodles, with the option to add gochujang pork, coconut curry chicken or teriyaki tofu), bánh mì, vermicelli noodle salad and bánh bao. So if you’re in the mood for some Mary Cassatt, Rodin and bánh mì, you know where to go.

Finally, rumors are circulating that the Museum of Ice Cream is looking for a new location, and Philly is on the short list.

Currently on the hunt for a 15,000 square foot space, the “museum” (which is really more like a large, ice-cream-themed interactive experience with everything from giant slides and pools full of sprinkles to history exhibits and all-you-can-eat ice cream) already has five U.S. locations (up and running in New York, Chicago, Austin, in the works in Boston and Miami), one international location (in Singapore), and is looking to expand even further. No word on what other cities might be in the running, but Philly seems like a good pick to me — so long as there’s a dedicated water ice wing being planned.

The Business Journal has a few more details if you’re interested, but really, this thing is still in the scouting phase. I’ll keep an eye on it, though. You’ll know more as soon as I know more.

Meanwhile, Over in New Jersey…

Sushi and a chirashi bowl from Sagami in Collingswood. / Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano

A couple weeks ago, the restaurant industry lost one of its legends. Chizuko Fukuyoshi, wife of sushi chef Shigeru Fukuyoshi, died on July 15th. For decades, she’d worked the floor (and the back office) at Sagami in Collingswood. Generations of customers knew her. She’d spent years laboring side-by-side with her husband, helping to shape Sagami into a nationally-known, James Beard Award-nominated destination for Japanese cuisine. The restaurant was closed for summer vacation at the time of her passing, but after she died, it looked (for a little while, anyway) like Sagami was going to remain shut down for good.

Thankfully, though, it looks like Shigeru has decided to keep the place going — if on a somewhat reduced schedule for the foreseeable future. According to the restaurant’s website, Sagami will be reopening this week, but the new hours will be Thursdays through Sundays, from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The Inquirer had a nice obituary for Chizuko back when it looked like Sagami might be ending its run in Collingswood. And while I would’ve absolutely understood any decision that Shigeru made in the days after such a loss, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was glad that Sagami will still be there for a little while longer.

Meanwhile, remember when we told you that Michael Schulson was planning on opening anywhere between two and four new restaurants in Atlantic City, all lumped up together at the Ocean Casino Resort? Yeah, well now the Business Journal (and pretty much everyone else) is reporting that the Philly-based (though certainly not Philly-exclusive) restaurateur is opening precisely zero restaurants in A.C. Originally, he was looking at a re-do of his Samuel’s deli concept, a second location of Pearl & Mary, plus two additional concepts. But now he has pulled out of his deal at the Ocean Casino Resort in hopes of keeping the Shore as a place where he and his family can relax, not some place he has to go to work, according to a statement in the Biz Journal.

Which, yes, sounds a lot like the old “I’m dropping out of the race to spend more time with my family” line made famous by hundreds of politicians removing themselves from the limelight for reasons that had nothing at all to do with their families, but who knows? Schulson is an odd duck. He opens and closes places all the time, for reasons that are not always 100 percent clear. And he’s got enough clout these days to make those kinds of decisions without them crippling his core portfolio of concepts.

But in any case, this most recent announcement does mean that there is a big run of empty restaurant spaces currently available in Atlantic City for anyone looking to make a deal. We’ll just have to wait and see who steps into them now that Schulson is out.

Now who’s hungry for some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Randy Rucker’s take on the classic tomato sandwich will be available during River Twice’s second annual “Tomato Hullabaloo.” / Photograph by Mike Prince

Chef Yun Fuentes’s Mesa Bolo dinner series happens the first Tuesday of every month, and for August, Fuentes is bringing in fellow Puerto Rican chef Amaryllis Rivera Nassar of Fishtown’s Amy’s Pastelillos for a massive, family-style, communal-table Puerto Rican feast.

The menu looks amazing. I mean, seriously. Just look at it:

Papaya Confit — served alongside house-made queso fresco and coconut arepas

Sandwitchito de Mezcla — mini sandwiches filled with foie gras and clothbound cheddar mousse

Vasito de Mariscos — octopus, carrucho and shrimp escabeche salad with viandas served beachside kiosk-style

Beef “Tártaro”— arroz pegado fritters topped with beef tartare and pickled sweet onions in oregano

Guineitos con mollejas– green banana salad with chicken gizzards

Alcapurrias de Jueyes — plantain and taro root dough fried dumplings filled with Puerto Rican crab stew

Beef Cheeks Pastelón — Layers of sweet plantain and beef cheek stew topped with melted raclette cheese and sun-dried tomato salsa with culantro

Arroz con gandules– pigeon pea rice steamed in banana leaves

Habichuelas Tiernas — warm green bean salad, sherry vinaigrette, oranges, Marcona almonds, morcilla

A seat at the table will run you $95. But there’s only a single seating at 7 p.m. and only thirty spots available, so if you’re looking for reservations, I’d make them quick. Get yours here.

And finally this week, a kind of back-to-back set of dinners featuring chef Randy Rucker of River Twice, beginning with Rucker cooking River Twice’s second annual “Tomato Hullabaloo” dinner on Tuesday, August 20th, followed (about a month later) by Rucker teaming up with Eli Collins from a.kitchen and Eli Kulp from Delicious City Philly at Ardmore Music Hall for a night of food, live music and conversation on September 29th.

The Tomato Hullabaloo is an end-of-summer tomato party, showcasing the versatility of both local fruits and several different heirloom varieties. The menu will feature tomato focaccia with stracciatella, tomato ‘nduja and smoked olive oil, lamina of bluefin tuna and tomatoes with sea beans and bonito oil, tomato sandwiches with smoked mayo and golden ossetra caviar, crab gazpacho, cockscombs and octopus stewed in tomato sofrito and a dessert of smoked tomato with black olive caramel and bee pollen.

The whole thing sounds kind of wild. Obsessive, too, which I respect. Seatings are at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 a pop. Get yours here.

Then, come September, it’s the “A Feast for the Senses” dinner, with Rucker back in the saddle again, this time sharing a kitchen with a.kitchen exec Eli Collins, doing a four-course dinner with paired beverages, accompanied by live music from SPAGA, featuring Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits and a conversation about food and music led by Eli Kulp. So really, that’s dinner and a show. Tickets are $250 for the whole night, and you can get yours here if you’re down for that kind of thing.