Kiki Aranita

About

Kiki Aranita is a chef, food writer and editor previously at NY Mag’s The Strategist, fiber artist, sauce entrepreneur, and recipe developer. While these may seem like disparate career paths existing simultaneously, they are tied together by the same themes: nostalgia (particularly when it comes to the food of Kiki’s hometowns of Honolulu and Hong Kong) and care for the ocean. As a chef, she specializes in Hawai’i’s fresh fish dishes and low waste cooking, and as a fiber artist, she uses primarily scrap yarn, in a small effort to keep micro-plastics out of our waterways.Kiki spent seven years as co-chef and owner of Poi Dog, a restaurant, food truck, and catering company that served Hawaii’s local food. She closed its Center City Philadelphia location in July 2020 but has kept the brand alive in large-scale pop ups and retail sauces. For years, her goals involved celebrating the underrepresented cuisines of multicultural origins and collaborating with other chefs. She has continued to cook, through chef residencies at Jose Garces’ Volver, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bok Bar and more.Kiki is a frequent contributor to Food & Wine Magazine, for which she was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Media Award in 2022 and The Guardian US. She has written many food features and personal and travel narratives for USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Roads and Kingdoms and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, as well as recipes for many other publications and platforms. She has created content, recipes, and recipe-driven videos for companies such as Vulcan Equipment, Savencia Cheese, Vitamix Commercial, Sakara Life and the Norwegian Seafood Council. ABOUT POI DOG SAUCESAt the end of 2020, Aranita launched a line of retail sauces rooted in Poi Dog’s Hawaii-style cuisine that is available nationwide. Chili Peppah Water, Guava Katsu, and Huli Huli are available bottled for retail and the Huli Huli is also available in a food service format.