Our Name
The name “Sura Eats” finds its conception early in 2014. My business partner, David, and I were dreaming of one day owning a business where we didn’t have to answer to anyone and were able to call the shots but more than that, a business where we can see our values, passions, and dreams woven through every aspect of our day to day. We discussed what kind of company we would want to be for our staff, their families, and our families. We dreamed of what we could do with our funds to serve and better our communities and the world (more on this another time!). And we discussed our upbringing as Korean Americans raised by immigrant moms and dads. Naturally, we began to dream about all the Korean foods we wanted to eat there and then (we ended up going to late night Korean bbq) and it dawned on us – why don’t we serve the food we love? We realized there was so many mom-and-pop stores in the DC/MD/VA area but how many were there that were widely accessible to all people? Not too many. This conversation, was the beginning of “Sura Eats”, though the name was not in existence. Conversation then turned into research – lot of Wikipedia, websites about the history of Korean food, and even more hovering over my mom’s shoulder as she cooked day to day, pleading with her to share her recipes. The more I read about Korea, a deep fascination, curiosity and realization of my ignorance of what it meant to be Korean surfaced. This spirit of discovery continues to this day.
On one of my research times, I was reading about the dynasties that ruled Korea before it became the two Koreas we know today. The one that fascinated me the most was the last dynasty kingdom, Joseon Dynasty, that ruled the land for over five centuries. This dynasty was responsible for instilling a greater sense of pride for Koreans. Joseon Dynasty was the height of “Korean pride” with the huge emphasis on culture (art, fashion, literature) and my favorite, food. Official positions in the government were created to rule/manage the food in which the land produced, which is the foundation of what we know as “Sura”.
These meals, or Sura, often represented the whole country of Korea. Various regional ingredients would be sourced, brought to the palace, prepared and presented to the royalty. Surasang was the table setting of the last meal of Sura which consisted of three tables with over 30 dishes.
Surasang dining placement
So in short we say that “Sura” is “royal cuisine” but more than that an idea and philosophy of food designed to communicate health and wellness, culture, diversity.. Korean pride. We fell in love with this idea but believed that every person should have access to this as it was modeled by my parents, the most hospitable people I have ever met on earth. We could not horde “royal cuisine” or “Korean pride” for ourselves but needed it to share it with the world. We wanted to take all the flavors of our childhoods and make it available to the world. In the same way my parents opened up our dinner table to my non-Korean elementary, middle, and high school friends, we wanted to share this gift to whoever would take the chance on us. We wanted people to experience real good eats. Sura Eats. What was once for royalty, now accessible and available to all.