I was able to get a hold of Jackey and invite him to dinner earlier this month on the 9th, a Tuesday.  I had been meaning to take him to my absolute favorite Japanese ramen house in Jangsan for quite some time, so this provided the perfect opportunity to sit down with him and get to know more about the man himself and the situation surrounding Pasta Factory.

Jackey is, quite possibly, the most humble person I have ever met, and will ever meet for the rest of my life.  Anyone who has been to Pasta Factory and had Jackey pay a visit to their table knows that this man carries himself with a pleasant disposition...but actually having a real conversation with the man reveals a personality that is astonishingly wholesome in nature.

This, coupled with the story of how Jackey came to be the proprietor of a restaurant, made it all the more difficult to sit through his account of the latest tragedies to befall him and his family of staff at P.F.  I was nearly in tears by the end of the night.

To put it ever so mildly, the last three months have been pretty rough for Jackey.  P.F. had finally hit a successful stride late last year, and all of his hard work was beginning to pay off.  Believe it or not, the first 3 years were an uphill battle, and Jackey was constantly being put to the test, struggling with turning a substantial profit.  It took him four years to build the loyal clientele he had just before P.F. shut its doors.  The original building owner had a good business relationship with Jackey, providing the standard going-rate on a lease for a location in the Kyungsung area.  It wasn't until the ownership of the building changed hands that Jackey began running into problems.  The new owner is, according to Jackey, extremely greedy (surprise, surprise).  I don't know much about the politics of leasing and what have you, but needless to say, the guy screwed Jackey over, attempting to extort more money from him.  This guy drove out pretty much every business that was in that building with his underhanded business dealings.  Obviously, it landed Jackey in a spot where he had to close up shop, but as a result Jackey's wallet took a massive hit.  He lost a LOT of money due to this new owner, and absolutely EVERYTHING that made up Pasta Factory was a complete waste.  Everything from the sign to the tablecloths...Jackey had to scrap all of it.  He never saw a dime for any of it, couldn't sell a thing.  He's got cases of coffee beans that he'll never be able to use and never be able to sell, so when he invited me to coffee after dinner he walked into the coffee shop and gave the owner a bag of beans...just cause Jackey is like that. 

So as I learned, Jackey never planned on closing the doors...and he was clinging onto the hope that he'd be able to find some way to salvage his business.  It wasn't until a couple of days before his decided closing date that he broke the news to his staff.  It all happened so suddenly and his staff, whom Jackey always treated like family, never saw it coming.

Not two weeks after P.F. closes its doors, Jackey is hit with the tragic news that one of his former employees, Andrew, was hit by a car while crossing the street.  For anyone who may know Andrew, they would know him as one of the absolute friendliest people on Jackey's staff.  He can speak English quite well, sporting a buzz-cut and black, thick framed glasses.  Guy was ALWAYS at our table, smiling and talking to us, always remembered our regular orders, always knew that my fiance liked her salad with the dressing on the side.

Andrew gets hit by this car so hard that he is literally sent up in the air, and suffers severe trauma to the head.  He's convulsing on his way into the hospital before lapsing into a coma for 21 days.  Poor guy is in his early 20's, doctors didn't have a great outlook for his recovery.  Miraculously, though, he comes out of his coma and is somewhat coherent.  Jackey was one of the first ones at the hospital when he heard the news of the accident, he was always at Andrew's side and always there for his mother.  Thankfully, Andrew is up and walking today, though his speech patterns have suffered slightly as a result and he's still got some swelling of the brain, doctors think he could make a 100% recovery.

Still, knowing all that Jackey has been through, I almost couldn't take hearing all of this.  Pasta Factory was always more than just a restaurant to me and my fiance...it was easily the most welcoming place in Busan.  Jackey and his staff always greeted us with the warmest of welcomes, and the brightest of smiles.  This had been a huge part of our lives here in Busan, part of the whole experience.  We NEVER considered these people to be our waiters or servers or chefs...they were our friends.  The food was awesome, yes, but this place really meant something to me.  I feel like a piece of Busan died for me that night, sitting with Jackey, realizing and understanding that he may never reopen Pasta Factory as it was.   Every single one of the people that worked there were always good to us, and Jackey made it his mission to see to it that they could share in his dream...and it simply was to make people happy.

I know it may sound corny to some of you, but Jackey told me what he's life's dream is, his ultimate goal...and that was to design a place where people could go, families, couples, children, and just be happy.  It didn't even have to be a restaurant, it could be something as simple as a park.  When he told this to me, he said "I don't want anyone to know I designed it, I just want them to walk in and see them smile...and that is what will make me happy."

It's encouraging, I thought, to come face-to-face with people like this.  The human race might not be doomed after all, if someone like Jackey is all that he appears to be...if there could just be more people like him in this world.

Again, maybe its really corny, but I found myself choking up several times that night.  For him it wasn't even about the food, it was just about having a place where he could see people happy.  To hell with taking credit for it...if he could just disappear into the back after seeing a few smiles, that would make his day.  Now, because of some greedy jackass, that's been taken away from him.

If all has gone according to Jackey's plan, he should be in Italy by now.  He was supposed to leave for Milano the following week after our dinner together.  He's going for at least a month, but possibly as long as three months.  He's just going to be with family, to absorb the culture, to maybe enhance his culinary repertoire (though he's assured me that it's not the foremost thing on his mind), and to find himself both emotionally and spiritually.  As far as I'm concerned, he's earned the rest.  When he gets back, he said he's doubtful that he'll reopen another "Pasta Factory", but he has been looking at different locations and he might consider opening something different in the future.  As for now, all is uncertain.  Jackey has been knocked down hard a few times, both recently and in the past, but his resolve has never faltered.

Jackey needs to take a moment to focus on himself, for once.  I hope that, whenever he gets back, he'll have managed to find some enlightenment in a place that is seeped in culture and history and religion. 

I hope that, whatever he decides to do when he gets back, I will have the esteemed privilege of being here to take part in it.