It’s been a few days since the showdown in Singapore between men with the power to reduce the world to ashes, and we’re all still here, at least for now.
The historical event, which could be remembered as The Dennis Rodman Potcoin.com Accords, ended with a handshake, so we have that going for us, which is nice.
The monthslong buildup to the negotiation brought me to a somewhat embarrassing personal revelation: I know next to nothing of Korean food.
Now, my better half would eat kimchi on anything, probably even ice cream, and she makes her own sometimes, yet Munch is painfully ignorant. But a high school friend raised on Korean fare praised a cheerful newish little Downtown spot — Bae Bae’s Kitchen — as a convenient and accessible gateway to the cuisine of his heritage.
Opened last fall by Seoul native Ashley Bae and her husband, Eddie Lai, who grew up in State College and moved here from Los Angeles a year ago, Bae Bae’s is a pocket-sized lunch and dinner spot that’s so stinkin’ cute you want to squeeze its chubby little restaurant cheeks.
A butcher block table sits before a broad window that looks out to the Liberty Avenue streetscape, and the place is a bolt of greenery — filled with succulents, cacti, sunflowers, hanging plants and various knickknacks that adorn the walls.
Bae Bae’s sort of follows a Chipotle create-your-own-dish format ($11-$13). Pick a base (steamed rice with sesame and seaweed, stir-fried glass noodles, mixed greens); pick a protein (grass-fed grilled and marinated ribeye, organic Korean fried chicken, organic roasted pork belly, crispy tofu); pick a side (kimchi or vegetable tempura). There are also daily specials.
Service was warm, although a pair of Larry David-esque complaints: 1) The ordering process is a little cumbersome, and 2) even if you’re dining there, the food comes in a takeout box, which is kind of annoying to eat out of — it makes you feel like you’re eating at your desk, which no one enjoys. But the food certainly compensates for that.
Among the volumes of beautiful and heartbreaking dedications and old interviews of Anthony Bourdain that I’ve read or listened to the past week, one I came across was an October 2016 interview with Kevin Pang of the vital pop-culture website A.V. Club.
Near the end of a lengthy give and take, Mr. Pang asked, “Lightning round questions: Which country fries the best chicken?” and Mr. Bourdain answered, “Korea. Yeah, no doubt.”
After trying Bae Bae’s version ($13), it’s hard to disagree. It’s also hard to top the assessment our food editor Arthi Subramaniam gave in April when she listed it among her favorite dishes in Pittsburgh.
“The generous pieces of chicken are brined overnight along with bay leaves and wear a thick coat of panko breadcrumbs before being deep fried. So there’s a definite flavor and shattering outer crunch that gives way to juicy white meat.”
She’s dead on. And then there were the “KFC” (Korean fried chicken) wings — $10 for a half dozen. They should be added to any conversation of best wings in the city, post-haste. A deliciously seasoned and crispy armor must be penetrated to reach piping hot bone meat that detonates with juicy flavor. They are exceptional. Even moreso when taken with a bite of the piquant cabbage kimchi.
An order of pork and cabbage dumplings ($7) was light, fresh, delicate, sticky, sweet and salty, and the chicken meatball special came three on a skewer and was light with a sweet glaze and topped with fresh green onion, served over glass noodles.
For the unfamiliar, glass noodles are so named because of their thin, light appearance and a silky texture that often proves evasive to capture with fork or chopsticks. My wife accurately noted aloud that these were “Not as slippy as other glass noodles,” and the sentence hung in the air for a half-second before we both died laughing. She added, “This is what happens when two Yinzers try something new.”
But that’s OK, because trying new things — in this case for me, Korean food — is the essence of life. Next trip? Some bulgogi n’at.
Bae Bae’s Kitchen: 951 Liberty Ave., Downtown; 412-391-1890; www.baebaes.kitchen.
Dan Gigler: dgigler@post-gazette.com; Twitter @gigs412.
First Published: June 14, 2018, 11:00 a.m.