the theme for the seventh pop up series was an abstract concept—art. from the beauty of my surroundings through living abroad, to the conversations with loved ones and strangers, to the ingredients I am fortunate to work with—everything around us, even the fine details we take for granted, can be considered “art.”

using food as the medium, I created a tasting menu reflecting my relationship with art throughout my life. art is subjective because it’s an expression of ones’ perspective and style.

through this exploration of art, I got to see that we all have ways of expressing ourselves. articulating my thoughts verbally has always been a personal struggle from adolescence until now. but I hope that what I struggle to express in words is conveyed through my “art.”

cuisine · humble beginnings

potato / brown butter

alcoholic pairing:  one year aged umeshu spritzer;

n/a: ume spritzer

starting off with cuisine, I wanted to pay homage to the humble beginnings of my business.  “cuisine” in my opinion, is a form of art.  after all, we eat with our eyes.

if you’ve been with me for some time, then you’ve heard me joke around that I started off this business with absolutely nothing.. to the point where I needed to eat only yukon gold potatoes at the early start of my business.  keep in mind that this was during covid, unemployed, needing to pay rent for commissary space, and moving across the country back to seattle with a few deli containers and some money from a stimulus check.. there’s not many people who’ve really seen how little I had during this time (several months).  I didn’t tell people until many months later after about this.

and without the humble potato, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to express my art in the way I do now.  stemming from a joke with some people, I challenged myself to make a yukon gold potato sorbet.  the powder on top and bottom is brown butter potato skin powder.  topped with maldon.

dance · movement & flow

almond / peach / lemon / white fungus

alcoholic pairing:  populis, sauvignon blanc 2023

n/a: black lime arnold palmer

dance is a beautiful form of movement, flow and lines using the human body.  this form of art wasn't something I could appreciate until much later in life. maybe everyone can relate to a time in your life where you didn't love certain (body) parts of yourself. after all, from a young age, we are judged by peers, which often leads to insecurities.

going out of my comfort zone, 10 years ago, I took up pole fitness, and slowly something shifted within. being non-athletic, I couldn't believe that I could lift my body weight on the pole.  from there, I realized that our bodies are not just beautiful in all it's "imperfections", but it is also incredibly strong.  especially women. what our bodies are capable of, whether its giving birth or the ability for our bodies to heal after an injury, or carrying the weight of internal shame and oversexualization we face in our daily lives.  dance became an appreciation of my own sexuality and physical/mental strength.

inspired by underwater dancing in the sea and the Ophelia painting (Macbeth), I sculpted a body out of clay to create a mould, in order to make the almond milk jelly body.  gold leaf strategically covering the erogenous zones of the naked body, symbolizing the society oversexualizing of the female body. surrounding her is a peach milk punch symbolizing ‘water’ and ‘movement.’ bottom of the bowl is the ‘coral’ in the ‘sea’--lemon compressed white fungus. finished with almond oil on top.

when I decided on this theme, I immediately knew what this dance course would look like. imagining her lying in an "oyster shell" dish, I knew I wanted a ceramic piece that matched my vision for this course. I partnered up with a local artist to create one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces for this pop up.  I didn't want art to just be in the food, because whether we realize it or not, art is everywhere.

music · sweet, bitter

sugar / coconut / mango / passionfruit / chili / black lime

alcoholic pairing:  populis, sauvignon blanc 2023

n/a: black lime arnold palmer

music was one of the most difficult one to conceptualize. after all, music is sound. sound isn't typically visible to the naked eye.  how do you create that intangibility into a dish? I decided to not just bring music notes and sheet music to life, but also demonstrate how music makes us feel. even if we all have different tastes in music, it really is a universal language.  I'm sure everyone can relate to singing our favourite songs in our car.  or maybe even listening to really sad music when you're going through an awful breakup.

I created a dish with two music notes:  one white, one black, each representing an emotion.  the white music note is a pulled sugar ribbon.  the lines on the side inspired by five line pentagram on sheet music.  inside is a caramelized coconut mousse, fresh mango, passionfruit, and a milk meringue powder on top.  sweet, simple, delicious.  I wanted that "sweet" sugar music note to signify "sweetness" and "joy" as music can come from happiness.  

the black music note is made with black lime, commonly used in middle eastern cuisine.  black lime cookie tuile, black lime tea jelly, black lime cremeux, finished with black lime powder.  black lime has a specific profile other than just acidity.  compared to regular lime, black lime has a more bitter and astringent flavour. I wanted to highlight that "bitterness" as music can come from "pain and melancholy."

though each "music note" are delicious on its own, I asked everyone to enjoy them together.  like an orchestra, there are many instruments, each one with the ability to create a beat or melody.  but when they come together, it becomes a symphony. in a way, "sweet" and "bitter" are polar opposites, when you combine them, it harmoniously becomes a different dessert. this "harmony" is represented by the yin yang placement of the two music notes.  

mother nature is a work of art, but it wasn't something I naturally gravitated towards.  I didn't start appreciating the beauty of mother nature until in my early 20s.

it wasn't until 2012, after my degree at Seattle University, I moved to Mimata, Miyazaki, to become an english teacher, did I start to view nature in a different light.  even if I was in the "middle of nowhere", I never felt like I lacked anything.  Mimata was where I learned to eat where my food came from, where I could appreciate the beautiful mountains and rice paddies, and truly made me realize that you don't need a lot to be happy.

since my love and appreciation for nature stemmed from my time in the countryside of Japan, I wanted to recreate autumn in Japan in this asian-inspired, "momiji" dessert.

I created a toasted rye berry mousse, topped with asian pear jelly.  an asian pear and ginger sorbet rested on the right side.  beneath the sorbet were deep fried rye berries seasoned with shiitake mushroom powder, salt and sugar.  finally, the dessert is garnished with nasturtium flowers and "momiji leaf" tuiles made out of sweet potatoes.

it sounds privileged to only start appreciating mother nature when I lived abroad.. and frankly, it really is.  but I'm forever thankful of what my time in Mimata brought me.  it changed me in a profound way, where I realized my actions impacted the environment around me.. and to not take the simple things like nature, for granted.

“to me, fashion is ceaselessly fascinating because it is an expression of self."

Anna Wintour

I wanted to transition from something organic and natural such as nature into a more structured art form like fashion.  as a child, I never really understood the concept of fashion.  the idea of fashion and brand names seemed like a superficial concept in my mind.  I grew up in environments where this defined one's social class and status and I hated it.  after all, why should anyone judge me based off of what I wore?

it wasn't until I moved to Paris to attend pastry school, when viewed fashion in a different light.  within a few days of arriving in Paris, I walked around and took in my surroundings.  through the windows of various clothing shops,  I noticed the nude and white colour tones on the garments. Parisians strolling around wearing trench coats and sweaters with the same neutral tone.  in that moment, a lightbulb went off.  I was being judgmental when I hadn’t given fashion a chance.

what we wear choose to wear daily is a way of expressing our style and individuality.  and it's a way for designers to express their art and style through the garment.  since I moved to Paris toward the start of fall, I picked a beige/brown colour palette for this dish.  inspired by ruffle tulle train of a dress that you see in haute couture runways, I wanted to recreate this ruffled look onto a plate. 

this fifth course is more of a cheese dish, rather than a dessert. the three ruffles are made up of nutty tête de moine cheese, Valrhona's Amatika 46% white chocolate with pepperberry, some floral spicy notes to lift the dish up, and buckwheat gavotte for added crunch. underneath are charred apricots, buckwheat grains, and a two months old fermented hot honey mousse. nothing is more french than cheese, honey, and fruit.

words · dépaysement

salted duck egg / strawberry / rhubarb / foie gras

alcoholic pairing: domaine des hauts baigneux, les moulins rouge 2021

n/a: strawberry pomegranate grog

we finished this menu with this sixth course: words. poetry and literature are forms of art. whether its stories of fiction or even memories brought to life in writing. but words signify something else for me: languages.

growing up listening to various languages around me, I learned early on this linguistic ability was a great privilege not given to many. but it also brought frustration since I couldn't fully articulate my thoughts from one language to another, especially as every language has "untranslatable words." this reinforced that feeling--belonging everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. that's why I kept moving country after country--looking for a place that I could finally call "home."

I decided to bring that feeling to life with the french word: “dépaysement"—a word with no direct english translation. however, the closest definition is the feeling of not being at home and not belonging anywhere. resonating immensely with this feeling my entire life, I decided to create a dessert composed of three different sized puzzle pieces, each individually representing my roots, my nationality, and the cultures I adopted over these 33 years.

the "dé" is an salted duck egg yolk sablé, symbolizing my Taiwanese roots. salted duck egg yolk is often used in Asian pastries. "payse" is a strawberry rhubarb coulis encased in chocolate, signifying my American side since it's a common flavour combination in the states. finally, the "ment" is a foie gras mousse, representing the french culture I adopted from living in Paris.

though visually dissonant, but that doesn't mean they don't belong together. in fact, they work beautifully when combined, and represent the person I am now.

finally, just because there are aspects of some culture that are very different from another, in the end we are all one and the same. maybe we don't all share the same language, but are all human beings who uses our bodies to embrace our loved ones and even express our thoughts into words to the people around us, regardless of our physical and linguistic differences.

and I believe, that in itself, is beautiful work of art.