Fans of soba will soon have a new place to go to get their fix when Kamonegi opens in the space formerly occupied by Art of the Table. Wallyhood was contacted by Chef Mutsuko Soma who is proud to be opening her first restaurant in our neighborhood. Soma comes to Kamonegi after 3 years at Miyabi 45th. (Miyabi recently closed after an attempted reboot which we wrote about here.)
Says Soma:
I was opening chef and co-owner of Miyabi 45th (which closed this spring), and after working 3 years at Miyabi, I left on maternity leave to have a child. Now I’m back and excited to open my own restaurant here in Fremont/Wallingford where I live. Kamonegi will feature seasonal tempura and hand made buckwheat noodles while allowing customers insight and access to my cooking and preparation with the chef’s table that Art of the Table was known for before.
A recent article in Seattle Met details Soma’s journey to Kamonegi. It began six years ago at the Art Institute of Seattle and stints at a number of well-known area restaurants such as Harvest Vine. But the call of the soba noodle brought her home to Japan where she perfected her style of hand-making soba before she returned to Seattle.
Now, you may think that you could make a pretty mean soba noodle using that pasta maker that’s been sitting in the back of the cupboard, and more power to you if you’re even willing to try. But Soma starts with the dried grains themselves (20% wheat, 80% buckwheat), and grinds them into flour using heavy milling stones (which, I’ll bet, you don’t have in the back of your cupboard). You can check out the process in this video here.
Chef Soma hopes you’ll support her after she opens in the Fall. In the meantime, she has a crowd funding page on indiegogo where you can go to show your support now. Says Mutsuko, “We are already a third of the way to our goal and would very much love the support of the community to ensure success and on time opening.”