Spotlight: Andrei Soen of Crab Landing
December 17, 2009
Crab Landing, the new seafood hot spot dreamt up by owner Andrei Soen and his team, happens to open at a very fitting time: crab season.
Aptly located in the picturesque coastal town of Half Moon Bay, the restaurant features a diverse fusion menu of all things delectable and fresh from the sea.
Featuring a sparkling Raw Bar complete with oysters on the half shell and chilled bites like Hamachi Carpaccio with a lime-mint vinaigrette, and a poke-inspired Wakame Salmon Tini with spicy diced salmon and cucumber over Japanese seaweed salad, Crab Landing has a menu full of delights for the ultimate seafood lover.
The mouthwatering menu includes weekend brunch, lunch, starters, dinner, desserts and a full cocktail and wine bar. Patrons will relish in the range of classics and new twists, finding anything from steamed Manila clams and Ahi Tuna Poke to a Prawn Mango Salad with sweet chili garlic dressing and Cracked Crab.
Here, Andrei Soen talks a little about his Asian heritage and the influence his background has had on his work and in the creation of Crab Landing.
Socola Sisters and the Chocolate Factory
November 30, 2009
“Notorious H.O.G.,” ”It’s Getting Hot in Hia,” ”Give It To Me Guava”— sound like the names of rap songs, but are actually the clever names of chocolate truffle flavors from Socola Chocolatier. Founded by two Vietnamese American sisters, Wendy and Susan Lieu, Socola Chocolatier is the hippest and newest chocolatier in town.
What makes Socola unique from other high-end chocolatiers is that it has more Asian-influenced flavors, such as jasmine tea and lychee flavored truffles, seasonally. The truffles come in a sweetly packaged box, which has won Socola plaudits for presentation and design at the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon, the largest chocolate show on the West Coast. London Financial Times deems them as one of the “hottest” chocolatiers in California and Diablo Magazine awarded them Best Chocolatier of the East Bay. Currently, Socola sells its chocolates online (www.socolachocolates.com) and in various stores including Whole Foods in San Francisco and Oakland.
Chief Chocolatier Wendy, fondly nicknamed “Wendy Wonka” by her college friends, and Sous-Chef Susan, travel the world to find inspiration for their truffle flavors. When Susan traveled to Cuba as a humanitarian aid worker with Wendy, the two fell in love with the guava jelly that locals used on their toast and “Give It To Me Guava,” a truffle made with a guava pate de fruit layered on a dark chocolate ganache, was born.
Each Socola truffle is handmade with only the finest local and organic ingredients, including dairy products from the award-winning Straus Family Creamery. When it comes to ingredients, the sisters are always looking for the best. “We’re such hedonists,” says Wendy. “We use the best butter, we use the best cream. This is definitely the best chocolate you can have.”
Though the business has been quite successful, the story of the Socola sisters has a humble beginning. Wendy and Susan’s parents grew up in Vietnam but fled the country in 1981 to escape communist repression after the fall of Saigon. They were part of the mass exodus of Vietnamese known as the “Vietnamese Boat People,” who left the country on boats to seek a better future. Wendy, the older sister, was born under these auspices at a refugee camp in Malaysia. Fortunately, the family was eventually sponsored to live in America and they started a new life in the East Bay.
As with most immigrants new to America, life was not easy. The family lived in low-income housing in Emeryville. Initially their father delivered newspapers and their mother was a seamstress. Eventually their mother opened her own nail salon after attending cosmetology school while their father started his own gardening business.
Early on the sisters showed the same entrepreneurial zeal. “We always sold things,” recalls Susan. “We sold friendship bracelets, Girl Scout cookies, wrapping paper, magazines.” It was only natural for the sisters to make and sell chocolate as well.
The chocolate making journey began in 2001 when Wendy was a freshman at UC Davis and Susan was attending high school in Santa Rosa. Wendy decided to try her hand at a simple truffle recipe she found in a gourmet foods magazine. The truffles got rave reviews from friends and family. Soon the Socola sisters were featured on a local radio station and were selling their chocolates at the local farmer’s market.
“In our initial years, we were making it up as we went along,” says Susan. The sisters started off making truffles on their kitchen counter at home. However, after being shutdown for not having an environmental health permit, Socola was forced to move. Luckily, a friend offered up his restaurant’s commercial kitchen for the sisters to use.
Part of Socola’s success has been because the sisters complement each other so well. Wendy, a graduate of UC Davis and pastry school, is mature and has a deep passion for chocolates. Susan, a graduate of Harvard, is spunky and extroverted—someone who does not hesitate to sing and dance during an interview to make a point. Susan takes care of the marketing and sales while Wendy focuses on making the best chocolate truffles.
Though each of the sisters have other activities that occupy their time, Wendy as a consultant and Susan as a Coro Fellow in public affairs, they both view making chocolates as a way of spending time with each other. “Socola guarantees me getting 3 hours of Susan’s time every week so we can hang out together and make chocolates,” says Wendy.
“I mean, we get into our sisterly fights—that’s natural,” adds Susan. “But we really love each other and it’s our moment together.”
Wendy and Susan hope to one day open a dessert café. “It’ll be a magical place,” Wendy says excitedly. “Somewhere where you can come and be happy with chocolates and desserts.” Many of us hope that day comes soon.
The Asian Mr. McDonald’s
September 11, 2009
When C.C. Yin applied for a McDonald’s Restaurant franchise in 1983, he wanted a mid-career change in search of the so-called American dream.
“I always felt America was the land of opportunities and freedom to do whatever you desired. My concept of McDonald’s was that it was a true American business with a philosophy that its owners need to be involved in their community, and that was the perfect fit for the change I was looking for,” recalls Yin.
Twenty five years later, C.C. and his active partner and wife, Regina, have earned the title of being one of the most successful Asian American small business owners in America with their ownership of 26 McDonalds in 11 cities in 5 counties. Other accolades in their treasure chest of honors is having been named the most respected McDonald’s owners in the nation with special awards as the franchisee with the best operations and best government and community relations.
Bamboo H2O: Transforming the Urban Into an Oasis
September 8, 2009
Sheltered from the hustle and bustle of a busy intersection on the edge of North Beach is a leafy oasis on the corner of 704 Filbert. Edwin Toy, founder of Bamboo H2O, can often be found tending to the mini bamboo “forest” that has taken root and transformed this slice of weathered urban jungle into one of serene refuge.
“You see those plants across the street? They’re new,” he gestures across the busy intersection, where some young foliage seems to have found a new home. “The owner planted them just after we planted our bamboo. I think it’s great. It’s sort of like a domino effect — you improve the landscape in one corner and slowly the rest becomes greener, too.”
New to San Francisco, Bamboo H2O is the first company in the Bay Area devoted solely to bamboo and bamboo products, and caters to all and to the green-conscious in particular, with environmentally friendly products as an alternative to the traditional landscape.
While many may already know how bamboo can dramatically reshape a landscape, few also know their potential to reshape our impact on the environment. It is this green element, combined with a personal affinity for the bamboo plant that compelled Eddie to leave his corporate career to pursue his passion.
Unlike most traditional wood products, bamboo can be harvested in a wholly sustainable way. A hardy and adaptive plant, bamboo can be cut without harm to the roots and plant itself, meaning it is a self-healing, regenerative plant that won’t risk depletion and environmental destruction from mass cultivation. Not only is it one of the fastest growing plants, but it is also one of the most renewable resources. Eddie points out that most bamboo plants grow in cycles of five years - the time it takes each generation to reach maturity, and can grow up to 10 ft. tall. Some of the young bamboo plants in the shop are already at a towering 7 ft. tall.
“My first bamboo plant was from when I was a kid, so I’ve always liked them, but when I learned how useful and how good for the environment they are, I became more interested,” Eddie recalls.
He decided then that although use of bamboo at the time was a little unconventional, it was a creative solution to the growing concern of sustainability in materials-use. Although Eddie expertly describes how sustainable bamboo is, it becomes clear that his initial attraction to the bamboo plant was mainly spiritual. Eddie confides that he is a firm believer in feng shui and the healing properties of the bamboo plant. The composed vibe emanating from his neat, tranquil shop makes a persuasive argument.
Traditionally, bamboo is valued for its power to transform a landscape and its feng shui. Walk through the blaring horns and screechy brakes of enraged drivers ripping through Columbus Avenue and the ruffled walkers stomping down the concrete, and one will find the sudden Zen calm just outside Bamboo’s storefront a welcome relief. Eddie describes his own discovery of bamboo’s healing powers while working on his home garden one afternoon, “I looked around and I suddenly felt calmer, better. I really do believe that it is has a certain energy that is very healing, very soothing.”
Can bamboo really have such compelling powers? There is something undeniably attractive about those tender, baby-green leaves. It is easy to see why the bamboo plant has been the long-standing symbol of strength and grace, of a sturdy toughness wedded with gentle flexibility, across Asian cultures.
Because of its unique qualities — both aesthetically and physically — bamboo holds a powerful and familiar place in Asian culture as a positive, life-affirming symbol. In China, bamboo is a symbol of longevity, no doubt owing to the spirited buoyancy of the plant, but it also represents tranquility, simplicity and humility. For many, the use of bamboo engenders a space of peace and positive energy. It was cherished tradition for a traveler to enclose a bamboo leaf with their letters home, as a symbolic missive of peace and well-being and well-wishes for the same to the family. The Japanese admire bamboo for its resilience and vigor, as it thrives even in the harshest of unforgiving winters. So admired is this plant that forests of bamboo are often grown to shelter and protect Japanese Shinto shrines against evil spirits and negative energy. Not only is bamboo considered a lucky symbol; it is apparently tasty, too. The bamboo is a symbol of steady friendship and peace in India, but its young shoots are also used to make delectable vegetarian dishes. 
While the bamboo plants and products at Bamboo H2O are not exactly made for culinary stints, they do bring about practical utility and an elegant aesthetic to an environment, whether indoors or out. Eddie’s shop boasts a beautiful range of high-quality, sustainable bamboo materials — from edging and fencing to flooring and building — and potentially, clothing and accessories. The products and materials are versatile and highly functional, offering endless possibilities with the right imagination. Luckily, Eddie and his staff also provide consultations and experienced advising.
Eddie walks over and points out the bamboo slats bundled neatly in one area and the stalks of bamboo poles resting against the wall - “raw” materials to one eye, but functional beauty to another. The slats are finely crafted, while the tall, thick and sturdy bamboo poles are surprisingly lightweight for their size. Lifting one of the giant poles with ease, Eddie remarks that these poles, though simple, can be used to build anything from a tall fence for privacy to a hip bamboo gazebo. They also make for eye-appealing and Zen-inspired or natural minimalist decor.
“I just really believe in the power and beauty of bamboo. I’m passionate about it, but what draws me to bamboo is its spiritual quality,” Eddie says, as he leans in to prune a young, thriving bamboo plant, gracefully dancing in the light afternoon breeze.
Bay Area Microfinance Reaches Rural Chinese
July 13, 2009
San Francisco - Over one hundred guests gathered at the San Francisco Ferry Building on Sunday, June 28th, for the official launch of Wokai.org in the Bay Area. Many were energetically discussing the potential of MFI (Microfinance Institutions) to help alleviate rural poverty, while others were there to mingle and learn more. All guests had one thing in common: to support and raise awareness for the nonprofit organization that is reaching out to those who are both literally and figuratively living on the margins.
With the backdrop of the Bay Bridge against a brilliant blue sky on an unusually warm afternoon, guests were transported thousands of miles away to rural villages in the Mongolian and Sichuan provinces, where a short film, “How the Other Half Lives,” captured how Wokai’s micro loans are changing the lives of over a hundred rural Chinese peasants.
It becomes immediately clear the potential impact such changes can have on a society where over 200 million people live on less than $1.25 a day, and where the wealth disparity has only deepened despite economic triumphs.
“Wokai,” the organization’s name and concept, means, “I start” in Chinese, a fitting phrase that reflects its core mission: to alleviate poverty in a sustainable way through supporting small-scale businesses and entrepreneurship. It is an investment not just in Sichaun or Mongolia’s entrepreneurs and their livelihood, but an investment in a possible future, an investment in sustainable change.
Event volunteers showed guests how they could make direct investments instantly on computers stationed just beyond the reception. Users took on quickly: the interface is easy to use and totally foolproof.
“It’s cool to see something like this in action - people helping people thousands of miles away, all with a mouse-click,” said Chris Wong, a guest at the event.
John Do, another guest at the event, was more impressed by the turnout and the panelist discussion. “I came to support a friend. I didn’t know much about microfinance like some others here, but I feel more educated after hearing the speakers,” he says, referring to Kiva.org president Premal Shah, Wokai’s Courtney McColgan, and Maya Chorengel, a managing director at Elevar Equity.
Wokai.org connects lenders and borrowers in three phases: loans are made directly, the results tracked, and accurate feedback readily transparent (the way an eBay seller might have their feedback tracked and displayed).
Casey Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Wokai, put it simply in the short film, “It’s like Facebook for farmers,” which is an apt and relevant comparison.
Contributors can browse through pictures and profiles of entrepreneurs and track the progress of borrowers, their loan repayments and venture progress. The entrepreneurs are not just nameless faces. Each borrower has their own profile and most importantly, a story. Take Na Rentuya, whose name means “Radiance.” She supports her mother and daughter through a modest business of raising cattle in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. She hopes her loans will help her continue the business by funding for hay. Her story, like many others, gives a glimpse of a life otherwise overlooked, and is the bridge that brings the human element back to a philanthropic process that is often nameless, faceless, and sometimes even opaque.
What is unique and promising about organizations like Wokai is its marriage of altruism and business savvy. MFI’s provide sustainable and appropriate financial services (often “micro loans”) to segments of a population that are usually rejected or ignored by traditional banks. Microfinance is not “aid for a day,” but assistance towards self-empowerment. It increases access and levels out the usual “top-down” approach in favor of community-based peer-to-peer lending. In effect, self-starters can make their own opportunities.
As the event drew to a close and raffle hopefuls were anticipating the goodies (two-way flights to Hong Kong, baseball tickets, and wine tasting, to name a few), optimism lingered in the air. The event was a hit and the message was clear: something practical and effective can be achieved, and we can all help to make it happen.
Visit www.wokai.org to learn more about the organization’s mission and how you can invest in sustainable change.
Photos courtesy of Wokai Volunteer, Bijal Shah (www.mousambi.com)
Hatching the Asian Entrepreneurial Egg
January 15, 2009
US Market Access Center’s nurturing the next Asian business giant - in the US
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Companies across Asia are making the risky trek into the heart of Silicon Valley, where fierce market competition breeds. San Jose-based US Market Access Center is making sure they’re here to stay. Read more
Miss Saigon: Opens to Hungry Neighborhood
January 13, 2009
The spanking new establishment at the corner of 6th and Mission, two ragged blocks south of Westfield Shopping Centre, stands far apart from its current neighbors as a full sit-down restaurant serving tasty Vietnamese fare that feels refreshingly light. Read more
San Francisco Named 10th Best Business Destination
January 4, 2009
But small-business owners express skepticism, concern
San Francisco was recently named the 10th best business destination in the United States by MarketWatch, marking the second year in a row that The City has earned a top-10 ranking from the popular business Web site. Read more
Hawai‘i Native Charts Career in TV, Music
December 24, 2008
Most college seniors today spend their time maxing out their laptop memory with downloaded music or idly strumming the guitar during late-night bull sessions. But, at that age, Nickie Shapira started a record label. Read more
Asian Employee Associations Host YMCA Gift Drive
December 23, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — In the spirit of the giving season, Dr. Seuss, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Snow White and Curious George found themselves hobnobbing together on Dec. 12 at the Mercury Lounge bar and restaurant. Read more
Cal-Asia Honors U.S.-Asia Business Leaders
December 20, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The California-Asia Business Council awarded three individuals for their insight into commercial relationships with Asia. Read more
Business Opportunities in a Challenging Marketplace
December 16, 2008
The current crisis in the credit market is hurting businesses at every level. From mom-and-pop stores to industry titans, the ripple effect is being felt throuhgout. Small businesses struggle to obtain short-term loans for the most basic of business operations. And as more banks decline to lend, small businesses are caught in financial limbo, putting on hold plans for growth for fear of taking risks in this difficult market. Read more
