"At his tofu-centric restaurant, Joodooboo, Joo interprets Korean food and flavors through a California lens, an approach shaped by his training at restaurants like Chez Panisse and sharpened during a transformative year spent in Korea in 2024: While seeking to better understand Korean food through the eyes of rural cooks, Joo tasted a tofu so remarkable it redirected his life, leading to an apprenticeship where he learned to make dooboo (the Korean word for tofu). Making tofu became Joo's meditation practice and the foundation of Joodooboo."
"Joo makes tofu using a careful process that involves domestic, organic soybeans and a traditional method of coagulation with reconstituted seawater. The result is blocks of jiggling, pearl-white protein that customers quickly snatch up. Also on Joodooboo's menu, which leans vegetarian, are small-batch banchan made with hyperlocal ingredients, and mains like chilled acorn noodles with nori vinaigrette and pickled mushrooms and a rice bowl with seasonal veggies and fried egg."
Steve Joo runs Joodooboo, a small Oakland eatery centered on freshly made tofu and Korean-style small plates with a California perspective. Joo uses domestic organic soybeans and a traditional coagulation method with reconstituted seawater to create silky, jiggling tofu. The menu leans vegetarian and includes small-batch banchan, chilled acorn noodles with nori vinaigrette and pickled mushrooms, and a seasonal rice bowl topped with a fried egg. A transformative year in Korea led Joo to apprentice in dooboo-making, turning tofu production into a meditative, continually refined practice that shapes the restaurant's offerings.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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