Archive December 2009
Sobahn
“Tell Jeff there is a new Korean restaurant and I really need to take him there.” That was the message that my friend and Korean brother Sam left with my assistant Emily.
Sam has introduced me to several Korean culinary experiences, so I knew we were in for a real treat. Besides, I always love to spend time with Sam and Helen. Sam and I did the Directions study together a couple of years ago and became fast friends. The problem was my crazy schedule. Emily worked for several weeks to find a time that would work.
Tonight was the night and Sobahn was the place, a relatively new Korean restaurant at 7800 Shawnee Mission Parkway in Overland Park. It wasn’t hard to find the restaurant in a strip center not far west of Metcalf. As we pulled in I could see Sam looking out the window watching for us.
Exchanging greetings and walking to our table, I saw that we had the place to ourselves. A quick look around revealed a very different setting, an atmosphere that was very traditional, elegant, yet rustic at the same time. Does that make sense? I later found out that the owners brought back the unique tables, chairs, dishes and other supplies directly from China and Korea. The tables and chairs are made from 100 year old hardwoods that feel incredibly substantial. It was apparent this was no strip center “all-you-can-eat” oriental buffet.The owners describe their fare as traditional Korean with fusion flare.
“I told the lady we didn’t want anything off the menu. She is fixing us a very traditional Korean meal of her choosing. I don’t even know what she is going to give us,” Sam said as we settled into our seats. Other non-Korean dinners would come in before we finished our meal, but you could tell that this was a place where Koreans would feel at home. A large private dinning area that can be rented out for parties could be seen from where we sat and included some very traditional Korean type seating that reminded me of a restaurant I once ate at in Korea.
A very pleasant Korean server graciously explained our food items as she brought them. Stacks of elegant dishes were on our table and a clean plate would be used for each of the courses to follow. We began with a bowl of pumpkin soup and chased that with a delicious Korean salad. The custom-made dishes, metal chopsticks and extreme attention to detail and presentation made an immediate and positive impression.Everything is done with class and understated elegance.
From this point on I am not really sure what we ate and I lost count of the courses. I can only tell you that the blend of tastes and textures was beyond my ability to describe except to say that it was utterly delicious. I found myself surprised and delighted by everything I delicately pushed into my mouth the with very cool sliver chopsticks. There was some meat that was over the top and exploded with flavor in my mouth. And then there was that red snapper they brought out on a platter. It honestly looked like something you would expect to see on the cover of a food magazine. Amazing! I’m not a big fish guy, but as my chopsticks started picking it apart I couldn’t believe how much I was loving it.
“I was embarrassed the last time I took you for Korean food,” Sam told me as they started bringing out the food.
“Well, Sam, you could fool me,” I said. “I thought it was pretty tasty. I obviously don’t know much about Korean food, but I have always enjoyed it when you have ordered for me.”
“Halfway through the meal I had to tell Sam that I now had experienced the difference. The previous meal seemed tasty to me. This one was like an “out-of-the-body” experience. The delicate balance of flavors, the stunningly beautiful presentations, the service, the attention to detail, the understated elegance – can you tell I was impressed?
“Yes, the lady really cooks well,” Sam and Helen agreed. “We heard about this place opening and came here from the very first. We knew immediately that this was great Korean food and we’ve been back every week since. We wish we could come more often. The people are very nice and they are committed Christians, active in their Korean church.”
Much of the conversation with our server was in Korean. Sam and Helen also exchanged greetings with a couple of young Korean women who wandered through from time to time and I assumed that they were family members of “the lady” in the kitchen.
“The lady seems to be a bit worried about people finding them,” Sam remarked, “but we told her not to worry. Once other Koreans discover this place the word will spread quickly and they will be packed out. It just takes time and they have only been open a little more than three months.”
More Korean voices. This time there was a new masculine voice. I looked to see a Korean man approaching our table and Sam became very animated as he spoke. I took it that this must be either a friend who has just walked in or perhaps the owner, “the lady’s” husband.
My eyes began to focus on the figure approaching the table and I could see that he was looking at me with the strangest grin. Who is this? I know him! My mind was racing trying to sort things out. I know this guy!
“Paul!” I exclaimed. “I can’t believe it! It’s really you!”
This man was my dry cleaner for many years. He operated his independent shop near the Blue Ridge Mall (now Wal-Mart) for years. “The lady” now emerged at last from the kitchen, Paul’s wife, the lady who did alterations is now revealed as an extremely talented chef.
“It’s so good to see you both again,” I said shaking hands with a measure of astonishment. “I have often wondered about you and how you were doing.
The two young Korean women from earlier appeared again, Paul’s daughters. Now I recognized them both from when they had filled in on Saturdays or vacations at the dry cleaning establishment.
Paul had sold his shop on doctor’s orders due to some heart issues he was having. I hated saying goodbye to him the last week he was there as he was giving a quick orientation to the new owner. I gave the new guy a try, but it was evident that he was sadly lacking in experience and I bailed out before losing any favorite shirts or jackets.
“The guy couldn’t make his payments,” said Paul, “and I had to take back the business. I’m working mornings again.”
Wow! What great news. In one night I get my dry cleaner back, discover that his wife is a Korean culinary genius and find a wonderful new restaurant. God loves me!
Give Sobahn a try. Don’t worry if you don’t understand the menu. Just ask and they will patiently explain things to you and recommend some accessible dishes for beginners. Oh, and don’t forget to tell them that Sam and Pastor Jeff sent you.
Airplane Etiquette – or Misery in Flight
The Flying Galley Slave Cabin
Since this is holiday travel season and there are many people who will be traveling by air, I thought this might be a good time to provide a needed service to society by identifying ten of the worst violators of airplane etiquette. If you happen to fall into one of more of these categories, please do not take this as a personal attack but merely as a call for you to get a clue and act accordingly.
1. The Backwhacker – potentially one of the most dangerous critters to board a plane. These are folks who board with a 50 pound backpack extending a good three feet to the rear. Rather than take it off, they wear it proudly and ignorantly down the aisle, oblivious to the fact that every time they turn their head they are in danger of decapitating those in aisle seats as they pass.
2. The Absentee Parent – we have all experienced the sound of infants who cry and scream uncontrollably on a flight. It could be their little ears hurt, or perhaps they are just frightened or uncomfortable. As unpleasant as those times may be, most of us understand that this is part of life with an infant. What gets my goat, however, are parents who allow their kids to run up and down the aisle unattended, constantly kick or pound the seat of the person in front of them, or grab hair, ears and other loose body parts of fellow passengers while the parents does and says nothing. Parents who are simultaneously blind, deaf and brainless should probably not be allowed to fly with small children.
3. The Dirty - going casual while flying is one thing; going days without a shower is quite another. Most people (myself included) dress casually on a flight when possible. Casual is not sloppy, indecent or just plain dirty.
4. The Nasty – These people are impossible to satisfy. They were mad at the counter agent when you were in line behind them. They are upset with the flight attendant. They whine and complain about absolutely everything and have not a single positive comment to contribute. Smile? Forget it!
5. The Hyper-socialized – Never met a stranger! Never met a person they weren’t convinced would be fascinated with the most mundane details of their lives. Not only do they want to carry on a conversation, they are obsessed with wanting to completely sync with you so that by the time the flight touches down you have not missed a single detail of their absolutely boring and insignificant lives.
6. The Loud Mouth – a variation of the hyper-socialized. They have all the characteristics of the former except they speak and project in a voice loud enough that no one for five rows all around can possibly miss a word even with noise-canceling headphones firmly in place. They never stop talking and they never lower their voice a single decibel.
7. The Clueless - everyone has to take their first flight sometime. Why does it have to be on my flight, and why do they have to be in front of me in line? Or, maybe they fly every month and are just slow learners. In the security line, they don’t know they are to put all creams, liquids and gels in a plastic, quart-sized, zip-lock bag and take it out. They don’t know they are supposed to take out their laptop, take off their shoes and put their overcoat in the tray. They also don’t know they are supposed to take change, cell phones and car keys out of their pockets. They are amazed that there are no exceptions to these rules, even for them. And for some reason they want to engage the TSA agent in conversation about the weather and their kid’s high school football game while going through the metal detector for the third time. Just wait until they board the plane and try to find their seat!
8. The Seat-Floppers – You are trying to finish up a few lines on a legal pad or note card when the 350lb. individual in front of you decides to flop down in the seat attached to your tray. Such people do not sit down; they flop down, flop being the verb that combines the actions of fall, slop, drop and collapse. No sooner have they flopped into the seat vertically, they now horizontally flop it backwards into your lap, so close you could easily give them a shampoo. There they remain until the flight attendant finally taps them on the final pass before takeoff to raise their seat back to the full, vertical upright position. As soon as the aircraft wheels separate from the tarmac, they are back in your lap, seemingly unaware that their seat is connected to the rest of the aircraft.
9. The Seat-Springers - This is a variation on the Seat-Flopper. They tend to be elderly, but not necessarily limited to this demographic. These folks, also unaware that seat backs are connected to the other parts of the plane, grip the back of the seat as they pass by on the aisle, or as they get up out their own seat. Their weight pulls your own seat back down until they decide to release it, at which point your seat back springs back up launching your head like a smooth stone out a sling. abruptly ending your nap.
10. The Throne Sitters – You have been nervously wondering who would occupy that middle seat next to you, visibly relieved as each double-wide individual passes your row and heads further back. Finally, a thin, petite person asks permission to slip into that middle seat. You thank God for his mercy, thinking that you have escaped. Then, you suddenly realize that a throne sitter has arrived. Size matters not as your neighbor sits back razor-straight in the seat and thrusts his or her elbows out to each side as though a monarch sitting on a gilded throne. It is as if that person is determined to punish the window and aisle individuals on either side for being so fortunate as to have avoided the dreaded middle seat. They are determined that the elbow of the person on either side will never make contact with even a square inch of the arm rest from takeoff to touchdown.
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. There are only the flight monsters that come to mind from my most recent flight. I have confidence in you that you can add to the list. Let me hear from you!