Singharaj is just as humble as Pine Isle appears to be. He grew up in Garland, graduated from Le Cordon Bleu’s former campus in Dallas in 2010 and doesn’t want to brag about having worked at the Dallas location of the fine dining empire Nobu. The only reason he brings it up is because being there is how he got to work on the island Lāna‘i. He trained the staff at Nobu Lāna‘i before being asked to stay in Hawaii, which he did for six years.
“I loved every single moment of it,” he says.
Singharaj first ate the kind of Hawaiian food that inspired Pine Isle at a Lāna‘i takeout joint — a teriyaki burger with kimchi fries.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is my kind of food,’” he says.
Singharaj had poke for the first time in Hawaii and loved it immediately.
Lāna‘i also inspired the restaurant’s name. Much of the island was used for pineapple production for decades in the 20th century, and as such, it was nicknamed Pine Isle or Pineapple Island.
Singharaj eventually moved to Washington around 2016 to open a poke bar before coming back to Texas during the pandemic. That’s when he teamed up with his brother who owns ZAAP Kitchen in Upper Greenville to open more locations of the Lao and Thai food restaurants.
Meanwhile, Singharaj was cooking Hawaiian dishes at home for his wife, Diane Arounyanath, who eventually suggested that they go into business together. That’s how Pine Isle came to be.
“All I ever ask of customers is to come in and try to accept my food the way that it’s supposed to be, versus coming in with an idea of how it’s supposed to be,” Singharaj says. “I’m not trying to win awards. I’m just trying to share a chapter of my life with my hometown because I felt like we had something special to offer.”
Arounyanath already has a full-time job at Bank of America corporate, Singharaj says. For Pine Isle, she manages payroll, human resources and online design. This is the first time she has ever owned a business, so she’s dealt with the stress that comes with her new role, but Singharaj says she has risen to the occasion.
“She’s done a great job, and bless her heart, she’s hung in there. She’s like, ‘OK, babe, I’m ready to retire in five years.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, here we go. A little success and somebody wants to retire,’” he laughs. “But no, she’s been awesome.”
Before, Suite 104 at 2325 Fitzhugh Ave. was Korean coffee shop Tom N Toms, so the space had to be fully renovated to turn it from cafe to kitchen. Since opening in April, Pine Isle hasn’t had trouble finding customers. One video from August on the eatery’s Instagram shows a line of customers extending out of the storefront and wrapped around the corner on Capitol Avenue.
Singharaj recalls Pine Isle being so busy that he felt like he was working on fast forward while jumping around between cooking, packaging food and fixing things.
“I worked every single day for the first four months, and I literally felt it. I felt the growth,” Singharaj says. He compared the ebb and flow of learning to manage the pace before getting slammed again to riding a roller coaster.