Page 2 - Dining Out - Nov 28, 2021

Restaurant Insider with Anne Lee
1
ANNE LEE
speaks with
Island Popper owner
ANDREA TOURNIS-VAGENAS (pictured with pup Deuce)
Photos by
ANTHONY CONSILLIO
T he secret to Hawaii’s most addicting popcorn is the homemade flavors curated by Island Popper owner An-
drea Tournis-Vagenas and her team. Every batch is handcrafted and made to order with non-GMO corn kernels in 100% coconut oil, which makes this popcorn worth waiting for.
Her husband’s job brought them to Hawaii from Chicago, home of the famous Garrett Popcorn Shops.
Missing this gourmet treat,Tournis-Vage- nas wanted to re-create something similar and tested recipes in her kitchen. She bought her truck “Poppy” on Craigslist, and in 2012, Island Popper was born, making its way to farmers markets and events. In 2019, the first retail store opened in July, and it’s been popping away ever since.
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With Christmas fast approaching, I was able to sample some of the favorite flavors and the new holiday flavor, Gingerbread Ha- zelnut Cocoa, available for the entire month of December.
AL: What type of feedback are you hearing from your customers?
ATV: Many people comment on how fresh and flavorful the popcorn is. We make each batch to order. It’s superior quality prod- ucts — we bag it here while you wait. That is something that they are not used to. New customers, especially, expect to grab some- thing and go, and on a busy day, there can be a 10- to 15-minute wait. An alternative that we do offer and encourage is to order ahead by phone 808-888-0101 or online at
islandpopper.net, and we can bring it out to you curbside. If you know that you need it on a certain day, I highly encourage you to order well in advance, especially for the holidays.
AL: There are two websites for Island Pop- per. Can you tell me the difference? ATV: The website to use is islandpopper. com when placing an order to be shipped, and shipping is included in the price that you see.We take care of everything, and you can even add a personalized message.We even get a lot of local orders that want it shipped within Oahu.
To ensure that your order gets to the main- land in time for Christmas, we encourage that you place your order by Dec. 10 to be safe. We will have an influx of orders and want to
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Dining Out
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