Kiki Aranita Talks About Closing Her Restaurant, Collective Trauma, and Selling Sauce

A year ago, Kiki Aranita was in Hong Kong for a cousin's wedding when she heard the first rumblings about a virus that was highly contagious and beginning to spread. There's no way she could have known that just months later, she'd have to shut down her much-loved Philadelphia restaurant Poi Dog because of its impact. It was an agonizing decision, but the multi-talented chef, writer, and artist is finding purpose in the pivot with a line of condiments that are based in her Hawaii heritage, making objects that soothe her soul, and finding new ways to keep the Poi Dog dream alive and thriving. She joined Communal Table for an in-depth conversation about the practical, financial, emotional, and intellectual work it takes to be a chef in an age of unrest.

How It Feels to Close Your Restaurant for Good

https://www.foodandwine.com/news/how-to-close-your-restaurant-permanently-kiki-aranita-poi-dog-coronavirus

Buy Kiki's Sauces at Gotham Grove

https://gothamgrove.com/pages/poi-dog

Food & Wine Pro

https://www.foodandwine.com/fwpro

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