Jeju and the David Lynch of Korea

A couple of weeks ago was Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving. I had 5 days off and headed to Jeju, a large island south of Korea known as 'the Hawaii of Korea'. My co-teacher and her husband are from there and I was invited to stay at her mothers house. She showed amazing hospitality and I had a great time. Jeju was beautiful, filled with volcanic rock, white sand beaches, palm trees and some very colorful characters.

One of the days I decided to take a walk from the beach I was at to a place with a stone Buddha high in a cave. It was a 5 or 6 mile walk but hey, I didn't have anything better to do and it was along the sea on a clear and gorgeous day. About 3/4 of the way there I started getting very tired and hungry and began thinking this wasn't such a hot idea.

Right then I spotted a sign for the 'Mokgoli Cafe'. Interesting. It was the absolute middle of nowhere, but there appeared to be a small village about 100 yards inland to my right and I started walking. I approach the cafe with no one in sight. "Anyang ha seyo? (Hello?)" I called out. A very friendly and smiling man came around the corner, apparently the cafe's proprietor. I asked him what he was serving for lunch to which he replied, "Spaghetti". I wanted Korean food and asked him if there was a place in town that served traditional food. He happily directed me in to town to another restaurant, which, this being the day before Chuseok, was closed. There was a bus however, which from what I could tell would take me to my Buddha in the cave destination, and so I sat down next to a weathered old woman and waited. And waited. And waited. When she got up and walked away, I decided I might need to just start walking again, but in the meantime I was still hungry and to heck with it, I was getting some spaghetti.

So I walked back to the cafe and entered. Wow. Really nice little place, very hiply styled in a modern Asian sort of way. I ordered the spaghetti and after the man placed the order with the chef, also his wife. We started talking. Now, we're in the middle of nowhere, I'm the only customer in this tiny cafe, and so I ask the man if he is also a farmer or what else he does besides run this little cafe. He chuckles. No, I'm not a farmer he says. Turns out he was a film director who had gotten tired of show business and moved to Jeju to run a cafe and study Buddhism. He pulls a book off the shelf, written in English, about his life and career. As I flip through it, I realize this guy must be some kind of a big deal in the independent film scene in Korea. I have a Korean friend who is a film student and he has confirmed to me that yes, this man, Jang Sun-woo, is kind of a big deal.

At this point my mind is blown. Here I am, middle of nowhere on a subtropical island in Korea, stupidly trying to walk way further than I should have, and I stumble into having lunch with the David Lynch or Quentin Tarantino of Korea. Then the pasta comes out. Now here in modern Korea they've grown to love pasta, pizza and all sorts of food from all over the world. It usually however, is Korean-ized, that is to say the pizza has sweet potatoes for a topping and some strange mustard sauce instead of tomato. So I'm not expecting much from my middle of nowhere spaghetti, probably some overcooked noodles covered in ketchup for God's sake.

Please keep in mind that I am a cook. I lived in Italy. I know good food and I know good pasta. And against all odds this was one of the top 3 pasta dishes I've had in my entire life. Perfectly al dente noodles in a delicious creamy tomato and garlic sauce. After one bite my jaw hit the floor. Again, here is the scene: middle of nowhere subtropical island Korea shouldn't even be taking this walk stumble upon this tiny cafe owned and operated by the Korean David Lynch who retired from stardom to move to an island to study Buddhism eating the best spaghetti of my life. Just crazy. Oh and it turns out he has a friend who lives in my hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico and is a painter.

I milk my time with this incredible man by ordering another beer. Finally it's time to move on and they call me a cab which whisks me to my waiting Buddha in perfect time to pray, reflect, and then watch the sunset over the ocean.

It's amazing how taking the path unknown and less traveled can result in extraordinary things, and how our perceptions often distort the reality of a thing.