About 30 small Pacific Islander-owned businesses are set to convene in East Palo Alto Saturday, selling food, drinks, desserts and artisan wares. It’s the return of the South Pacific Food Fest, an initiative aimed at giving Pacific Islanders in the region a platform to sell their products while celebrating the South Pacific, including Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian cultures, according to event organizer Angelina Hurrell.
The Food Fest is set to run 4 to 10 p.m. at East Palo Alto’s University Circle and will have a little over half of the vendors selling food and drink items. Among them are the family behind Saia’s Spot, a former Tongan restaurant in East Palo Alto that closed in 2008, and Bula Pies, a meat pie vendor. The team behind Fresh Off Da Boat from Sacramento will also be there, and are planning to offer Pacific Island fusion dishes, like poke nachos, according to Hurrell.
Hurrell, a former food vendor with a background in Pacific Islander community outreach, founded the festival with Fusi Taaga of Tokemoana’s. She and Taaga, who are both Tongan, have also provided support to the participating entrepreneurs in marketing and planning for the event.
“With this event, we really wanted to highlight our entrepreneurship, our food, other skills and creativity,” she says. “Our cultures are heavily commercialized and often misrepresented. We want to be able to serve our food and share our culture in an authentic way.”
They’re excited to offer dishes like lu kapa pulu, otai drinks, meat pies, huli huli chicken, ota ika, puligi dessert, she says.
Details: 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1900 University Ave. in East Palo Alto; spfoodfest.com.
