Dale “Kalani” San Jose owns and operates a food truck located in downtown Eugene called Kalani’s Curbside Island Style Grinds. He uses all original recipes and offers two menus that incorporate authentic Hawaiian culture and his own style of cooking.
A customer waits for his meal in front of Kalani’s Curbside “Island Style Grinds” during lunch-hour on Wednesday, October 25th. The owner and cook, Dale Kalani, celebrates 18 years since the opening of his food truck here in Eugene.Kalani focuses on prepping the grill with water and oil before cooking up some teriyaki beef. He has been in the food business his whole life, from cooking in the kitchen with his mother, working as a dish washer, managing local restaurants, and finally owning his own food truck. Kalani has had many years to master his creative cuisine.Kalani uses a large butchers knife and tongs to slice up his teriyaki beef while it’s hot on the grill. He says, although it may seem like he is just playing with his food, he knows exactly what to look for to cook the meat to perfection. The texture, sizzle, and color of the meat indicates when it’s ready to eat.Kalani serves up a steaming-hot plate of one of his “fan favorites”, the spice pork with yakisoba noodles. He adds a final garnish of green onions before handing it off to one of his regular customers. Kalani makes every meal “to-order,” unless it’s one of the most popular items which are always kept fresh and ready on demand.Janise Biehler (back), Kalani’s family friend and loyal employee of 15 years, watches as the finishing touches are added to a plate for one of their frequenting customers. Besides Dale’s son periodically helping at the food truck, Janise is Kalani’s only other employee. The two handle all the orders together, serving huge lunch rushes and busy catering events. Kalani says Janise is like the sister he never had.
