New healthy Hawaiian restaurant opens in Gypsum
House of Poke sells affordable bowls packed with protein and veggies that can be eaten daily
House of Poke/Courtesy photo
A new healthy Hawaiian cuisine restaurant just opened in Gypsum. House of Poke sells fresh, nutritious, affordable, high-quality poke bowls.
Elua Woolsey, the owner of House of Poke, is the son of Ekahi Grill founder Danny Woolsey and ran the Ekahi food truck before opening House of Poke. Alexandra Slaugh is the store’s manager.
Poke (pronounced poh-keh) is a traditional Hawaiian meal that features cubed raw fish. At House of Poke, customers can also get cooked chicken, beef, shrimp tempura (a fan favorite, Slaugh said), or salmon filets. The poke bowls are built on a bed of rice or greens, and topped with fresh vegetables, fruit, protein, sauce, and other tasty features. Toppings at House of Poke include edamame, pineapple, seaweed salad, chickpeas, carrots, onions, and more, with new toppings coming in on a rotating basis.
There is a menu online and a QR code that links to the menu in the restaurant, but Slaugh said it is easiest to just go to the shop and look through the glass, where all the food options are laid out.
The concept behind the shop is twofold, Slaugh said. Woolsey, who grew up in Maui, wanted to bring “the food he knows best” to Gypsum, where he now lives, Slaugh said. Plus, Slaugh said, she and Woolsey care deeply about nutrition. “So we wanted to bring a healthy food option to Gypsum,” Slaugh said.
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“This style of food is something you can eat every day,” Slaugh said.
Affordability is “super important to us,” Slaugh said. While poke can tend to be expensive, at House of Poke, they have priced their selection “as cheap as we can give it to you while still being able to keep those doors open,” she said.
Most of the House of Poke bowls range in price from $15 to $20. “I think that it’s just amazing that we’re able to offer it at the price we can,” Slaugh said.
A learning curve
Opening a new restaurant, especially one as specialized as a poke shop, has had its challenges.
Slaugh is relatively new to the restaurant business, though she has worked in the industry before. Woolsey carries most of the experience, following years of running the Ekahi Grill food truck and working as a chef. Still, the transition from chef to owner is new to him.
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“He’s an amazing chef, but we haven’t done this part of it where you’re buying inventory and doing all the sales and payroll,” Slaugh said.
The shop opened on Friday, March 15. Ahead of opening day, Slaugh said, she and Woolsey drove to Denver to pick up food at Restaurant Depot. It was lucky they did: The storm that hit much of Colorado last week and closed down Interstate 70 caused the planned shipment from their supplier not to arrive as scheduled.
“We ran out of food yesterday (Sunday),” Slaugh said. “We only had three days of food and we didn’t expect to be that busy on a Sunday,” she said.
The storm hitting during opening weekend added an extra challenge, as it was impossible to know in advance what the demand would be for certain food items, Slaugh said. Using raw fish and fresh vegetables means the ingredients of the poke bowls do not last long, and supplies need to be constantly refreshed, making it even more difficult to manage a delay.
The first food shipment was delivered on Monday. While most of the shipment arrived as expected, a cucumber shortage and some giant cherry tomatoes caused small setbacks.
Ordering from suppliers is “this dance that we’re learning,” Slaugh said.
For the first week, Slaugh and Woolsey are running the shop themselves. Four newly-hired employees will start work next week.
‘Stoked’ about poke
While starting the business has had its challenges, since it opened, the shop has been flooded with customers.
“I think we’ve served (around) 50 people a day since we’ve opened,” Slaugh said.
Some have visited the shop specifically for poke, others drawn in by Slaugh’s carefully aimed marketing on Eagle County Classifieds, and still others have wandered into the shop and learned about the cuisine from Slaugh and Woolsey.
Customers have been giving positive feedback thus far, according to Slaugh. “People are super stoked about the bowls,” she said.
House of Poke is located at 500 Red Table Drive in Gypsum. The shop is open every day except Monday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
