Hermosa Beach About Town
Return to Wee’s Kitchen
Jin Nok Wi, his son Soora, and a documentary crew at Martha’s last week. Photo
In August of 1972, Jin Nok Wi took over the Surfburger, a beachside hamburger stand a few feet from The Strand, on 22nd Street in Hermosa Beach. But as summer turned into fall, Wi, a Korean immigrant, saw that the tourists and beachgoers who sustained the business began to disappear. To drum up additional customers, he started selling Asian-themed food for dinner. And so began Wee’s Kitchen, a restaurant that ran for almost a decade in the building that today houses Martha’s 22nd Grill.
Approaching his 90th birthday, Wi returned to his former business location for the first time in more than 35 years last week for lunch at Martha’s. The reunion was filmed by a Korean film crew that is producing a documentary about Wi that is expected to open there later this summer.
Wi, who used an altered spelling for the name of the restaurant to make it easier for Americans to pronounce, worked as a radio broadcaster before immigrating to the United States. He gained fame as the first person to announce that North Korean troops had crossed the 38th parallel in 1950, setting off the Korean War.
He and his family eventually settled in Hermosa, where they became part of the community. Speaking through his son Soora, who translated, Wi recalled how attitudes toward him and his restaurant changed over time.
“Seven and eight-year-old kids, who weren’t used to seeing Asians, would throw rocks. But the same kid, 10 years later, would be much more cognizant. They’d be friendly and say, ‘Hi, Mr. Wi!’”
As the crew filmed, Katy Metoyer, owner of the Sugar Dayne cookie shop on Pier Avenue, was sitting nearby. Metoyer, who grew up in Hermosa, remembered eating at Wee’s Kitchen as a kid and commented on how much Hermosa had changed since it was open.
“There’s no one from around here anymore,” she mused.
Wi sold the business in 1981 and today lives in Gardena. He looked around at Martha’s and Hermosa Avenue just outside and said there was plenty to remind him of why he opened in the first place.
“It still feels like home,” Wi said.
Homelessness meeting
The city will host a meeting devoted to strategies for combating homelessness next Wednesday evening. Hermosa was among cities in Los Angeles County awarded funds in a pilot program between the county and United Way of Greater Los Angeles to develop a City Homelessness Plan. The meeting will run from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers.