Uncle's Hawaiian restaurant to open in Fallston Village Center, now fully leased

A Hawaiian restaurant run by a chef who competed on several Food Network shows is set to be the latest attraction at the Fallston Village Center, which is fully leased.Uncle's Hawaiian Grindz will offer &quot;food, drink [and] aloha&quot; in a space at the 86,000-square-foot shopping center, formerly known as Fallston Mall, at the southeast corner of Routes 1 and 152. The restaurant is expected to open in the early fall.The executive chef at Uncle's will be Kaimana Chee, who was a winner on the Food Network's &quot;Cutthroat Kitchen&quot; in January and a runner-up on &quot;Guy's Grocery Games&quot; last year. He also got up close and personal with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay when he competed on &quot;Master Chef&quot; in 2012.&quot;My plan is to bring not only the food influence or the different types of food from Hawaii to Harford County, but also a taste of the culture and sort of the 'aloha' spirit,&quot; Chee said in a phone interview. &quot;Especially in these times, it's just a spirit of caring for one another, being kind, embracing people, being open and sharing a little bit of each other with you.&quot;Chee, 38, has run Kaimana's Katering in Silver Spring since 2008. Although born and raised in Hawaii, he is also ethnically part Samoan, Chinese and English. He said he hopes to bring that &quot;melting pot of food cultures&quot; to Fallston.He hopes to introduce Harford County to Hawaiian staples like &quot;poke,&quot; which features seared ahi tuna marinated in Asian spices, as well as Hawaiian-style pulled pork, pork wrapped in banana leaves and dishes that are a &quot;modern fusion&quot; of traditional food.&quot;Uncle&quot; is a Hawaiian term for any local elder, and &quot;grindz&quot; is a Hawaiian term for good food, Kosmas &quot;Tommie&quot; Koukoulis noted.Koukoulis, a 2002 Fallston High graduate and Fallston resident, will be the principal owner of Uncle's, and another Fallston resident, Jeffrey Cowart, is an investor. Koukoulis has overseen Cafe Mezzanotte in Severna Park for the past eight years.Mezzanotte is an &quot;upscale Italian restaurant, which allows me to work with really high-end ingredients,&quot; Koukoulis said. Although Uncle's will not offer organic ingredients, it will have a locally-sourced menu with information about local farms that will provide the restaurant's ingredients.He wants Uncle's to be a &quot;casual, full-dining restaurant and bar,&quot; with eight craft beers on tap – half Hawaiian and half Maryland – as well as 25 wines.&quot;The feel itself is inspired by the North Shore of Hawaii, and that is really 'surfer meets farmer,'&quot; Koukoulis explained.The restaurant will have 125 seats, with a 35-person private room, a 50-seat bar and an outdoor dining area, facing the courtyard of the former Fallston Mall, with 50 seats. He has applied for a beer, wine and liquor license in Harford County.&quot;I think Hawaiian food is interesting enough that people will drive for it,&quot; Koukoulis said.The shopping center is in the midst of a $4.5 million renovation, including a $500,000 repaving of the pothole-covered parking lot, Michael Euler Jr. said.Euler, a Fallston resident and prominent Harford County developer, acquired the property last year with two partners.&quot;You needed a four-wheel drive to get into the parking lot,&quot; Euler recalled about the old parking lot, adding jokingly now drivers should &quot;bring your Jaguar.&quot;The shopping center will be anchored by an eight-screen movie theater that is expected to offer beer, wine and liquor. New leases include a second hair salon, an ATI physical therapy business and Smitty's Fine Wine & Spirits, which is relocating from across the street, Euler said.&quot;We are very happy to have a unique concept,&quot; Euler said about Uncle's Hawaiian Grindz. &quot;Everybody I've talked to is excited about it.&quot;

Uncle's Hawaiian restaurant to open in Fallston Village Center, now fully leased

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