Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The start of something new...



Ta-dah! I'm light, fluffy, and oh-so tasty!



Just before entering the steam bath.


The start of something new...

The Mechanical Pig first came to my fiance and I as a business concept one day when I came home to find him sulking on our couch. He had been handed a layoff notice only a few weeks earlier and the job market was not looking so good for mechanical engineers. Apparently, several other companies, including Boeing, Lockheed, and Nummi were also laying off MEs and there would soon be an influx of MEs and nowhere for them to go. He told me that he was very uncertain about the future and didn't know what to do next.

I asked him, "What would make you happy? I mean, what do you want to do--and I mean REALLY want to do?"

I remembered our previous discussions about opening a cafe or a restaurant. We had a shared passion for cooking and food and also spoke about working in a kitchen together one day. After a moment of pause, an idea came to mind.

I piped, "How about an Asian Fusion restaurant?! I could pull recipes from my childhood, including things I cook at home and other things my mom cooks at her restaurant."

I had grown up in a tiny Chinese take-out restaurant and yearned to return to those days in the kitchen. I knew that someday I would open my own place, but vowed to make it a creative space.

"Nah, I don't really want to do a restaurant like that," he said. "I want to do bbq food. I want to open a roadside bbq place."

"Well then," I replied. "How about we do bbq with an Asian twist?"

He seemed to perk up at the idea.

"Ooh...we can name it The Mechanical Pig!! ," I said. "You know, because you're a mechanical engineer and it'll be all about cooking and eating pork in its tastiest forms--braised, grilled, smoked..."

"YES, that sounds awesome!!!"

And so began The Mechanical Pig and our bbq pork bun trials...

2 comments:

  1. Jerry and fiance (my name is Taylor, nice to meet you), my eyes just got so teary. This is going to be the start of a beautiful journey you guys.

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  2. Hi Taylor! Thanks so much for your comments. You know, the journey is the best part because even if we fail miserably (which we very likely may), we at least had a great time doing it and memories to last a lifetime. :)

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