I left Seoul to move to NY
My story begins 45 years ago when I left Seoul to move to NY. (I was in high school then and remember when we were all glued to the classroom windows to watch military tanks rolling past our school. That was when I knew that this wasn’t a country where I wanted to live or raise my kids.)
In my teens and early 20s, I was an aspiring artist and that was the core reason why I left Korea to move to NYC. I remember being so happy just by having the freedom to become an artist or just to be able to tell people that my dream was to be an artist, which was not acceptable in Korea back then.
Unlike what I wanted, life had different courses planned for me. I found myself being in love, married, and moved to a new city, Boston. There, I started my life as a wife, mom, entrepreneur, and caretaker. 11 of 13 years of being married to my first love was a long battle, a battle against cancer of my partner. We faced the unfair and unfortunate life’s challenge by starting a business, traveling around the world, having 3 kids, and building our dream home together. It was the most turbulent and uncertain years of my life, yet it holds the most precious memories.
I reflect on the next 15 years since the passing of my partner. I was a solo businesswoman, single parent, and head of the household, and every moment was full of life.
It wasn’t until 8 years ago that I thought I finally reached a place in my life where I could return to being a once aspiring artist, traveling around the world to meet people, indulging in the food, and admiring the cultures and art!
Then, I received a call: “There is a small hotel in Costa Rica that is in big trouble. Can you come and help?” I didn’t think too much of it since it’s a small business that I could certainly help to turn around from its bankruptcy. My plan was a maximum of 2 years of restructuring the business to be sold. Once ready to be on the market, I had to face COVID. It seemed like a long 2 years of uncertainty that brought me to yet another turn in my life. The investor of the business decided to give up on the hotel and sell during the COVID time. Another 10 months passed, and I ended up buying him out and the hotel became a big part of my life. I own this hotel in Costa Rica! What do I do now? This wasn’t my dream or on my to-do list. Owning a business that is in the jungle of Central America, where I don’t speak the language, didn’t really have much interest other than to come for a tour 25 years ago, brought me to a familiar feeling of starting from the beginning all over again and put me in completely uncharted waters. The first thing that I did was to move full-time and spend all my effort to rehabilitate a severely damaged and run-down structure, which wasn’t the hardest part. The hotel was previously owned by a somewhat famous American rock band member. It was very clear that they used the hotel as their playground rather than a usual hospitality business. I can’t begin to tell what’s been found, told, witnessed, speculated, and gossiped about the earlier times of the hotel by the locals, visitors, and neighbors, and also being exposed to the previous owner personally. Maybe in a book later in time.
It started as someone else’s dream, but I am making it into my dream where I call it home now. I wanted my friends and family to come and feel at home. I want people who’ve been asking themselves, “Where is the Karma when I need it?” to come and be in the presence of the comfort, healing, and beauty of their well-deserved Karma. I live here, and Mango Moon is my home. Anyone who’s staying here is my house guest, and that is the difference from other hotels.
The journey back from the damaged hotel business after COVID was more than I signed up for. Since I started calling Mango Moon my new home, I remember hosting the first Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel. Kids were confused as the whole process took place unexpectedly and rather in secrecy from friends and family. It was hot in the kitchen to bake my famously juicy turkey in Costa Rica! I decided then, I must have my food, Korean food, and that’s how my kids would feel at home when they come and visit me. I was running a high-tech IT business all my life and didn’t even have time to eat food that was prepared for me, as my mother reminded me. I then decided to recreate my home dishes that I made for my kids and also the traditional dishes of Korea that I grew up eating.
Recreating the taste from my memory was an interesting process, especially without any restaurant business experience, not to mention here in the jungle. It took me back to my childhood and life back in Korea 50 years ago. Sourcing the right ingredients was impossible in this tropical climate, unlike Korea, which has 4 seasons. There is no Korean grocery in Costa Rica. All ingredients must be imported and can take months for containers to arrive. With limited supplies, creating the menu was a big challenge. How am I able to create different dishes with the same ingredients, was my mantra. Other than 3 basic ingredients that are imported, chili powder, chili paste, and bean paste, everything must be supplied locally and fresh.
Another challenge was to train the local people to make traditional Korean food that they had never seen or tasted before. I had to simplify the entire process while keeping the integrity of the taste of the old-fashioned food from Korea. All sauces and marinades that we use are made by me to ensure the consistency of the taste.
Consistency was my next challenge. Not only helpers in the kitchen but the suppliers who would provide key ingredients such as Napa cabbages to make kimchi must meet the quality and availability that I am looking for. I learned why Napa cabbages grow in colder climates for the first time in my life. I grew up seeing kimchi cabbages all my life, even in the States, so I was shocked to learn that Costa Rica doesn’t grow Napa cabbage. Even when I find them in local outdoor markets, they look completely different since they’re growing in a warm climate.
After 1 year, I found myself in a place where I am preparing food for those who will stay at the hotel and visitors passing by. Training locals to make Korean dishes and introducing Korean home-cooked meals to the locals is fulfilling. The menu started out with all my favorite Korean dishes that soon became favorites of many. Some keep coming back for more, while others return and find Korean food in their hometown.
Korean families come by and tell me how surprised they were to find home-cooked Korean food in the middle of the jungle in Central America. I hold this comment close to my heart as the highest compliment. I am grateful to see how my humble wish to create Mango Moon as my home and Carambola to share my food is enjoyed by many.
Mango Moon and Carambola are small results of my life’s journey that were initiated by challenges along the way. As long as I continue to create and turn them into something that brings positive outcomes, I can be living my dream. Dream isn’t something that’s in the future, I learned. Dream can be what you make of what you already have in your hands now. So after all, I am living the life of an artist as I find myself continuously creating something out of nothing or hardships. I would call it “Life Art”
Fran
