Hawaii is a special place for many Albertans. For folks in these frosty parts, the islands have served as a spring break refuge, a destination wedding locale, and a place to escape on a well-earned holiday. Tariff tensions aside, Alberta and Hawaii have a special relationship and many of us find ourselves yearning for its island culture this time of the year. Read More
Hawaii is a special place for many Albertans. For folks in these frosty parts, the islands have served as a spring break refuge, a destination wedding locale, and a place to escape on a well-earned holiday. Tariff tensions aside, Alberta and Hawaii have a special relationship and many of us find ourselves yearning for its
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Hawaii is a special place for many Albertans. For folks in these frosty parts, the islands have served as a spring break refuge, a destination wedding locale, and a place to escape on a well-earned holiday. Tariff tensions aside, Alberta and Hawaii have a special relationship and many of us find ourselves yearning for its island culture this time of the year.
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If Hawaii isn’t on your itinerary for the time being (or even if it is but you’re always looking for more), a new restaurant near Chinook Centre called Aloha Modern Kitchen is recreating a taste of the Pacific here in Calgary.
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Aloha’s chef and co-owner Joel Harris has a profound love for Hawaii. On a trip to Hawaii years ago – like many a daydreaming Canadian vacationer before him – he boldly told his brothers that he would live in Maui one day. The difference is, that Harris actually made good on his dreams and moved to the island for a couple of years, working closely with celebrity chef Sheldon Simeon of Tiffany’s restaurant. Harris’s love for Hawaii’s warm climate and beautiful sunsets grew into a deep appreciation of local culinary traditions that go well beyond the food served to tourists at well-heeled resorts.
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“Having lived there gave me the advantage of really understanding the culture, the food and the people,” Harris says. “Aloha is a spirit. It’s not just a hello, it’s a way of life. It’s about how you treat people. Living there is when you really start to understand it’s more than just putting on a Hawaiian shirt and walking down the beach.”
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Harris also has plenty of experience here in Calgary and has worked in kitchens at heavy hitters like The Lake House and Foreign Concept. When his boss at the latter, chef Duncan Ly, was ready to sell his Takori taco stall at the Fresh and Local Kitchens and Market in Avenida, Harris and his wife Chera, who has ample restaurant experience herself, bought the business, transforming it into the wildly popular J Spot.
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When it came time to open a full sit-down restaurant of their own (and Aloha is a true mom-and-pop operation, with a couple of little Harrises running around and longtime family friend Zach McAvoy serving as manager), Harris knew he wanted to focus on Hawaiian food. They took over the space formerly occupied by Gaucho Brazilian BBQ (that restaurant recently moved into a bigger space down Macleod Trail) transforming it from a dark meat palace into a light and airy 80-seat restaurant with a sky-blue ceiling. The walls are decorated with photos of Hawaii taken by friends and family, along with a wall of artwork from Lahaina in honour of that community’s resilience in the wake of the 2023 fire.
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But ultimately, Aloha is about the food. Don’t expect tourist-friendly macadamia-crusted mahi-mahi – Harris is more inspired by traditional Hawaiian plate lunches and family-style feasts. The lunch plates ($18) feature a choice of things like fresh poke (as in, actually fresh – it’s delivered once a week and once they’re sold out, it’s gone), or mochiko chicken, all accompanied by rice and (actually very good) macaroni salad. Loco moco ($18) is also on the lunch menu as well as some taco and burger favourites from The J Spot. Dinner is more intricate with pupus including spam musubi ($6), house-made kimchi ($5) and more poke ($18), as well as larger share plates full of tender Maui ribs ($27), hula-hula chicken ($25), and miso-glazed cod ($25).