‘Pineapple Express’ – Advocate Esera Tuaolo Gives Saint Joseph Cuisine a Hawaiian Punch

Theoretically, it would be easy to be uncomfortable around Esera Tuaolo: he stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs around 300 pounds; he looks like someone who might have played defensive tackle for nine seasons in the National Football League … mostly because he is someone who played defensive tackle for nine seasons in the National Football League. Furthermore, he looks like someone who could still play defensive tackle in the NFL: one false word, and you’re sacked, or so it might seem within the blackest and bluest shadows of speculative imagination.

If his arms are visible, the tribal-type tattoos, thetatau, that adorn Tuaolo’s starboard will assert themselves, lines and dots and arrows that tell a tale of octopuses and reptiles that evokes ancient, discomfort-inducing tools of bone and wood and turtle shells. Tuaolo’s inky scars make Queequeg the harpooner who clashed with Moby Dick look like a sub-tropical piker.

These subdermal scribbles demonstrate an undeniable, irresistible determination that delivered Tuaolo to the final round of competition on Season 13 of the singing reality competition television series “The Voice.” That same Polynesian pluck drove Tuaolo to create Hate Is Wrong, “a non-profit whose purpose is to foster diversity in sports and anti-bullying among youth,” according to its website. One bigoted word, and you’re whacked, or so it might seem within the blackest and bluest shadows of speculative imagination.

So, yeah, theoretically, it would be easy to be uncomfortable around Tuaolo if not for one thing: an inner light that radiates from below his arched brows, beneath his bent mustache. It’s his smile. It disarms all who see it, and somehow disarms the smiler, as well. Its existence countervails the possibility of being sacked, whacked or even harpooned. And the smile never seems to leave his face, never stops comforting. And thanks to his latest venture, Tuaolo has started distributing comfort via a new unit: the plateful.

“Esera is bringing his love for Hawaii’s vibrant food culture to Saint Joseph, by continuing his passion and talents as an Executive Chef,” trumpets the website for Tuaolo’s 98 Hawaiian Grill, the number being the same that he wore while playing for the Minnesota Vikings.

“It’s not a restaurant, it’s more like a food court,” Tuaolo explains. “We serve Hawaiian comfort food.”

While food comfort is usually delivered via clots of carbs and founts of fats, the Polynesian version presents something different.

“98 Hawaiian Grill offers a delicious way to enjoy healthy, vibrant eating while embracing the aloha spirit!” the website gushes. “At 98 Hawaiian Grill, we believe in serving fresh, flavorful and nutritious island-inspired meals that fuel the body and satisfy the soul.”

Tuaolo’s main duty as Executive Chef is essentially to make himself obsolete. “My involvement is cooking, but it’s also putting together a team that can cook the way I cook,” the final boss catalogs. “This is an opportunity for me to hire some great people who can run the place, and I can just check in now and then. That’s the model we’re going for.”

The great people hired benefit from a culinary legacy that goes back in time and space, to the kitchen of Tuaolo’s beloved mother, who died last November.

“I was the youngest in a Polynesian family — I spent most of my time in the kitchen learning,” Tuaolo remembers. “I was taught how to make sauces and how to chop. It sounds silly, but [precise chopping] really affects food’s flavor.”

98 Hawaiian Grill is one of four start-ups up-starting within a larger, collective food hall, The House Food & Tap.

“A food hall is a vibrant, shared dining space where multiple individual restaurants operate side by side,” explains the website of the trendy, all-new locus. “Each team brings its own unique flavor and specialty to the building, offering a diverse range of cuisines under one roof.”

Further, the venue boasts a 30-tap self-pour wall which accesses a wide variety of drinks, some soft and some not-so-soft.

Tuaolo brings a uniquely urgent energy to this shared space. “I was in the closet for 35 years, and I put things on the back burner and wasn’t able to follow my passions and the things that I love,” Tuaolo professes. “Whenever people come out, they say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I feel so complete.’ Well, of course: when we’re in the closet, we hide a big part of our lives.”

Starting the 98 Hawaiian Grill is for Tuaolo nothing less than an effort to make himself complete.

“I’m on a quest,” he proclaims, a small laugh escaping his big smile. “My first quest was football — I always wanted to go to the Super Bowl, and I went to the Super Bowl. My second quest was singing — I always wanted to be on one of those shows — I was on ‘The Voice.’ I always wanted to be on ‘Oprah’ — I was on ‘Oprah.’ I always wanted to be on ‘Ellen’ — I was on ‘Ellen.’”

As it turns out, the dispenser of comfort finds his own comfort in busting out of his comfort zone … which just might be the case for the rest of us, as well.

“I always wanted to have my own little restaurant thing, a chain, and so now I do — I have a chain,” Tuaolo declares. “Everything that I’m passionate about is coming true. If you’re passionate about something, it can come true if you put your mind and heart and soul into it.”

98hawaiiangrill.com
thehousefoodandtap.com