The Wholly Bowl consists of a counter and a couple of tables, no more. The menu is equally diminutive, stopping after a few rice or noodle dishes and a couple of other items. Yet to describe the new spot in Lakeport adequately would require more than a few pages of newsprint.
Take the Korean street tacos. The meat has all the gutteral intensity, comforting warmth and prickly sneer of daeji bulgogi. It sits, however, on the sort of flour tortilla found in north of the border Mexican restaurants. And owner Jennifer Allen-Malinowski dresses this cultural clash with avocado, lime, slaw and a creamy Sriracha sauce — a kind of Asian-Mexican-Carolina fusion.
It”s a riveting dish, the sort of thing that will bring a table conversation to a halt as the enthusiastic combination of flavors begins to carry each person away.
But that hardly begins to tell the full story of just one creative taco. The slaw, for instance, is tangy and crisp and perfectly capable of pinning the gochujang-infused pork to the ropes. It works instead as a tag team partner, alternately drawing your attention to the vegetables then returning your wide-eyed gaze back to the meat.
Oh, and Allen-Malinowski is not content to shred up a normal batch of slaw. No, she adds kale into the mix.
“Kale gives a nice crunch,” she explained. “You don”t know it”s there, but you”re getting it.”
Allen-Malinowski opened the little kitchen a month ago, in a space near Lakeport”s Grocery Outlet, yet tucked out of the way. She refers to The Wholly Bowl as a food truck without wheels, a place committed to simplicity and creativity, all at the same time.
There are four ”bowl” options on the current menu. Chicken teriyaki and pork both rest on a bed of jasmine rice. The sesame bowl involves rice noodles and Thai peanut sauce, while the vegan bowl — yes, the place features vegan and vegetarian options — switches things up with the addition of quinoa.
All are densely flavorful and surprisingly light, at the same time.
“This is the way I got my kids to eat a healthy dinner,” Allen-Malinowski observed. “It”s a bit devious.”
Scheming, plotting, conniving—who cares, if it results in something this impressive.
Of course, Allen-Malinowski”s skills were not just honed at a kitchen table surrounded by fussy kids. She earned a culinary degree from Mendocino College then returned for more, picking up an additional degree in business.
During her second round of studies, Allen-Malinowski prepared a paper on healthy eating and the fast food industry. She realized that words like “quick” and “inexpensive” too often settled around burger chains, leaving “healthy” somewhere out of sight. She determined to put the three together in one place.
“Two months later I was signing the lease,” she pointed out.
The Wholly Bowl is unique. Nowhere else in Lake County can one find teriyaki chicken on a taco, for example, or quinoa sharing the same bowl as fresh lime and avocado — or even a kitchen shelf stocked with eel sauce. One afternoon Allen-Malinowski paused over a bottle of Sriracha and broke into a devilish “what if” grin. Soon she was conjuring up a searing version of her peanut sauce.
“It”s really Asian-Latin fusion,” she said, explaining her style. “It”s healthy comfort food. It”s very different.”
And too elusive for a few words. But if forced to pare down a description of The Wholly Bowl … ah, it”s probably best to let the restaurant”s small menu speak in its creative, consuming, alluring volumes.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
