Chef Tye Cantrell’s pop-up Hawaiian barbecue supper club began at the crossroads of love and hustle. It was winter and money was tight. The chef decided to spend his day off selling plates of Hawaiian barbecue to buy his wife the new Christmas tree she wanted but couldn’t afford. He sold sixty plates on the spot, enough for the tree and then some.
The enthusiastic response to his pop-up, which he called The Pineapple Express, surprised Cantrell, but maybe it shouldn’t have—after all, he was lovestruck in the same way when he first encountered Hawaiian barbecue years before, while living in Portland. Inspired by the “plate lunch” culture dating back to lunch breaks on nineteenth-century sugarcane and pineapple plantations, Hawaiian barbecue is a fusion cuisine with pan-Asian influences, starring rice, smoked meat, spam, and macaroni salad. Working off taste memory from a years-long obsession with the cuisine, Cantrell kept offering his own taste of the islands via Instagram—and kept watching his supper club sell out every time he did. “No ambiance, no front-of-house . . . a pop-up is all about the food. You get one chance,” Cantrell explains.
He didn’t waste his. When the pandemic arrived, The Pineapple Express grew more successful. Cantrell’s customers were grateful for a chance to enjoy a special meal and the pick-up model felt safe. Word spread. The Pineapple Express popped up at local breweries and parks—easy places for Cantrell’s regulars to pick up their take-out containers. All the while, Cantrell was working full-time as a chef and culinary director at multiple restaurants, using his precious days off to handle all the marketing, managing, and cooking for The Pineapple Express. Nearly three winters later, Cantrell’s hustle has paid far bigger dividends than a Christmas tree. Together with his business partner Taft Wirthlin, Cantrell is planting The Pineapple Express in a Simpsonville brick-and-mortar location in early 2022. Cantrell describes his pop-up as a “side hustle turned love project,” but it’s obvious that love was there right from the start.
Aloha Wagon
Skip the long flight to Hawaii—The Pineapple Express brings Chef Tye Cantrell’s take on a classic, casual Hawaiian barbecue to the Upstate. A permanent location is planned for early 2022, but watch the Instagram account (@the.pineapple.exp) for announcements about limited pop-up events through the end of the year.
