Last year, the pandemic forced Jason and Joslyn Lee, like others, to pivot. The difference is that the Lees did so by moving from San Francisco to Hawaii.

“We sold our brick-and-mortar California restaurant and were in the process of opening another restaurant, but had a lot of issues come up during the pandemic,” Joslyn says. “We chose to make our restaurant into a food truck and bring food to Hawaii.”

That’s how JOJA — a mashup of their names — was born.

Joslyn describes the truck’s cuisine as “Italian-style fresh pastas and flavorful dishes with an Asian influence.”

Among the menu’s popular items is the gnocchi mushroom ($16), comprising fresh, fluffy gnocchi pasta with triple mushroom white sauce, a drizzle of balsamic reduction, fresh basil and shaved Parmesan.

The breakfast carbonara ($16), which features crispy pancetta with egg and Parmesan cheese sauce that’s tossed with rigatoni and topped with cracked pepper, green onions and shaved Parmesan, is also popular.

“The pancetta pairs well with the egg yolk and Parmesan, combining to make a rich, flavorful sauce,” Joslyn says.

Adding a creative twist to the lineup is the truffle poke ($18), made with bigeye tuna, half an avocado, scallions, ginger, sesame seeds and housemade truffle sauce.

“It has a richness of an aioli base-style poke, but done with a shoyu base to create a luxuriously addictive umami flavor,” Joslyn explains.

JOJA’s black truck visits four locations every week: Kaiser farmers market from 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays; Cooke Street near Kapiolani Boulevard from 11:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays; Kakaako farmers market on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon; and Kailua farmers market at Pali Lanes on Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon.

JOJA
Various locations
jojahawaii.com
Instagram: @joja.hawaii
How to pay: Cash, credit cards and Apple Pay
How to order: Preorders available with $75 minimum order; email 808joja@gmail.com