Welcome to Beyond the Plating! This will be a series of blogs that takes my love of food photography and combines it with the stories, passion, and knowledge from great restaurants and restaurateurs. The idea behind this series is to showcase unique cuisines, matched with unique stories on how restaurants get started, how they interact with their community, and what drives them into the future.
I am dedicating this series to my mother, Carol Jefts, who we lost to cancer in 2002. I look forward to spreading the curiosity for cuisine that she instilled in me.
Our first stop on this journey…
Wokology:
Wokology specializes in asian-fusion cuisine utilizing, you guessed it, the wok. I first came across the restaurant while walking around downtown Roanoke and I was drawn to the awesome photos on the side of their building. I liked it so much, I actually worked part-time on the wok! While I was there, I got to know the founder of Wokology, Jonathan Kelly.
Jon is a highly motivated entrepreneur, who loves his community. He is always on the move, traveling and biking. If you follow Wokology on social media, you will see that Jon is always looking forward; thinking of new ideas and ways to improve his business. Since I left, Jon has explored thai tea, spring rolls, pork belly, and so much more! Every time I go into Wokology, my first question is always, "what's new?".
Jon is also a well versed traveler who has been all over the globe and experienced all types of food. These travels helped inspire the creation of Wokology! In many parts of the world, you find a local standard. In Thailand, there is Pad Thai, in Vietnam, the ingredient of choice is fish sauce. Jon asked himself, can we bring these standards together, making available the best of Asia's noodles, sauces, and cuisines in a one stop shop? Of course! But where will it be successful?
Roanoke, Virginia! Jon says that Roanoke is a perfect incubator city. With mega medical industries like Carilion, bringing new and diverse minds to the city, Roanoke makes a place like Wokology valuable. Jon feels that Roanoke is full of people who want to try new things and Wokology feeds the plethora of diverse appetites.
Sorry!!!! I made a mistake here. I recently learned (After the shoot of course) That putting chopsticks into the bowl is a big no no and is reserved for funeral rites. I am so sorry about that!
This isn’t the first time Jon has bet on Roanoke. Before 2014, the only restaurants in Roanoke that delivered, were offering pizza or chinese food. It wasn’t until Jon’s girlfriend wanted Nawab, a local favorite that specializes in Indian cuisine, to deliver, that he got the idea for Fetch.
Before the likes of Grubhub, Uber Eats, or DoorDash came to Roanoke, Fetch revolutionized the delivery game. One of the things that Jon gained through Fetch was an insight into what people craved most: noodles.
Fast forward to today, where at 1 Campbell Avenue, you can get a wide variety of rice and noodle dishes from all across Asia, to meet your taste. For a food photographer, asian cuisine is a gold mine of different colors and textures with the wide array of veggies, noodles, and proteins. The sauces are not only delicious, they add that extra element to a dish that makes photographing them exciting.
I would like to thank Jonathan for inviting me into his world and sharing his experiences and passions. I love Asian cuisine now, and he has a lot to do with that. He also knows where to get the best authentic ingredients, locally! I urge you to take a visit to 1 Campbell Avenue and get a bowl! If you are new to Asian cuisine I highly recommend the Japanese bowl, but if you want to branch out, do NOT sleep on the Indo bowl.
Thank YOU for taking the time to read and learn about Wokology. The next stop in our Beyond the Plating journey specializes in cuisine from the land of 4,000 different varieties of potatoes! Can you guess where?
Thank you for all the likes, love, and shares,
-Taylor Reschka