How did you meet and what led you to start Queens together?
We met in New Jersey in 2009 while working together as teachers in an after school program that Eddo was running. Both of us spent many years working in the eduction space both independently and collectively before moving to San Francisco and starting Queens in 2018. We had no prior experience in the food industry or any sort of formal training, but we felt like there was a unique opportunity to share Korean food and our heritage in a way that was different than through a restaurant.
What was the inspiration behind writing a cookbook? How has the process been?
When we transitioned Queens from a brick and mortar grocery and restaurant to a CPG food brand, we found ourselves having so much more time to cook at home like we used to and falling back in love with being in the kitchen. This reignited an urge to get creative again and is what really inspired us to write Korean Soups. We spent over two years writing and editing the book. Making a cookbook is a lot different than operating a grocery, running a restaurant, or creating a food product. It takes years of testing, editing, and designing until the final copy is complete. It's a slow-burn and you have to be okay knowing that the words, the content, and every photo in the book will live indefinitely.
What are your earliest food memories? Has cooking always been a big part of your lives?
For Clara, food and cooking have always been an integral part of her life, especially time spent in the kitchen learning from her mother, aunt, and grandmother. That tradition is a big part of our lives now as a married couple. Much of our time together revolves around food — from shopping for produce at the farmers markets, creating menus, prepping ingredients, and contemplating the right plateware for the table even if it’s just for us two. We enjoy it all very much.
Queens started as a bespoke home delivery meal service and later evolved into a grocery and restaurant in San Francisco. What Queens product has been a throughline in each of these chapters?
Our baechu kimchi (napa cabbage kimchi) has been a part of the Queens lineup throughout every iteration of the business. The process for making our kimchi is traditional, time-intensive, and laborious, and we’re grateful that so many people continue to be loyal to the product and recognize how special and flavorful it is.
What’s your favorite recipe from the book and why? Does it have a story?
The mukeunji kimchi jjigae is a particularly unique one because it requires aged napa cabbage kimchi as basically the main ingredient. We always allocate some of our kimchi to aging over several months in the fridge just to make this dish, which makes it feel all the more special when you know it relies on time and patience.
What’s one Korean ingredient everyone should have at home in their pantry?
Dwenjang, or Korean fermented soybean paste, is an incredible flavoring ingredient that can be used as a single condiment for seasoning or layering and mixing with others. It has the versatility of salt-cured anchovies. The one we make is fermented with jujubes, which adds a pleasant hint of sweetness.
You often travel and explore new restaurants around the world. How does this influence your cooking?
Something that we’ve learned from dining at some of our favorite restaurants is the art of restraint. Rochelle Canteen in London is a beautiful example of this. It’s run by chef Margot Henderson and her son Hector, who is now head chef. Simplicity is the focus, both in terms of the food and the dining atmosphere. The menu is straightforward and showcases exceptional ingredients from farms and purveyors across the UK and the interior is unadorned, charming and functional.
What are your top 5 favorite restaurants around the world?
Contramar in Mexico City for fresh seafood and a power lunch experience; The French House in London for the life-changing madeleines and their off-the-menu martinis in an old-world setting; Sue Zen in Tokyo for nourishing home cooking that we could eat everyday; Cheongdam Woojeong in Seoul for their insanely delicious preparation of gopchang jeongol (beef intestine stew); and Gadam in Seoul for the best junghwa (Korean-Chinese cuisine).
What does your own table look like on a soup night?
There’s always rice and kimchi on the table if we’re having Korean soup. We like cooking a jeongol (hot pot), like maeun tang (spicy fish stew), on foggy days at home in San Francisco. When it’s cold outside and you want something restorative and warming, it’s deeply satisfying and delicious to sip spoonfuls of piping hot broth, which continues to cook over a portable butane stove. We often finish the meal by making porridge in the same pot with the remaining rice and a handful of crushed roasted seaweed.
In addition to being business partners you are also married and share a home together. What are three words to describe the feeling of home to you?
Kind, generous, and energizing.
What’s next for you guys?
We hope to continue to write more, whether that be for our Substack, Corner, or other creative opportunities like the cookbook and recipes.