BATTLE OF THE BEEF @ SEOUL KOREAN BARBECUE I was sitting in front of my computer at about 3 am with my usual cyber-induced blank stare when I decided to check my e-mail. I began wading through the various array of 'Buy this.... ' 'You're paying too much for that.... ' 'Have you ever thought about.... ' and so on, ad nauseam. Then amidst the congealing spam I found an actual message! It was from a recent friend, Darlene Cypser, inviting me to dinner with Trygve Lode and Julian Jung Lee, two of the stars of the soon-to-be-released action movie, Dragon and the Hawk. I had met Trygve before; as a matter of fact we had trained for a project together briefly but never got the chance to work together. Although I had never met Julian, I had heard of him and some of his other movies like Fatal Revenge, My Samurai and Tiger Street. So dinner looked like it would be very interesting at the least. Darlene, Trygve and I arrived a little before Julian so we had time to catch up a little. It turns out that Julian was in town for a couple of reasons; one was to pick up some of the promo material for Dragon and the Hawk. The other and more exiting reason was to discuss some of his plans for his next film, Straight Blast. Needless to say, my overactive imagination began to whirl with visions of being attacked by ninjas on the silver screen, paparazzi snapping pictures as I exit my limo with the crowd chanting, "Bobby ... Bobby ... Bobby." Then I felt a hand on my shoulder-- my eyes began to focus on Darlene shaking me, saying "Bobby .... Bobby," trying to bring me back to reality. Just about then Julian arrived, so we all exchanged greetings and headed for our table. The conversation circling the table was mostly industry oriented, but with plenty of personal history and humor. Since Julian speaks fluent Korean, we put our fate in his hands and let him order for us. Even though I have had plenty of chopstick experience, he was kind enough to make sure we all had forks. Our waitress lit the barbecue that was recessed in the center of our table and brought us a couple plates of dumplings as appetizers. They were absolutely awesome! I was trying to make a good impression so I controlled the urge to eat more than my share but it wasn't easy! Trygve produced some promo posters for Julian to sign while we were waiting for our main course to arrive. Before long most of the staff and some of the patrons were lining up for autographs and Julian gracefully indulged them all. Our meal arrived, and do I mean MEAL! The bulk of our meal was a never-ending supply of raw beef that the waitress kept dumping into our table's barbecue. The beef-o-rama was accompanied by a table full of bowls containing things like pickled radishes, marinated squash, fish cakes, four-alarm kim chi, and tofu just to name a few. The way it all worked was by taking some meat and various side dishes wrapping them in a romaine lettuce leaf and eating them like a burrito. Julian and I took turns putting away marinated jalapenos and kim chi. Not necessarily a wholehearted competition but something I figured we would definitely both pay for later! I learned a lot about my new friends as the gorge fest continued. The conversation remained animated and entertaining enough that I wasn't paying much attention to how much food I was actually putting away. It turns out neither Trygve nor Julian were your average action movie stars. Trygve studied field theory and particle physics at the University of Denver at the age of 17, and on a more recent note started five businesses last year just to keep busy. Julian also has a few impressive feats to his credit, like founding the Wonshim Tae Kwon Do Association, being named Best Instructor of the Year and then Master of the Year. And on top of all that Darlene is not only the producer of Dragon and the Hawk. but she is also Trygve's lawyer! (And she seemed like such a nice girl.) I was trying to digest all this new information when all of a sudden I began to realize how much food I had actually put away. The table was in disarray; half empty bowls littered every inch of my view. A few tiny scraps of uneaten meat sizzled in the barbeque. It looked as if a dozen people had eaten here in some sort of frenzied glutton fest. Had we actually done all this? I looked down at my stomach in disbelief, and I'm not sure, but I think it looked back at me the same way. Needless to say I was as full as physics would allow. We all decided we had done our part to reduce the cow population and headed for the door with promises to stay in touch, not in the classic showbiz 'have your people call my people' vibe but in a more the genuine sense of camaraderie that comes from having won a battle together (a battle of BEEF!). All in all, the tasty and abundant food, the continually attentive service, and the truly unparalleled company all contributed to a very successful and enjoyable evening. And I only lost my grip on reality once-- the medication must be working..... All Rights Reserved © 2001 Go-Go Media, LLC