365 Inspirations—325: Kona Kitchen Restaurant in Seattle Opened by Former Karate Kid II Actor

Mr. Myagi: "Trust the picture." 
Daniel: "How do I know if my picture is the right one?" Mr. Myagi: "If it comes from inside you, always right one."

We are creatures of habit, but it's so exciting to step out of our tiny box and enter another realm right in the neighborhood. Perhaps Hawaii is following us around. A few days ago, we flew from the Big Island and landed in the black hole known as Seattle, with sideways wind and pouring rain. I was NOT happy to be back to this and almost got on the next plane back to the land of aloha.

But Aloha decided to pay us a visit instead. I find it a little serendipitous to now have a few days of absolutely no clouds and SUN! Not only that, but we discovered the Kona Kitchen today, only minutes from Greenlake, where we walked this morning.

On a whim, I googled Hawaiian food on my phone and found that there was a restaurant very close to us.

"Let's go!" I said to  my husband.

I wanted to taste the island again. I wanted a little piece of it in my neighborhood.

And there it was. Kona Kitchen in all its glory and it's not a new restaurant at all.

This little place, which serves Kona beer (liquid Aloha, as they call it), musabi (spam sushi), Kalua pork and cabbage with rice and mac salad and many other Hawaiian favorites, has been in Seattle for over 13 years!

On the walls were lots of old Hawaiian memorabilia, a surf board, fake palm trees, old movie posters AND, get this:

The owner, Yuji Okumoto, was a star in Karate Kid II opposite Ralph Macchio. He played the no-mercy Chozen. He even has an action figure of himself still in the box. Originally from LA, Okumoto moved to Seattle because his wife is from this area and they decided to settle down here with their daughter. Okumoto has relatives in Hawaii and has always wanted to open a Hawaiian restaurant.

I found the place to be very Hawaiian and a bit kitschy. Its slight tackiness makes it cool and it's a really mellow place to hang out.

 They serve Kona coffee in various Hawaiian mugs that don't match. It would be great for a party as there is plenty of space and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and have a full bar. They even do catering.

I had lilikoi juice, Yoon had a Kona beer and we both got the Kalua pork and cabbage plate.We also shared a spam musabi.

The food was great and the prices are very reasonable. We will be back!

Have you ever discovered a new place right in your neighborhood or city that you did not know existed?

365 Inspirations—202: Kalbi Barbecue at Home with Friends

Yoon barbecuing Korean kalbi for friends

"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."—Harriet Van Horne

We have this nice gas barbecue that my parents gave us when they moved. It's their old one, but it's new for us. For several summers it's just been sitting on the side of our house with an empty propane tank below it. It gathered leaves and dirt and spiders and other critters. I wasn't even sure the thing worked.

We had planned to have a dinner party with a couple friends and the weather has been so nice, I wanted to barbecue kalbi, a Korean specialty. I've never cooked kalbi on the barbecue and I've never used a gas barbecue at any place I've ever lived.

Yet, I was determined today. I googled where to fill my propane tank and found that a U-Haul up the street had a refilling station. On the way to the station, I stopped by the Korean supermarket and picked up kalbi, Korean potato salad, chap chae (Korean noodle dish) and kimchi. What's a Korean dinner without kimchi? I also bought lettuce and garlic to make kalbi wraps.

When I got home, Yoon hooked up the grill to the propane and we crossed our fingers to see if it would actually start. It did and I was so excited. Not only were we going to have our very first gas barbecue meal at home, but we were cooking Korean food for friends. This was a real treat!

I'm happy that I didn't just decide to bake something instead. A little effort went a long way and we had a very memorable dinner with friends!

Do you like to barbecue in the summer for friends?

365 Inspirations—173: Cabin Fever and a Book Winner

Sunset at cabin tonight!

"A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul and that I am sure is why he does it.”—Roald Dahl

Day 4 of my solo retreat. I may have cabin fever.

What are the symptoms exactly? An insatiable desire to go out for sushi and to the movies?

Tofu and broccoli are getting a little boring. I was determined to only eat what I brought, which are mostly fruits and vegetables and those are starting to run low. I do have eggs and my juicer. Doing lots of juicing and feel quite healthy, but I'm salivating thinking of all the food I can't wait to eat when I get back to the big city.

In Korea Town in NYC while on book tour. Delish!

At the same time, there's a deep peace I feel out here.

Today I went swimming. How could I hunker down in the dining room when it was 72 degrees and sunny outside? That's a rarity in these parts.

I opened up the storage and took out an air mattress, got my suit on, slathered on the suntan lotion, got my book, towel and a drink and headed to the end of the dock.

Within minutes I was out on open waters on my air mattress with my drink and suntan lotion in the cup holder. I paddled out to the center of the lake, let my feet hang over the edge and my arms fall loosely at my sides and just closed my eyes.

The cool water on my feet and hands felt so relaxing and the sun on my face and body was soothing. I let the wind decide where I would go. The gentle movement of my mattress on the water practically put me to sleep. I woke up and saw sparrows glide across the surface of the lake. Frogs croaked in the distance. I heard the laughter of children and the talk of grown-ups enjoying the weekend along the shore, yet I was in my own little paradise connected and protected by the natural world out there in the middle—part of the deep blue below and above. I could have stayed there forever.

Back at the house, I threw my air mattress up on the dock and sank down into the cool water. It was buoyant and I could see the bottom clearly. The sun on the water made it sparkle like diamonds. I swam and swam with broad breast strokes. I was nearly in the middle of the lake by the time I decided to turn back. I kept even strokes and an even breath and swam calmly back.

I sat up on the dock and read my book. I did NOT want to go back inside to write. I sat out there until nearly 4pm. Perhaps I needed a break.

My mother suggested I turn on the TV and watch a few episodes of HGTV or a movie on Netflix. I think she could sense my cabin fever. She said, "Why don't you go into town and get yourself some real food." It was tempting. I haven't gone out or watched anything besides the sunset and the moon since I got here.

By the way, the sunset was absolutely amazing tonight. I sat at the end of the dock and watched it until there was nothing left of it.


I'm keeping my plans loose, but I may leave on Wednesday. Three more full days to work on things should be enough. That will be one entire week out here.  Let's see how my cabin fever goes.....

Okay, and on another note, I have a winner for Torre De Roche's book Love with a Chance of Drowning. I know I said I'd announce it on my blog a few Fridays ago, but life caught up with me and I got off track on many things I thought I'd do. Now I'm finally catching up! Phew!

I sat down at the dining room table with all the names of people who had left a comment on this post that they were interested in a book and I pulled Karen Cafarella's name out of the bag!

Karen, you are the winner of Love with a Chance of Drowning. I'll be contacting you soon!

Now a question for you all.....

Have you ever had cabin fever?

365 Inspirations—Seven: Korean Cuisine

"I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can give."
Julia Child 

 In this world of fast-food and FAST everything for that matter, I really appreciate and am inspired by the Korean cuisine. Nothing is fast about making Korean food. There are no drive-thru windows that I know of offering this cuisine.

Fortunately, I live in Seattle, which is abundant with ethnic food from all over the world and up in North Seattle, where I live, Korean food is everywhere! This was a blessing we did not know we'd find when my Korean husband and I arrived at our house in Seattle in 2006 after spending nearly a decade in Asia.

Within a mile or so of our house, I can count a dozen Korean restaurants offering various dishes. We even have a Korean spa and norebang (singing room) not too far away. Needless to say, my husband feels right at home here.

I wish I could tell you that after living in Korean and marrying a Korean man, I've mastered the Korean cuisine, but I haven't. Not really.

The thing about Korean food is it often includes many side dishes. Making the side dishes alone would take several days. Then you have the main dish and often you have a soup.

I can make various soups and a few rice dishes, (dol sot bi bim bap, duk mandu guk, kimchi jigae, daeng jang jigae, etc.) but I'm not sure how tasty they are and I don't have copious amounts of time to make all the intricate little side dishes! In fact, that's probably one part of the Korean cuisine that's gotten faster to prepare because many people pick up already prepared side dishes in Korean supermarkets.

Above is a picture of a dish called Duk Mandu Guk (Rice Cake and Dumpling Soup). Many Koreans eat this dish on New Year's Day. Since we have so many excellent Korean restaurants right next to our home, we go out for Korean food a lot. I hope to try and prepare more Korean food at home this year, but I may cheat and buy the little side dishes to make my life easier.

What is your favorite cuisine? Do you like to prepare it at home or go out to eat?