Take a peek into the Shell on twenty fourth and Rio Grande Avenue. Behind a beer cave and cabinets stocked with chips and champagne, there’s a small galley kitchen occupied by bok choy, bean sprouts and proprietor Wee Fong Ehlers.
A J2 prepare dinner by day and business-owner by night time, Ehlers stated she opened Wee’s Cozy Kitchen in November 2021. But, as a result of restaurant’s hidden location and lack of on-line presence, Ehlers stated she struggled to usher in clients for almost a yr. It wasn’t till a mixture of coincidence and collaboration with UT scholar organizations that Ehlers’ love for cooking discovered an adoring viewers.
Ehlers, a Malaysian-Chinese language immigrant, stated she adopted her sister’s household to Austin in 1999. For 11 years, Ehlers labored in The Castilian as a prepare dinner in command of giant batches of sauce — an expertise she stated she credit for her cooking potential.
Regardless of studying to prepare dinner in the US, Ehlers stated she remembers childhood meals to create Malaysian flavors. To make sure her genuine flavors, Ehlers stated she makes some extent to supply solely the very best high quality elements.
“I grew up with the flavors (on) my tongue,” Ehlers stated. “Each time I alter my elements, I style it. I really feel it. I’m a part-time enterprise, (so) it’s extra handy for me (to) purchase frozen galangal (spice) as a substitute of the recent galangal, however the frozen galangal’s style is completely completely different.”
Chemistry freshman Justin Le, who stumbled upon Wee’s Cozy Kitchen on a late-night snack run, stated he may style Ehlers’s high quality elements.
“I walked into (Shell) to get a bag of chips and soda, however then (I) regarded to the nook, and there’s this little kitchen with some tables round,” Le stated. “I used to be thrown again as a result of I acquired the hen curry laksa, (and it had) huge, recent greens that I can solely get again at house. It jogged my memory of consuming homestyle meals.”
Le stated he informed his roommate Yee Hong Pua, a pc and electrical engineering and enterprise freshman, about Wee’s after his first go to. But, Pua stated he didn’t give the restaurant a second thought till his scholar group, College Administration and Enterprise Analysis Affiliation, labored to extend Wee’s publicity by growing her Instagram web page and conducting revenue shares.
Pua, a toddler of Malaysian-Chinese language immigrants, stated he particularly loved consulting for Ehlers due to her function in spreading Malaysian-Chinese language delicacies.
“Rising up, I didn’t actually see any Malaysian-Chinese language eating places round,” Pua stated. “The one Malaysian-Chinese language meals I may get was from my mother and father or going again to Malaysia. As an individual of the identical tradition that identifies along with her, it’s actually heartwarming to assist her enterprise develop.”
Pua stated he credit Wee’s fast development — a doubled Instagram following and options by Bon Appétit and The Infatuation — to her private allure and fervour for cooking.
“(When) we began working along with her, I began to actually see (her) allure,” Pua stated. “It’s a one-woman store, she runs the entire thing. She places quite a lot of coronary heart into her meals, and he or she takes time to work together with all her clients, which is one thing I don’t assume you see lots with eating places nowadays.”
Ehlers stated her newfound fame serves as a testomony to years of laborious work and permits her to introduce Malaysian meals to the larger Austin neighborhood.
“It looks like I handed via a really shaky bridge (over) raging water (and) crocodiles (and) snakes,” Ehlers stated. “Now I do know my meals is nice. It’s acknowledged, (and) I’m so blissful (the) Malaysian identify is uncovered to Austin individuals.”