Painted Canvas

Painted over the previously aqua-gold to a more neutral and versatile aqua-cream. Looking good!

Holiday Photos

       My late father always emphasized on the importance of giving and using your talent to inspire joy in hearts of others, and to honor him and his deep love I had an idea as the season for gratitude and giving starts. During the month of November, I want to do a limited number of shoots and donate to Tewassa. Tewassa Boston is a long-term volunteer project that supports victims of the triple disaster back in 2011. After the news stop reporting on them, the victims of natural disasters don't just resume their lives as they knew it before. The path to rebuild and normalize what's happened is long and impossible for some, who have lost everything and everyone they loved.

        Tewassa started as a way for the restless Japanese living in Boston to send their love to evacuated victims by sending crafted quilts. Like my father crafting food with all his heart and soul for each and every customer, these volunteers pour their deep love into the quilts which would hopefully warmth the hearts of those in Japan. The volunteers "bring hearts together" by meeting to sew the quilts every Month at Tufts and educating children about the disaster and recovery efforts. By working together with children, the hope is to raise the next generation with skills and knowledge to help in future situations. They fund the quilt projects by doing demonstrations and selling handcrafted goods and donations. Even if you can't do the shoots, please consider instead giving a donation to Tewassa. No amount is too small!

Kaori Zinke Becker - Cook, Teacher, Woman!

 

Kaori is an English teacher and cooking instructor currently residing in Columbus, OH. She and I have been one of closest of friends for 22 years and I'm thrilled to have been able to photograph her! She's grown to become a beautiful woman inside and out, excited about life - especially of one involving food. She has lead classes at Franklin Park Conservatory, Wild Goose Creative and Seasoned Farmhouse.

For this shoot, we decided to do three looks - First is a personal branding for her blog Kaori Cooks. We made cake and buckeyes that day and incorporated them into the shoot. Second is her as the English teacher and bookworm (Silly photo coming in the future!), and final series you see here is the celebration of herself as a woman. You don't need any more reason than that to have portraits made. Every stage of your life is worth celebrating and recording for the future.

More from the shoot in the gallery. You can visit her at Kaori Cooks for recipes like this comforting Chicken Soup and soon this gorgeous artisan bread!

Photo by Kaori on her Instagram. The prettiest loaf I ever did see...

Momo

It's right about the 7 month mark since Dad passed away, and well over a year since Ciku. I've been searching for another dog for a while, visiting numerous New England shelters and browsing PetFinder. Waiting for the "right time", the "right dog". Finally during a short vacation I figured now is a good time as any other, and after losing 2 family members and another half-way there this year (hang in there Coco!), I thought it be good to shift from the gloom and get a pup.

Ciku came from the shelter pretty much a perfectly mild-mannered 2 year old - housebroken, heeded basic commands, and very gentle. She was funny, cute, and truly empathetic. I tried convincing myself every dog I will ever get in the future will be a disappointment. But dang it I had to change that if I ever wanted another pet. Why I chose to go with a puppy I don't really know. I understand they are a heck of a lot of work whereas a grown dog would at least be house-trained. Maybe it's due to wanting my Mom to have something to take care of, taking her mind off the stresses of the business and not having Dad.

Enter Momo Takahashi. Formerly known as Ginger, this Miniature Australian Shepherd renamed the Japanese version of "Peaches", hails from Dakota Toy Aussies and the breeder Jodi, a wonderful woman passionate about raising quality Aussies in her South Dakota home. I inquired about a couple of available dogs and she told me about Ginger, who I felt "this is it". Some may argue that I should've gotten a rescue. But I support responsible breeding too, and at this time chose to go with a that route, which is still so much better than pet shop animals and puppy mill dogs.

Momo's been with my family two full days now. First, she was so shy and scared, trembling non-stop. Saturday she was more curious, socializing with artists and their fans at MICE Expo 2015 in Porter Square (More on that in another post!), and today she was so playful, running around us like crazy and seemingly inexhaustible prancing in the leave piles of New Hampshire...and then when you pick her up she falls asleep almost instantly. Oh..my goodness. And so funny the way she seems to jump around like a little fawn. I was already not crazy about wanting human babies. Sorry Mom, this is really making me want to dedicate my life into being surrounded by just animals.

Went crazy preparing for her arrival - shopping for bully sticks and grain-free dog food, watching Cesar Millan videos, google imaging "mini aussie puppies" and aww-ing at its results multiple times a day...generally thinking "puppies, puppies, puppies" 24 hours a day. But when she arrived in that little crate at the United cargo facility, I forgot everything and just wanted to cuddle her forever.

Ok, this post isn't making any point or much sense, especially because my brain power is functioning at half power from lack of quality sleep. Originally was going to make a series of posts on preparing for a puppy and chronicling her growing up and training since I couldn't find much resources on people's experiences, but it was driven by my obsessive and excited pre-puppy delivery energy which I've lost since getting my heart melted into mush Friday night. Would still like to write next about my experience on searching for and getting a breeder puppy, as a reference to those thinking about getting one in the future, but for now, look at these photos of Momo from our trip to NH and say AWWWW!

Photos by Mike Lee

Tomomi

I recently had the pleasure of photographing this bright and happy senior. Tomomi loves caring for children and hopes to study in Boston to become a professional midwife. She was an absolute natural in front of the camera and I had such a great time working with her!

Pop-Up

Sunday September 13 at our restaurant Hana Japan in Newburyport. We're renting out the place to do a pop-up, with the tentative menu below. The Miso Pork is sooo sooooooo good and will be on the final menu for sure.

Pop-Up is Coming

We have a pop-up happening at the end of this month. Possibly. It was supposed to be this weekend but we were are so unprepared it's pushed to the next available Sunday. Decided to stick to my original idea and do simple dishes, executed well. I decided to toss out the 18-course tasting menu and do a prix fixe with 10 dishes. The past month of planning and re-planning the menu was taking me nowhere. Without noticing it at first, I was being guided by fear again. Fear that it would bore the foodie folk. It's impossible to please everyone and I need to do what feels right to me. You do you, I do me.

It's going to be prix fixe. No artisan craft this or other micro gastronomical what-nots, at least not for now. Eventually, it would be awesome to work with local foragers and get some fresh matsutake or jellify things that aren't naturally jello-ed. But for now I want the dishes to speak fresh, subtle, lingering.

My decision was reaffirmed when Julius (a family friend, mentor, and amazing sous chef of Myopia Hunt Club who will probably be mentioned here a lot) came over to cook lunch for our restaurant family. A week before, he brought in huge brick of ribeye from Fowles. The thing was legit 4 inches thick!

 Seasoned with just salt and pepper! Should've done a size comparison to my fist (which would be dwarfed by this monster). This thing could fill 2/3 of that saucepan on the right in terms of height

 The ribeye, I thought it couldn't be med-rare. Half of it is going to be too well-done and tough. But he did it! Grilled first, being careful to not touch it at all aside from turning and shifting when necessary, and finishing it in the pan w/ oil (we didn't have butter). With the fond, he made gravy and brightened it up w/ a dash of fresh lemon juice. Finishing it with a layer of pepper jelly, it was hands down the best steak I had ever had in my life.

This week he made watermelon-octopus salad with feta and lemon vinaigrette, sausage and brussel sprout pasta, and roasted then fried chicken wings

No, I don't know the exact recipes for these guys and can't post them, but I'll say that I remember thinking, "What...that's it? Where are all the other seasonings‽". But because he understands food and techniques, he really brought out the personality of each ingredient so damn well. And he told me, "It's not about shocking the tasters with strong flavor that disappears right away. You want it to be subtle, and linger, so they want to take another bite, and another to explore the tastes and textures." It becomes an experience.

I'm more sure now that I'm on the right track, and can't wait to get back in the kitchen tomorrow!