SLO County restaurant serves up ‘Pacific Rim food.’ Here’s why it needs your help
Pono Pacific Kitchen has been open in Grover Beach for more than six months — but it hasn’t been easy, according to co-owner Ashlee Alewine.
The restaurant opened its doors on July 7, 2022, after three “tireless days and nights of remodeling” its property at 228 W Grand Ave.
Pono Pacific Kitchen specializes in the food and flavors of the Pacific Rim, including seafood and sake cocktails.
Unfortunately, too few customers have sampled those offerings so far, Alewine said.
“The tough part of opening a restaurant in an area that isn’t heavily visited by tourists and foot traffic yet is that our locals don’t even know we are here yet,” Alewine told The Tribune. “We are hoping to change that with word of mouth.”
Lack of foot traffic and exposure haven’t been the only problems Pono Pacific Kitchen has weathered in its first half-year, Alewine said.
Grover Beach restaurant sees ingredient prices rise
Ingredients for Pono’s unique menu are locally sourced wherever possible, Alewine said, but those were easier to come by before inflation raised prices.
According to Alewine, beef dishes have become among the most expensive to produce, as the price of beef has risen 40% since Pono opened.
That’s not the only ingredient that has seen price hikes, she said.
“Everything else we’re purchasing has increased around 8 to 10% across the board,” Alewine said. “Unfortunately with an already expensive menu we’ve absorbed those costs in order to keep our restaurant as affordable as possible for our guests that dine with us.”
Inflation brought changes to the local fishing industry, Alewine said, making it more expensive to buy locally than to shop from a large seafood distributor.
Beverages have become more expensive, too, she said.
“It is important to us to continue to support local by any means necessary,” Alewine wrote in an email. “We are also sourcing about 95% of our produce from local farms as we have found going directly to farmers to be less expensive than commercial produce distributors in our area.”
Owner: Local support needed to keep businesses afloat
While Pono Pacific Kitchen hopes to expand its customer base, Alewine said its neighbors have been helpful.
“We have banded together with other local businesses near us such as The Spoon Trade, Red Bed Coffee, Grover Beach Sourdough, Phantom Stranger Records and others to continue to promote one another on social media and when guests visit our businesses,” Alewine said.
The diners Pono Pacific Kitchen has attracted so far have been loyal, Alewine said, often making for repeat customers.
Alewine says the restaurant’s unique menu is one of the most important attractions it has to offer, adding that no other restaurant in San Luis Obispo County fills the same culinary niche.
“Pacific Rim food is defined by taking Eastern ingredients and preparing them with French techniques,” Alewine said.
When preparing misoyaki butterfish, for example, “We take a ponzu wasabi beurre blanc and pair that with our local butterfish, also known as black cod, sourced right from Morro Bay,” Alewine said.
Menu options range from duck confit spring rolls and braised short ribs to macademia nut-crusted mahi mahi, miso mushroom risotto and fried chicken and caviar.
The Pacific Rim theme extends to the restaurant’s drink menu, which includes beer, wine and saketinis — specialty cocktails made with sake instead of gin or vodka — all of which can be enjoyed on Pono’s bar.
In addition to indoor seating, the restaurant features a pet-friendly patio area.
Word of mouth from customers has helped the business going, Alewine said.
“We love our amazing community and would love for them to support us and our employees as we do for them and keep our local economy not only sustainable but thriving,” she said.
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 9:00 AM.
