Flash back to the 1990s: David Sherrill is 6 years old, rolling silverware in the restaurant where his mom works. In a few years, he will move from Knoxville to Chattanooga. He doesn’t know that yet. Other kids are occupying their time with video games. For Sherrill, it’s crayons and napkins and flatware. He doesn’t know that he and his mom will keep working together in restaurants, bringing Korean classics to a small town in Southeast Tennessee. For now, he’s just rolling forks and knives.
Present day Sherrill is cooking marinated slices of pork collar with onions and scallions. They are served over steamed rice with kimchi and zucchini. Kimchi is an iconic Korean dish that has made its way into the American zeitgeist in recent years. It’s traditionally cabbage or Korean radishes (or other vegetables) covered with spices and seasonings like gochugaru, onions, garlic, ginger and then fermented in these beautiful clay pots, called onggi (Korean earthenware).
Sherrill studied chemical engineering.
“I guess I lost enthusiasm for it,” he said on the back patio of his restaurant on a recent day.
But he remembers what he did have enthusiasm for: cooking, working in kitchens, the pace of it all.