{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/j678s4mk55/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Mikey Reisenberg interviewed by Patrick Mullaney, 2021 March 19"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/157/original/libraryheader.jpg?1617628943","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Finding Aid"]},"value":{"en":["https://aspace.lib.jmu.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/25923"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Reisenberg, Michael (Interviewee)","Mullaney, Patrick (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-03-19 (Creation)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (Primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Records the reminiscences of Michael Reisenberg, born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted in 1986 by parents living in Grottoes, Virginia, at two months old. Describes Reisenberg’s studies at Blue Ridge Community College and James Madison University, where he earned a degree in History. Discusses culinary arts and experience as a chef and owner of Mashita, a Korean restaurant in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Describes growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, working for various businesses, and the importance of work ethic. Among the topics discussed are culinary arts training and mentorship, cooking techniques, food preparation, childhood food experiences, Korean cuisine, and implicit bias. Reisenberg also discusses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Mashita, Mashita’s community philanthropy efforts, and the challenges to restaurants posed by the Covid-19 pandemic affecting food supply chain shortages. (Scope and Content Note)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["audio/mpeg"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["SdArch 45 (Collection Call Number)","SdArch45-WAV-0004.mp3 (Digital Object ID)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Korea (South) -- Emigration and immigration (geographic)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["JMU Libraries Distinctive Collections"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Records the reminiscences of Michael Reisenberg, born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted in 1986 by parents living in Grottoes, Virginia, at two months old. Describes Reisenberg’s studies at Blue Ridge Community College and James Madison University, where he earned a degree in History. Discusses culinary arts and experience as a chef and owner of Mashita, a Korean restaurant in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Describes growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, working for various businesses, and the importance of work ethic. Among the topics discussed are culinary arts training and mentorship, cooking techniques, food preparation, childhood food experiences, Korean cuisine, and implicit bias. Reisenberg also discusses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Mashita, Mashita’s community philanthropy efforts, and the challenges to restaurants posed by the Covid-19 pandemic affecting food supply chain shortages."]},"provider":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["James Madison University Libraries"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["James Madison University Libraries"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/157/original/libraryheader.jpg?1617628943","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collections/default_thumbs/000/003/230/small/tom-coe-A7KD1kdXD-o-unsplash_Banner-2.jpg?1746109579","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - open-uri20250324-1094443-zzcbbq.mpga"]},"duration":3238.19102,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collections/default_thumbs/000/003/230/small/tom-coe-A7KD1kdXD-o-unsplash_Banner-2.jpg?1746109579","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-jmu.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/268/467/original/open-uri20250324-1094443-zzcbbq.mpga?1742824816","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3238.19102,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Mikey Reisenberg interviewed by Patrick Mullaney, 2021 March 19 [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, so this is Patrick Mullaney interviewing Michael Reisenberg, aka Mikey. This interview is being recorded online using SquadCast. Today's date is March 12, 2021 and the time is 2:02pm. So we're gonna start with like basic background questions. So, right, where are you from?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1.44,23.97"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and was adopted at two months old and to a white household here in the Shenandoah Valley. And my folks were originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and my mom's family's from Kentucky. And they met in Cincinnati where they both grew up. And when they wanted to start a family after getting married, they moved down here to the Shenandoah Valley, where my father had other relatives, and farmland that they owned and his family owned. And he loved the area. He loved the outdoors. And he felt that this would be a really great place to raise a family. So, when they moved here - to Grottoes Virginia- my parents went through an adoption agency to find and locate me for their son.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=25.14,73.89"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, and so you said you're - you were adopted at two months old. How old are you now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=78.33,83.19"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: I'm 35 years old now. So, I've spent my entire life pretty much here in the Shenandoah Valley - living in Grottoes, Bridgewater, Clover Hill, Harrisonburg. I attended Blue Ridge Community College for an associate's degree, before transferring into JMU. My first major was Hospitality and Tourism Management, but I actually did not enjoy the major and decided to switch concentrations to History, about two years into my career at JMU. So, I have a Bachelors of Arts in History rather than something like food service, or hospitality, like you'd expect.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=83.94,124.29"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, the connection is kind of just a little bit cutting out there. But, hopefully, that doesn't really happen again. Alright, so another question I sort of have is did you have like any, biological siblings that you know of?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=127.08,142.5"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: No, I do not know any of my biological family. And, in my personal opinion, being adopted at such a young age - I was adopted into a household that loves me, that cares about who I am, and raised me as their son. So my family, my adopted family- or adoptive family - is the is mom and dad to me, my mother's biological daughter is also my sister. And then we don't share any kind of blood real relation. We are definitely a close knit family. [recording stops due to technical difficulties]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=143.28,179.91"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, so you do [audio glitch] record again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=179.91,181.11"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Would you like me to re-answer the question of who I am and what I do?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=183.0,186.75"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yes, please.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=188.07,188.64"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Gotcha. Again, I'm Mikey Reisenberg. I'm the owner and the chef of Mashita, a food service establishment that began as a food truck in September 10, of 2013. And we recently made the expansion and do a full service brick and mortar establishment in October 1st of 2019. We're actually working on another expansion project to expand the dining room and service areas where the restaurant - hopefully this season. [pause]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=189.51,219.87"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, that's cool. I'm actually kind of curious, like, have you actually, you know - you're [unclear] from Seoul, South Korea - have you actually gone back to visit Korea?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=223.77,234.27"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: No. No, I haven't. Actually, after college, a friend of mine and I were trying to get a position teaching English as a second language in Korea somewhere as an opportunity to go back home and learn the culture and experience it a bit. But unfortunately, the ESL programs accepted a friend of mine and said that I was too Korean, and that they were looking for Americans with 100% American accents in order to teach the language to their students. So, that was kind of a whiff[?] on the attempt to go back to Korea for a visit.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=234.3,278.04"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, how did that make you feel - that you were sort of rejected.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=279.93,283.71"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: I mean, it's kind of a slap in the face. It feels kind of strange because if anyone has a chance to speak with me, you can tell that I had been raised in America and that I sound like an American. So, I thought that the basis of their rejection was a bit off. But, you know, at the same time, I understand in some ways that they wanted to really push the American immersion aspect of their ESL courses. They wanted to give people the experience of speaking with someone who is from a different place, looks different from you, and sounds different from you. And I guess I see their line of thinking. I'm upset still, that I didn't have the opportunity to go back to Korea, visit, and experience the culture firsthand. But, you know, life is short, but at the same time it is what you make it so hopefully before we get too old, my wife and I'll have a chance to get back there and experience it as tourists more.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=284.73,344.46"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, okay. Right. So, did you actually ever sort of like learn Korean?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=347.16,354.45"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: [laugh] I've tried a bunch of times to dabble in learning the Korean language, but it's really tough. There's not a humongous Korean population in the Harrisonburg area, or at least not Korean speakers. So having the opportunity to practice what you learn is kind of a difficult scenario to put yourself into. It's funny, but because of the industry that I'm in, I know a bunch of food related terms. [chuckle] But no, I've never really been able to acquire some kind of grasp of the Korean language at all.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=355.74,395.13"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, do you actually speak any other sort of languages? Or did you study other languages in high school?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=396.33,402.69"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: [laugh] Yeah, in high school, I studied French because I thought that - I wanted to do something different than what everyone else was studying - which was Spanish. I guess it was kind of helpful because it gave me a little bit of a leg up and advantage to understanding culinary terms that are oftentimes very French. But at the same time, I studied, or I learned broken Spanish by working in a bunch of restaurants in my earlier years. But I wouldn't say that I am fluent or capable in any of those fashions.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=402.69,434.82"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=436.5,436.92"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: [unclear] [laughs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=438.03,438.75"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, so, in this sort of like message that you sent to Dr. Fagan, right, you kind of like realize that, you're sort of immigrant experience is going to be a little different. Right? Because you were adopted, but I'm just curious on your thoughts on this. Do you yourself, consider yourself to be an immigrant?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=441.81,465.24"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: [pauses] In my everyday life, I would say no, but at the same time, the [pauses] aspects of being someone who [pauses] is associated with a different cultural identity, you still experience the kind of social tugs and pulls that put assumptions on to you based upon how you look. And, you know, I'm still treated like an immigrant by some different groups of people that wouldn't know me. But I don't think that it's something that I recognize in myself necessarily. I think it's more that my experience is more colored by feeling as though I am 100% American, but knowing that I look a completely different way and that I was born in a completely different area. And the struggles have been more for finding balance within myself as to who I assume I am as my cultural identity in relation to the identity that is imposed upon me by those who are not as well versed in cultural identities or notions of adoption and being from someplace else but still having an idea that you are an American and that you have assimilated and become part of this society in this culture.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=467.73,557.49"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, right. So, what are your thoughts about international adoption?  This American family, you know, like, chose - sort of -  you. What are your thoughts on that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=560.43,572.55"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: I love it. I respect anyone and everyone who chooses to adopt children for their own family. Whether it's domestic or international, I respect both of those lines of thinking equally. The reason for it is because in my own life and in my own experiences, I always wonder about the what ifs. You know, what if I wasn't adopted by this family that loves me, and cares for me, and has supported me throughout all 35 years of my life, and where could I be if I was still born, but was never adopted and was left to be raised by the state in Korea, and to go without that kind of support structure. And I think that there are a lot of families out there that have their own reasonings and concerns for having their own biological children. And I think adoption is a very viable and very respectable way of creating your own family while also benefiting society. Diversified family groups are the ones that you can see and feel the love the absolute most, because I believe that they are the ones that truly care about the children. And the children do truly care about their families and their parents that are the adoptive parents. Because it's one of those things that - love is not necessarily obligatory, even though it feels that way. I think that love takes work. And I think that it's [pause] something that everyone needs to work on, even in a parent child kind of relationship. And in my experience, I feel as though my family has been flushed with love and support. And those are the - those are just my feelings, anecdotally. But I know that I've run into a bunch of adoptees that also speak very much the same way as I do with their biological family. They have questions about - and interest about -  but at the same time, they know that their family, their mom, their dad, their brothers, or their sisters are always the family that they go home to, that they eat dinner with, that supports them, that hugs and kisses them at the end of the evening. And I think that that's a really important thing that American society should further embrace is the idea that adoptions whether domestic or international are a positive thing for everybody.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=573.09,723.69"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, so, we're gonna move on to a different topic. Your early - sort of like working - in your father's businesses. There was this blog post that Dr. Fagan linked us to where [mumbling] you and[?] your father, started businesses, but you know, first I want to start asking - how old were you when you first started working?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=728.31,755.94"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Ah, shoot with my father owning his own business, he put me to work pretty early. I would say that my formal work experience started at 11 years old, when I was taken out with him on his side business called Dog Watch Hidden Fence Systems. And we installed invisible fences, electrified fences for pets - pet containment systems. And we actually went all the way up into Pennsylvania - at 11 years old with my mother, and my father, and myself. And my job was to use a pickaxe to dig a trench in a driveway. And the clients of my father actually came out and asked if I was being paid, and if I was being taken care of appropriately. [chuckle] And I told them that I was out there to work and to earn money. And I don't think that they understood that was basically one of the first lessons that my father taught me was that work earns you your rewards. And I had fully embraced that by the time that I was 11 years old and was throwing a pickaxe around on a jobsite with my family.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=756.96,826.74"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, okay. So what other kind of businesses did you work in? Like, I think earlier mentioned that you were working in other sort of restaurants.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=829.5,839.25"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Yeah, I've worked in multiple different restaurants, all of which have been independently owned and operated. And the reason for that is because in my later high school years, I became very interested in food preparation. And it became kind of a [pause] cathartic experience for me and therapeutic experience for me to apply myself, learn new skills, and take raw ingredients and create something completely different by the end process. [pause] Yeah, it's basically that experience led me to bussing tables at [unclear] Italian Eatery when it was still in town - serving tables - and other restaurants like the Woodfired Oven, Simple Pleasures, learning catering from that same business as well because they were a banquet and catering facility. During my stents in all of those restaurants I also spent a lot of time with the cooks because they were the people that worked the hardest, joked[?] to the most, drank and partied the hardest. And for some reason that appealed to me. And I love to see the kind of banter that occurred inside of the kitchen, where teamwork occurs, but they're still having a good time, they're sweaty, they're still working hard, but they're still having a fun time while doing it. And that's kind of what gravitate - kind of encouraged me to gravitate towards the back of house. But the formative experience of my restaurant careering is in the Joshua Wilton House, the local fine dining restaurant here in town, under the mentorship of Mark Newsome and Tom French, who were - and Tom French is still the executive chef at that restaurant. And they taught me a ton about how the kitchen operates, and how the standards of the kitchen in a restaurant are established, and how we can always push and serve the highest quality product and provide the [audio cut out] quality service  experience that's possible on pursuit of perfection. And those have humongous influences on me and my professional life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=840.0,983.67"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, nice. Okay, I want to move now to your experience at JMU. Right, like, what kind of like made you decide to attend JMU?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=987.75,1004.43"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Well, I think that this is a multifaceted kind of question. To answer it the most bluntly, I wanted to stick around the area because I was a partner with my dad's dog watch business at the time. So, in between going to classes, doing homework, and finishing assignments - in the mornings, when I was not at class, I was working with my father's business. In the evenings when I wasn't in the libraries, I was also serving tables in restaurants and at the Wilton House, and it was basically just a full schedule of work, school, and work again. And so I spent very little time enjoying the JMU campus and immersing myself in the JMU college lifestyle. I was more all business at that point. And I got into - got on campus to attend classes and I spent a ton of time in the Carrier Library - usually six to eight hours a day it felt like, and any other waking moment was pretty much spent at work.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1006.14,1073.67"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, okay. Did you make sort of like any friends at JMU?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1076.85,1084.02"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Ah, I won't say no. But that wasn't really the reason why I was attending college at that point. After obtaining an associate's degree, I was transferring into some freshmen classes when I was already about 21, or 22. So I was a little bit older than some of the kids that I was attending classes with. I had such a full workload between work and school that I didn't really have a lot of free time to spend with other people. And honestly, I was more interested in acquiring the knowledge and the skills to be able to open my own food service establishment at some point in the future. So I befriended more of the people in the restaurants and the hospitality department than I ever did in like the history department, or on the quad or anywhere else. I in fact, do not remember if I ever ate in one of the dining halls at all, during the time when I was a JMU student. [pause] Kinda weird being [?] like a food centered kind of guy.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1085.19,1150.17"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah. As an Asian American, did you feel like you fit it into the student population at JMU?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1151.76,1161.48"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Yeah, I think for the most part, but you know, the other thing is, is that I'm a local and when you're a local, you can tell I think, when people come in from out of out of the state or out of the area, and there's always been a little bit of that weird tension between locals and out of towners. It never created any problems for me by any means. But I did run into some of the assumptions about who I was and where I came from based upon how I looked at JMU. It wasn't in a negative fashion. It was more from just an assumption. point of view where most everyone else that you run into is from the same areas. Northern Virginia, for example, Maryland, wherever. And yeah, a lot of people felt that I was from those areas and that I was a student. You know, that made the move down here to attend college and would go home during the summers and all of that kind of stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1163.19,1220.73"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay. Did you feel like JMU,  like as a whole, helped prepare you for life after graduation?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1223.73,1229.82"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Oh, I think yes and no. I think that there's a lot of things that can be changed in higher education processes, especially putting people on to hands on activities and internships, and working in the actual fields where your specializations are concentrated. The reason why I left the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department, in a lot of ways, was because even though I saw a lot of value in the business side of the education, the actual experience - execution side, the minutiae of the classes, basically, were the things that I was experiencing in the restaurants when I was working. And I felt that that information was empty, or not as valuable. And I think that once I switched my major to History, I was able to acquire a broader range of knowledge about the globe, about people, about concepts, thought processes, religions, and almost anything else and under the sun - culture - that has allowed me to feel confident in being able to talk my way into a position anywhere and have some kind of foundational knowledge that allows me to have a springboard for learning quickly and - got to becoming a either a staff member or an employee that is valuable. So yes, in some ways, the educational side of things did prepare me for owning a business. But I think that the pathway in the road to becoming a manager or being successful, in this sense, required hands on experience, which is one of the reasons why I spend all of my waking time in restaurants and other - at other people's businesses, as an employee in order to try and learn firsthand from the people that were actually living that life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1231.23,1349.04"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, just sort of like the last question in the sort of section. Did you have any favorite professors or professors that really sort of inspired you or impact your life?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1352.01,1362.18"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Oh, man, I wish I could remember everybody's names. The History department was so good to me, I cannot express how much that I enjoyed my time as a history student. And I wish that I could remember the names of the professors that I had that supported me and encouraged me to continue pushing and use my mind more than my body for working smarter, not harder. I always had the mentality that, you know, my father said sweat, blood, and tears is what gets you ahead. Of course, I completely drank that Kool Aid. And then my professors were also the ones that reminded me that there's a balance to find there. I wish I could remember the guys name. He was a Middle Eastern professor that taught a class on cultural behavior and cultural identity. And [pause] ah shoot [to himself] I wish I could remember his name, there was also a really old professor as well that I think I heard retired at one point, and I want to say his first name was Henry. But he taught an ancient - I think it was Greek and Roman - and tribes class that I loved his class, and he was really good at encouraging you to use your mind and push forward on concepts that even if people disagree with you on, that you can still have an argument and an opinion on - and I'm sorry, I cannot remember any of these folks names any longer. It's been [pause] let's say, it's been a number of years - 15 years probably - since  I was at JMU.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1362.96,1472.94"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, okay, that's fine. Alright, so now we're gonna kind of go into - ask questions about - your current business right. Mishita. The first question I want to ask in this section is, did you ever attend a culinary school - or how did you learn to cook?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1474.11,1495.56"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: I never attended culinary school. I am what you would call a self-taught cook. Like I said before, when I was in the restaurant industry, I spent all my time with cooks. The reason for it is because - at the time I needed a Spanish credit for a class and pretty much everyone I was working with was from Mexico, Honduras or El Salvador. So it was [unclear] fun to try and practice Spanish with them. But as we practiced Spanish, they would practice their English. And one of the routines we got into was trying to describe to one another, how to cook food, and why we were cooking food the way that we were. So I got cooking lessons from El Salvadorians and Hondurans and Mexicans cooking Italian food in broken English and Spanglish. And, like I said, coming full circle back to your other questions about languages, I had to learn a little bit about how to communicate with these people so that we could at least understand one another. They taught me how to prep noodles, and make sauces, and how to shorten your time on cutting onions and things like that - how to hold a knife. So I get a lot of my actual culinary training from people that were living that life. I also need to give a bunch of credit to my family who were very much adamant about having the family together at dinner times to enjoy a meal together, to share our experiences about the day, and actually perform activities like a core household. And so my family cooked meals from scratch all the time. [pause] It was kind of disappointing when I would visit other friends houses and they would have Kraft mac-n-cheese and frozen pizzas. Because I was always so used to home cooked meals and [pause] things made from scratch. So it kind of made me turn my nose up a bit. But then learning more and more about the culinary arts from the people living it gave me more knowledge to build upon. It's kind of like building a foundation for a house you get certain blocks that become pivotal and your abilities to expand on skills and knowledge. And as the years progressed, and as I was working in different restaurants with different types of ingredients and different types of people I acquired new skills and built on the stuff that my family taught me which was, you know, salt stuff early - salt stuff late too - so then it's seasoned all the way through, and then it tastes good from start to finish. Never forget pepper. [laugh] You know, there's ways in [unclear] made sure to create a starting point for that knowledge. And I think a lot of it came around to you know, what pans you use for different products. I never cook eggs in anything other than nonstick pans now because my folks are always like \"this is the way to do it\". \"You'll always have faster cleanup\". But we still use some of those elements in the restaurant today even in a commercial sense. Again, much credit to Mark Newsome, who's now on the Outer Banks and Tom French who is still the executive chef at the Joshua Wilton House for their desire to take someone like me who is just very interested in food but very ignorant about food and to allow me to learn from them, for me to bring in food for them to try and to assess, and to give me critical feedback on. They deserve a lot of credit -them and my folks both -  for being able to teach [?] me the lessons and teach me the way of the knife and the way of the kitchen.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1496.34,1736.16"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay. This might be kind of a hard question to answer but what dishes are your favorite to make and or eat?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1739.28,1747.2"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Ooh. Well, some of the things that I love the absolute most in this world is pork belly and mushrooms. So, I at one point really focused on learning proteins, and seafood, and all of those kinds of things. Because every protein operates differently, behaves differently when cooking and all of that. So, I love to slow roast pork bellies. I love to cure pork bellies for bacon. As of right now we're in the woods looking for places to find mushrooms c- and the local wild foraged mushrooms are one of the thing that excites me more than anything in this world. But really in a lot of ways at home, when I cook for myself - I cook for my wife and I very simply. A lot of times it's steaks and simple blanched vegetables. A lot of times for me personally, I love to make Cacio e Pepe, which is an Italian style dish that is [background noise] basically boiled pasta with a black pepper and parmesan sauce, made with emulsified butter. And it is absolutely delicious. It's kind of like buttered parmesan noodles that a lot of my friends' parents used to make for their kids when they were growing up. [pause] But yeah, I mean, when we ended up cooking in the restaurant is when we ended up putting much more focus on elegance, and presentation, and contrasting flavors. And all of these kinds of things. I'd say that the way that we ended up presenting dishes at the restaurant - that I really enjoy- is incorporating the five major characteristics that constitute taste, which is sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. And the combination of all five of those characteristics into a single dish pretty much ensures that you'll have an explosive flavor profile. The balance that you find between those five senses of flavor also are very important because - to counterbalance something like salt, you can make it either more sweet, or you can add acid to cut that saltiness. But again, you don't want to take a dish that's supposed to be sweet and savory and then push it into the realm of being too sharp by using acid if you over salt and over season. So, one of the things that I love the most is creating any new dishes, and executing those dishes, and teaching my staff how to perform those actions and perform those functions so that when you visit the restaurant, you can't tell whether it's me or my staff that's performing that product for you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1748.52,1924.74"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay. Let's see. [pause] How do you go about inventing a new dish or reinventing an old one?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1927.8,1942.35"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Oh, those are interesting questions because I think that it changes and it's different from person to person. And for me personally, I always like to say that, as a chef, I endlessly romanticize food. And I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me. So I take the knowledge and the skills that have been passed down through generations of previous cooks. And that becomes my starting point for understanding a dish. For reinventing a dish - to start- you may already have an idea of how, let's say, peanut butter and jelly sandwich should be presented. And what we'll do is have an understanding of what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is: good quality bread, good quality peanut butter - whether it's creamy or crunchy - and then your choice of a flavored sweetened fruit preserve. Let's say we want to flip that on its head then understanding that it's a simple sandwich with sweet components, creamy and fatty components to cut the sweetness of the jelly, and then the bread also to provide you backbone and substance to the dish. So, what we may end up doing is taking and dissecting the whole thing. Let's say we want to make a peanut butter and jelly dessert instead where we take a Japanese milk bread for example, and lightly fry it so that it has crispy texture to it - kind of like a toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But then let's say that we'll make a peanut butter nougat or a peanut butter mousse instead. And then garnish with fruit jelly[?] cubes and herbs, for example, to bring an entirely different note of flavor and presentation to the dish. But really, it's just taking and reinventing dishes according to - paying respect to - the original concept and the idea. But then also reminding yourself that you have a world of possibilities that are capable for you to be able to expand upon as well. Building new dishes is different. For me personally, taking the romanticism aspect again, I remember food experiences more clearly than anything else in my life. And as an example, when I was a child, we used to get together for a bunch of different kinds of family reunions, and I had seven aunts who always thought they were the best cooks. At any of these family reunion events, all seven of these women would force spoonfuls of food into your mouth. And you'd have to eat and try every single thing. And then tell people what was the tastiest and why. And then the ladies would fight amongst themselves as to who's better at cooking than the others. But it became a really interesting experience, because again, it focused on the fact that - I hated Ambrosia salad growing up. I still hate Ambrosia salad, and I can still remember what it tastes like when that spoonful was shoved into my mouth at about four or five years old. I can tell what it tastes like[?]. So, if we were ever to do an Ambrosia salad for us [chuckling], through the restaurant, we would completely dissect that dish in order to create something new that excites us, and also is something that tastes good. [chuckle] Grits, brussel sprouts, are also other perfect examples of things that growing up I absolutely hated. It didn't seem like my family knew how to cook any of these things. Once I learned how to cook them from different chefs and fine dining establishments - now we employ those techniques all the time. I love eating those things. And now we're using those ingredients to expand on other ideas like brussel sprout risottos or whatever it may be, where we can incorporate those kinds of flavors into new dishes and pair them with different mouth feels, textures, and flavor sensations in order to maybe introduce brussel sprouts to a new individual - or if you already love them to have you notice a way that they can taste different or be applied differently than what you've already had and different from a traditional method.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=1944.6,2217.96"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, thank you very informative. See, okay, this would be the last question in this section. Do you feel in some way that you're a representative of the Korean community when you serve your food, you know, your restaurant is Korean inspired?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2220.78,2237.46"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Yes. I know that there's a lot of arguments out there these days about how an individual should not be taken as the ambassador or representative of the demographic, but I disagree. Everyone's judgments and mentalities are based upon their own experiences. You know, it's [pause] just the same way as I have some kind of responsibility to represent my culture and my identity correctly and accurately. You all do the same thing every day. And I think we all do. You know, it's not that we take on the brunt of the responsibility, because that's unfair. There's no way that someone like me can be as educated in the Korean culture, having been raised by people who are not Korean and being in a society and a culture that is not Korean. But at the same time, I have the ability of making people feel more or less comfortable as an example, with [recording stops]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2238.63,2303.34"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, right. So you were talking about? [pause]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2307.63,2310.78"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Yeah, being a representative, essentially, of your demographic. And I'll use the example of when I visited England for my cousin's wedding. This was right after - or shortly after - the 911 attacks, and there were a higher degree - higher level of uncertainty and mistrust, distrust of the Middle Eastern peoples, especially in England for some reason. But my American family, as tourists, were treated much, much differently in England and in Europe, because of the notion that we are arrogant, and that we are not polite, and that we were severely individual. And it was kind of nice and different experiences when we would go into shops or go on tours, or whatever it may be, and have the people that were serving us essentially comment on how we're much different than what they thought us Americans would be like. And I think that's a good example, or a good parallel, to say that everyone has preconceived notions of what another demographic is like, and whether you like it or not, those judgments are influenced based upon how we behave as individuals and influence their perception of the full demographic whether we like it or not.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2313.84,2399.4"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Okay, all right. This is gonna be the sort of - we're up to the last sort of section of questions. In this section is going to deal with current events, specifically the impact of the pandemic in the world that we're living in. So, the first question I want to ask in this section is, how have you had to adapt your business during the pandemic?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2403.27,2424.84"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: The word pivot is the name of the game, and the word that describes and defines everyone's business throughout 2020. So, what we've had to do was pivot from being a full service restaurant to being a carry out only restaurant and how to encourage people to continue supporting us during those time periods, which was essentially making sure that they felt safe and comfortable when visiting our establishment or seeing our staff. We also created a donation - a community funded donation project - called Give Som, which was where the [recording stops]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2427.51,2469.81"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Can you repeat a little bit of what you were talking about during that last section? Or the last question?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2470.68,2476.17"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Yeah, yeah. The endless pivots of COVID-19 and 2020. It just defines everyone's businesses, and has defined us for the entirety of last year. As I was saying, we pivoted from being a full service restaurant to being carry out only using our social media and [pause] our level of exposure to ensure that people felt comfortable and safe when visiting us for carry out. We also created a donation project called Gve Som, which was a community funded endeavor that allowed individuals to donate money to the restaurant in the form of electronic gift cards, which were then converted into hot meals for frontline workers. We donated hundreds and hundreds of meals over last year to Sentera. Shoot, well, yeah, the community did anyway, through us at sincera, the outreach, medical centers of all different varieties, Food Lion, the USPS, schools, all sorts of different places, ambulances, firefighters, anyone and everyone that's out there making sure that our lives run, the way that we expect it to, and ensuring that the level of safety and comfort that we enjoy every day, that we showed the appreciation to those people that are working the front lines always. We also decided to pivot further and expand our business hours. And from 11, to seven until 11 to nine, we also expanded our business hours to include another day, which is Monday. So we're now open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 9pm. And I have to give a lot of credit to my staff and the people that work with me, because those are the people that help make these kinds of pivots happen. And keeping all of those folks happy, safe, healthy, has been one of the most challenging parts of the pandemic, especially because public distrust of each other. And concern over safety means that lots of restaurants closed up last year. And a lot of businesses in general went under last year because people were not able to spend their money to support us. And we did everything in our power to try and mitigate those kinds of losses and those kinds of obstacles. But everybody has been in bad shape after last year. So we're hoping that this year with better COVID numbers, vaccinations rolling out all over the place, that hopefully at some point, we can return to some level of normalcy and see booms in business that a lot of us small guys really have to have if we're going to stick around.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2476.2,2654.13"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah. This is kind of like a sensitive question. So feel free - if you don't want to answer it - but have you faced more racism and discrimination for being an Asian American during this coronavirus pandemic?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2656.17,2670.87"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: I'm lucky. I'd say that no, I personally have not. But I do know that there are some of my Asian friends that have definitely run into more of that than I have. [pause] The nice part about Harrisonburg is that we are insulated from a lot of the things that happen on a national and on a global level and - fashion trends come here later. They leave later. Food trends come here later, they leave later. Different elements of political issues hit us differently, whether it's later or not to the same degree, or it's focused in like the rural communities. I'm not gonna say that there's no racism here. That's not true. That's, that's just a distorted thing because there's so many progressive minded and open minded, kind, good individuals in this area. But there's also a bunch of people that are very rural and have never had the experience of getting to know someone like me, or anyone else. And it gets to be so that they still have reservations about people that look and sound different than them. Again, I'm blessed to be an American, sound like an American, to feel and act like an American. And it gives us an advantage over some of the people that I know, because I know that for instance, I like to give credit to the Spanish food trucks and the - anyone else that's been doing food service, other than us, that just is not able to explain what they do, and to discuss their passion for the industry the same way that I can because of language barriers. And I think that those people deserve as much credit as anyone else because they're out there living the same lifestyle as us every day. And oftentimes, they're cooking just as good, if not better food, than the people that get all of the press. So [pause] yeah, it's an interesting thing, being an American, but looking different than everyone else - but sounding like everyone else as well. [pause] It provides advantages and disadvantages depending on who you're speaking with. I actually run into more issues with Korean Americans that speak the language and are fully immersed in the Korean culture than with anyone else personally. [pause]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2672.82,2834.01"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Here's another question. Do you have a harder time getting the produce that you need to make your dishes now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2834.97,2840.01"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Last year was the hardest. Industry completely shut down in different sectors. We're still finding that there's a lot of shortages in ways. Tofu for whatever reason has been on a national shortage because soybean producers have not had nearly the same level of - I guess, employees and such. [recording stops]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2843.16,2871.72"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Mike, are you there? [pause] He cut out. Let me just stop recording. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2871.75,2884.89"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2885.28,2885.88"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: So yeah, can you repeat where you're saying about having a harder time to getting the produce that you need?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2888.16,2892.33"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Definitely, definitely. Last year was the most difficult in sourcing products because entire industries were shutting down during the height of the pandemic. A lot of our products, even though they are sourced locally, require larger scale distribution efforts. So whether it's the farms that shut down, or the distributors that shut down, or whatever, that caused a lot of problems for us last season. This season, we're still running into issues where there's a national tofu shortage, mostly from what I'm told due to lack of soybean farms that are able to produce the same volumes. And it's an interesting thing, because now we're running into sourcing issues all over again, about different products and ingredients that we never thought we would run into. Some of our products are by-products of larger industries, that - for instance, our ribeye comes from a distributor where they cut random ends off of big primal cuts. And then they sell the randoms at a reduced cost. So we can use that for our beef bulgogi style preparation. And those kinds of avenues are only available if other restaurants are purchasing rib eyes in the same volume where they have that random cut available. So, the natural downturn - and then volume of business that we're all seeing has actually impacted our industry and our ability to source products as much if not more, than industries actually shutting down. Again, we mitigate a lot of those problems because we are trying to source locally and we've got a lot of avenues with local farmers that get us the kinds of goods and ingredients that we need on a day-to-day basis. But every once in a while, we run into things where we have to basically cutting an item out of our prep and off of our menu for a short period of time while we actually relocate those things. I'll be glad when it's all over and you can buy anything you want from the grocery stores or from your distributor or wherever. No more toilet paper shortages and all that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=2894.07,3035.97"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, okay. This would be the last question I ask. What is your response when a customer doesn't follow the safety guidelines, you know, they come in, they don't wear a mask?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3037.14,3048.24"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Well [chuckle] being the owner, and having worked in a bunch of independently owned restaurants, the thing that I tell my staff is that the customer is almost always entitled to their opinion. And sometimes they're right. They are not always right. And we always stick to our guns that if we have set a protocol in place, and we have rules, then we expect our customers and our staff to follow them. And we will refuse service to people and ask them to leave if they put us in a position where we feel uncomfortable, or if they make others feel uncomfortable. And [background noise] it's not really something that we enjoy doing. But it's something that we feel like is our responsibility for the safety of everyone. And also for the fact that our governor has established rules and mandates that regulate our abilities to allow those customers into our spaces. So, for the threats of the state revoking our business' licenses and our abilities to be a business after these kinds of events happen - we're basically doing everything that we can to educate the public that we're doing this for you, and that we're asking you to leave because you are not following the rules that make it so that we can sustain and continue working as a soluble business. [pause] It's tough, though, to be honest. I mean, you I'm sure you all have seen the videos of people that freak out when guests [?] leave stores or to put on masks. Anytime you go [?] even still, even after all the education from the WHO and the CDC and everyone else. People don't wear their masks correctly, they might as well be wearing it over their eyeballs because they're blind to all the information that's out here. So it's an uphill battle for sure.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3050.34,3172.53"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Right, okay. I think that's it. Thank you so much for, you know, taking time out of your day to do this interview.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3174.66,3182.37"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Of course.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3184.23,3184.8"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney:  I'm sorry for all the sort of technical issues that we've had.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3184.83,3188.22"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Oh, don't apologize, man. Like I said, I'm trying to do this interview with you guys in a way that's good for me too. And if it's my technology that's causing us problems and me being in the woods, then - it's me that needs to apologize. So I'm sorry. And I appreciate you guys being willing to speak with me in a way that allows me to try and have some kind of real life too.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3189.54,3209.16"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney: Yeah, we're gonna have like four or five different sort of audio recordings - our audio editors probably gonna kill me. But okay, here let me stop editing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3209.88,3216.6"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mikey: Honestly, man, if you want to go through all of those, see what works the best for you. And then if you want to schedule another time when we can speak, unbroken recording, and kind of expand on some more details or if more questions happen to come up - I'm willing to do that for sure.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3217.65,3235.35"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467/transcript/77638/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Patrick Mullaney:  Okay, cool. Here, let me stop recording.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145474/file/268467#t=3235.35,3237.06"}]}]}]}