Hawaiian-Style Bakery Back From The Dead In Northeast's Grant Park

In mid-June, Dekin and Veth Hom opened Lilikoi Bakery at 1706 NE 32nd Avenue, just off of NE Broadway, bringing traditional Hawaiian-style baked goods, sandwiches, and rice bowls to the Grant Park neighborhood. While the Hawaiian sweet rolls are fresh, the bakery isn't new: It formerly operated as the Lilikoi Café food cart on NE Killingsworth from 2010 to 2012. Dekin shuttered the cart in 2012 to begin baking exclusively for Hale Pele, Blair Reynolds's tiki bar and kitchen.

Now Lilikoi Bakery reemerges to serve egg breakfast sandwiches with kalua pork and lunch bowls of teriyaki beef over rice. Although Dekin has stopped working at Hale Pale, there's a symbiotic relationship at play: Reynolds is an investor in Lilikoi and the bakery continues to make bread for the tiki bar and kitchen.

At Lilikoi Bakery, the baked goods selection changes daily, ranging from Hawaiian sweet rolls and doughnuts to passionfruit cake (lilikoi is Hawaiian for passionfruit). Speaking with Eater by phone today, Veth explained that the bakery's concept stems from Dekin's childhood in Hawaii. Dekin moved to Portland close to 20 years ago, and together, Dekin and Veth are now working toward creating their Hawaiian baked goods for distribution. This is why the bakery's hours are so limited—just 10am-2pm, Monday-Friday.