Japanese breakfast

On Friday, as part of CAAMFEST, Doug and I went to see a film with Jon and Leah. Called "Family Ingredients," the show turned out to be the pilot for a new tv show in Hawaii that traces the cultural origins of all the different foods that have come to the islands --Filipino, Polynesian, Chinese, and in this case, Japanese.

The featured guest was Michelin starred chef Alan Wong, who, it turns out, is half Japanese, half Chinese. And his comfort food from childhood is tamago kake gohan.

Sort of.

Before you even walk in the door, you can tell this is a place that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Crunchy Air

To enter Brown Sugar Kitchen is to give yourself over to indulgence. Yes, they have a fruit bowl, but that's not what you're going to eat. (And quite frankly I recommend against it as it's pretty weak…) Maybe somebody orders the granola, but anyone that dedicated to their health these days is probably also gluten and refined sugar free, so probably not. So you might as well just go for some Atkins-esque fried chicken. As Doug points out however, waffles aren't Atkins, and they are really a must-have.

To back up, Brown Sugar Kitchen is an outpost of gourmet southern food in a food desert in West Oakland. We stumbled upon it when we were shopping for tile and countertops at nearby Granite Expo, wondering why there were people waiting outside this tiny, brown, triangular building that looked like a railroad depot or something. The area is desolate, but somehow at this restaurant there was a 25 minute wait for brunch.

We soon learned that this place was a little famous. And after eating there, we learned why.