Michelle Lopez, owner of Taste of Asia, unpacks on a freight day. The challenge of offering Asian cuisine in a small town is the unpredictability, Lopez said. "Not everyone will eat Asian food in one day, or two days. I am always thinking about ideas for the next day."
When Michelle Lopez opened Taste of Asia nearly seven years ago, it was after her boyfriend had become her ex-boyfriend.
She had come to Wrangell to be with him from Juneau, where her parents had moved from the Philippines 30 years ago. She stayed in Wrangell to make a life for herself and her kids.
When she came here, there were no places that served rice, she said. "I was so hungry. I thought maybe I should look for a place to put a little business."
The owner of the Front Street building Taste of Asia now operates out of had the ice cream shop downstairs. Lopez got a job scooping ice cream, and when the owner retired he transferred the business license to her.
"I didn't want to be an employee anymore," she said. "Jerry (Massin) gave me an opportunity to handle the shop."
The ice cream still occupies one side of the restaurant, and Lopez was able to offer sushi and one Asian meal a day, to start, adding from there. "Now we have such a vast menu on the board."
"I was proud of myself, as a single parent, I provided for my children by my own hard work." Her son, Austin, is 21, and daughter Alyssa turned 23 last Saturday.
Lopez said she had a job in a different industry in Juneau, making good money. "But my passion is designing sushi. This gave me the opportunity to do what I really want."
She attended a culinary arts course in Seattle in 2014 that specialized in baking. "I didn't finish my course, because I felt bored about making pastries. That wasn't what I wanted."
Her "second mom" in Seattle, as she called her, was Korean and "was always making sushi." Lopez gained inspiration from her, in the artistry she puts into her California roll, dragon roll or caterpillar tempura rolls.
Her challenges in Wrangell are weather and supply issues. Finding Asian ingredients, such as eel sauce, is difficult.
"Mostly the hardest is in how you make your food valuable," she said. Shipping costs are very high. Her challenge now is if she can still offer an $18 meal after all the price increases. Bell pepper used to be $1 or $3 per pound. Now they're $2 each, she said.
During the pandemic, there was a mad dash on rice. "Everyone was panicking and buying all the rice at the store," Lopez said.
"It's a big challenge being in a restaurant business, how you provide all that without them being disappointed," Lopez said.
In addition, in a small town, people's tastes can be unpredictable.
"That's a big challenge - 2,000 people. Not everyone will eat Asian food in one day, or two days. I am always thinking about ideas for the next day, and the allergies of people. Some people have shrimp allergies, or don't eat pork, or they only want vegetarian, so we consider all of that," she said. "The hardest is looking for people to work here in a small town."
Lopez said she is very strict and strategic with her children about how the food and rice is laid out as they help in the restaurant. "Especially if it's a sushi tray, we have to do it the right way in how we present the food."
People had told her businesses in Wrangell don't last long. "'Mostly they close in one or two years,'" she recalled. "But I'm so glad we're still here, fighting."
"There are a lot of people who will appreciate you and there are people who don't," she said. "I am glad the town still supports us. We've been here for almost seven years now."
Lopez plans to start a renovation in May. "We are going to remodel everything, from the flooring to the walls to the chairs."
She plans to put in booths and replace the carpet with hard flooring, and change the lighting.
There will still be ice cream, as well as Asian-inspired offerings like sushi, General Tso chicken, Mongolian beef, orange chicken, crab rangoon, and a Filipino noodle dish called pancit.
She enjoys working and cooking for herself because she has more freedom. "The freedom that I get is my mom is not watching me. Because my mom is a good cook, too. I got it from my mom."
Lopez' mom is good with desserts, and her sister is "very good with baking." The family had a small restaurant in the Philippines.
"It is freedom to run a business by myself," she said. "I didn't realize I can do it. I didn't have the belief in myself. But now I found it. I can do it. I am so thankful."
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