Poke, once thought of like a pupu or appetizer, is now commonly eaten as a meal in the form of a Poke bowl—generally fresh tuna on a bed of hot, steamed rice, or on a crisp salad.
Want a quick, delicious meal full of nourishing variety? Tired of the same old, same old? Come to Uptown Kingston and you’ll find colorful, expertly prepared poke bowls at First Capital Poke Bar, where you can build your own concoction from a long list of top-notch ingredients, or try one of the house Signature Bowls
Poke is, in the words of proprietor Max Glausen, “a traditional Hawaiian dish made of fresh fish, limu (seaweed), inamona or kukui nut (candlenut) and sea salt. From its original form, Poke has evolved into a local ‘must have’ at every social event, celebration or gathering. Poke, once thought of like a pupu or appetizer, is now commonly eaten as a meal in the form of a Poke bowl—fresh Poke on a bed of hot, steamed rice, or on a fresh, crisp salad.”s
Watching his mom cook and asking endless questions was a big part of Glausen’s childhood in Bedford County, Virginia; despite that upbringing, by the time he turned 14 he thought he’d probably want to become a marine biologist. Instead, he found himself on Long Island washing dishes at the Cull House in Sayville, and by 15, he was promoted to line cook. After high school graduation, he interned at David Burke Kitchen in SoHo and then, back on Long Island, under chef Anthony Robertucci. It was through Robertucci that he met sushi master Makio Idesako.
In 2013, Glausen enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park; in August of that year, Idesako asked him to help open a Hudson Valley restaurant, SushiMakio in Kingston. “It was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss,” he says. “There was something enticing about this cuisine that was not as well known to most people around. I knew I could cook Italian, French, or New England cuisine, but this was something challenging and it really caught my imagination.”
While working full time at SushiMakio, he finished up his associate’s degree at the CIA, where he’d eventually return for a bachelor’s degree in business management with a concentration in Asian cuisine. To deepen his understanding, he spent a semester at the CIA’s satellite campus in Singapore, falling ever more in love with Asian flavor.
“I spent $2,000 on my first Japanese knife set,” he says. “And I decided to spend the first two weeks of my first overseas journey in Japan, learning more about the culture and cuisine I’d become so infatuated with.” In Singapore, “a melting pot for culture from all over the world—there were mosques down the street from synagogues, there were foods you’d be hardpressed to recreate in the States,” he says. Glausen soaked all of that up while studying the cuisines of Japan, China, and Korea along with the pan-Asian influences of the spice trade and the Silk Road on the region’s tastes. Back home, he received his BA in 2016, still working full time at SushiMakio.
“There was something enticing about cuisine that was not as well known to most people. I knew I could cook Italian, French, or New England cuisine, but this was something challenging and it really caught my imagination.” – Proprietor, Max Glausen
There he met fellow CIA student Joe Geurrero, a native of the Polynesian island of Saipan. Geurrero had lived in Hawaii and cooked Japanese cuisine there for a time.
“There were some things that I taught him, but a lot more that he taught me,” says Glausen. “We wound up being roommates for a good part of a year. Hawaiian Poke was starting to trend, and I showed him a video that I saw online where the sauce they were using on this ground fish was mayo-based. He said ‘Bruh, that’s not Poke.’ He then proceeded to collect a few ingredients (soy sauce, wasabi, grated ginger, and sesame oil) to make a simple vinaigrette. He then took large cubes of fish, mostly yellowtail or tuna, tossed them in the vinaigrette, and served it over a bed of daikon with scallions as a garnish. It was simple, savory…the perfect bite.”
In spring 2017, he won a scholarship funded by the Japanese Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, and spent another nine months in Japan, starting with three weeks of language school and five weeks of culinary school before interning at Ginza Sushi-Ko Honten, the second-oldest sushi restaurant in Ginza, where Michelin-starred chef Masa Takayama was trained. “They asked me to stay at the end, but I had already made a commitment to Makio-San,” says Glausen.
Returning to SushiMakio in March 2018 as executive chef, he helped his mentor grow the business while simmering a plan for a place of his own one day. His dream was to open an Izakaya, a Japanese pub; he’d grown very fond of them living in Japan, and felt that Kingston deserved a good one. A pop-up version at the Stockade Tavern was a big hit in February 2020.
First Capital Poke opened its doors in October 2020—amid the shifting and volatile pandemic regulations—and was popular from the start.
One month later, of course, COVID devastated the restaurant world. SushiMakio shut down for three months; Glausen helped his boss reopen, navigating the paperwork for pandemic PPP loans.
Having tried a couple of Poke bars in Albany and believing he could do better (“cocky attitude,” he now reflects) he formed his business in July 2020 with $25,000 in startup funding. “I learned very quickly that being an owner-operator was no cake walk,” he says. “It took two months working night and day to renovate and clean the old Wildebeest space while maintaining my job at SushiMakio.” First Capital Poke opened its doors on October 10, 2020—amid the shifting and volatile pandemic regulations—and was popular from the start. “Through 2021, business continued to grow as we developed more snack menu items and rice balls,” he says. “My sister, Annie, joined the team to help, eventually becoming general manager.”
In October 2022, he made the momentous decision to leave his job at Sushi- Makio. “And in November, we added the ramen portion of our concept, which led to a dramatic increase in overall sales.” Clearly, New York’s first capital was ready for the bright, clean flavors of the cuisine that had won his heart. Follow First Capital Poke Bar on Instagram to be kept advised of the current seasonal specials; there are three each month, repeated each year. And if you’ve never experienced a Japanese-style pub, you’re in for a treat one of these days. “I want to get a wine and beer license,” says Glausen, “so I can start getting people accustomed to fine sake. That way, Kingston will be ready when I finally open my Izakaya concept.”
first cap ital poké bar
310 Wall Street, Kingston
845-514-2801
firstcapitalpokebar.com
