• South Korea •
Bae Bae's Kitchen
September Showcase
Located in the heart of downtown, Bae Bae’s Kitchen is a sustainable, refreshing, Korean-inspired eatery that will satisfy your taste buds and all your aesthetic interior design dreams. Though Bae Bae’s Kitchen is only 2 years old, it has already won multiple awards, including Best Korean food in Pittsburgh. Run by Ashley Bae and her husband, Edward Lai, Bae Bae’s is constantly bustling with people raving about the Korean Fried Chicken and the restaurant’s cozy, plant-filled interior. With vegetarian options and special menu items on their Instagram, Bae Bae’s is sure to have something for everyone, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Owner
Ashley Bae, the owner of Bae Bae’s Kitchen, moved to America from South Korea. 10 years ago, she graduated from NYU in New York City with a degree in Hospitality and Management. While at university, Ashley was president of a club that tried new restaurants in the vibrant city each week, sometimes even venturing to Michelin Star restaurants. She reflected on her experience in the club and noted that the restaurant scene would change every 6-8 months in NYC. For consumers, this meant that there was always new food to try, but as a future restaurant owner, this experience gave her the foresight into what makes a restaurant long-standing and independent.
After college, Ashely moved to Los Angeles where she worked in big catering companies among Hollywood’s most talented individuals. Although handing out glasses of champagne to block-buster stars at the Oscars was a wonderful experience, Ashley missed her family and wanted to feel closer to her roots. She moved to South Korea for two years where she continued her engagement with the food scene as she managed restaurants.
Ready to continue her pursuit of the American dream, she moved to LA again and married her boyfriend. Ashley and her husband were ready to start the next chapter of their lives together; the only question they had was where. The LA restaurant market pushed them away from the west coast, and her husband's familial ties to Pennsylvania brought them to the northeast. Finally, they decided that Pittsburgh would be the perfect place to set up shop because of its proximity to family and its distinguished foodie scene (after all, Yelp did put Pittsburgh in its top 10 cities for food!).
Now, Ashley and her husband have established a successful restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh. The aesthetic of their restaurant is inspired by their mutual admiration of nature, plants, and flowers. They always wanted to have a grand garden in Pittsburgh - one that was just as fruitful as their garden in LA, which had a grand lemon tree and patches of produce that grew multitudes of different vegetables.
When Ashley is not at the restaurant, she is with her two-year-old son who loves spicy kimchi. For those who can’t always handle the heat, take a lesson from him and wash off the kimchi with water to make it less spicy! Her personal favorites from the menu are the vegetarian options and the chicken wings.
Food
Behind the whitewashed brick wall, Ashley’s husband, the head chef, stirs up new creations for the dynamic menu. Ashley and Edward strive to use fresh, local, and healthy ingredients to create a Korean menu with an American twist. Together, they came up with the menu. They were heavily inspired by Ashley's grandma; because he parents were busy, her grandma did a majority of the cooking. Her grandma always made healthy food that tasted great, and they decided to bring this sentiment into their cooking.
While most of her side dishes are more authentic, her main course items - the meats and tofu - usually have a little unique flair to them, which could mean cooking them an innovative sauce or adding a new blend of spices to them. One of these non-traditional items is the kimchi. Inspired by her grandma’s cooking, Ashley makes traditional kimchi with a reduced the amount of MSG; this is done, in part, to accommodate for people who may be allergic and cannot eat traditional Korean food. Also, typically kimchi includes fish sauce, but in order to ensure that vegetarians could try it too, she substituted the fish sauce for her own blend of ingredients.
Most items in the restaurant are homemade and fresh; for instance, the cheese wontons are made daily and the meats, such as the locally-sourced, grass-fed beef, are marinated each night. One of her most popular items, Thai iced tea, is brewed everyday using high quality, loose-leaf tea and is one of several things that sells out daily. Regardless of what you get, your meal is served in a cute paper to-go box with a sticker of the signature Bae Bae’s kitchen logo sealing it together.
Restaurant
The name "Bae Bae's Kitchen" comes from Ashley's last name, and it symbolically represents the homey, delightful environment that she strived to create. She wanted to foster a welcome, warm atmosphere that so that patrons can enjoy the experience of eating Korean comfort food that is just like "mom's home cooking." All of the food is kid-friendly; her son tries everything.
In addition to creating an aesthetically-pleasing environment and serving delicious food, Bae Bae's Kitchen is also a sustainable restaurant. All of the beverages are served with paper straws, and the food comes with wooden utensils. When the restaurant first opened, it received the "Silver Plate" designation, and the current goal is to achieve the "Golden Plate" Status. The restaurant uses organic and local ingredients in order to make its dishes. Although these ingredients tend to be more expensive, Ashley does not worry about the cost because she wants to use the best, and only the best, ingredients for her food and to treat her customers like they were family.
They also take pride in their greenhouse - the first establishment in Pittsburgh to have one. Sponsored by the city, the greenhouse is open to the public and helps maintain a safe and welcoming atmosphere.
To this day, the restaurant has had several recognitions. For example, the Post Gazette claims that they have the best wings in Pittsburgh. Ashley revealed that it took many attempts to create the perfect recipe for Korean fried chicken, but she is extremely proud of the dish. They have also been named the Pittsburgh 2019 Korean food winner.
Additionally, the decor of the restaurant is extremely well-thought out and chosen deliberately. When we visited, the restaurant manifested Halloween festivity with Halloween decor, such as mini skull statues of the shades orange and purple. From a customer perspective, it is admirable to see the careful consideration in every aspect of the restaurant, inclusive of the decor, the food, and the overall ambiance.
Announced on September 28, 2019, Bae Bae's is planning to open a new cafe in downtown Pittsburgh and will be an extension of the original restaurant. They plan to serve Korean desserts, Korean shaved ice (bingsu), bubble tea, Kim bap, and more! So be on the look-out!