Shop Penn

How did Papermill Fresh Asian Kitchen come to be?
I used to actually work in corporate in Sydney, and I just had a real obsession with rice paper rolls. So one day, instead of doing a grad job, I decided to sell rice paper rolls at farmers markets and more specifically, what I call the spurrito, a spring roll burrito wrapped in rice paper. Did that for a year and had some friends living in Philadelphia, and decided to move here and start a food truck. And that food truck was parked only a few blocks away from Franklin's Table where we are right now. Fast forward to today, we’re at this restaurant right here and you can try the spurrito along with all of the other things that we do here.

How has Papermill grown and evolved over the years?
Starting off as a farmer's market stall we evolved into a food truck, and the food truck was a lot of fun. It still is running around to this day. We decided to jump into opening a restaurant here on the UPenn campus. We've been here for about five years now, and doing everything from food truck events, to serving the lunch rushes here at Franklin's Table, to catering at weddings. It just has evolved into something I never thought it would be. Having started off at farmers markets -  it's just a lot of fun.

How has the menu and offerings changed over the years? 
Our menu started off with the spurrito, the spring roll burrito wrapped in rice paper – my first love. As we grew and expanded the menu, we have really great salads; hoagies which we use sesame seed crusted toasted rolls, which are absolutely delicious; noodle bowls; our watermelon agua fresca is absolutely delicious. And all of the sauces and mixes that you have are just real core memories for me. The gochujang, the spicy peanut sauce, sweet ginger soy sauce; all the different flavors, I’m half Korean, so even the slow cooked bulgogi beef that we have that you can have in the spurritos or the salads or the hoagies are just really exciting to me. And yeah, it's just that's how our menu has developed and that's what you can try today.

What motivates you to do what you do?
When I graduated college, I really enjoyed what I studied. I studied business, accounting, and finance. However, I just didn't really see myself going down that path in the corporate world. A lot of my friends were doing that, and I just had this idea of starting a food business. I had no idea where it would take me. I was living with my parents at the time, and I had the ability to take a risk, and yeah I was just motivated to make it work. I have an obsession with, really healthy, salady, Southeast Asian-inspired food. I could eat it every day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. And to bring that in different forms where people can enjoy and eat with the rice paper rolls, with the salads, with the hoagies makes me happy. Just knowing that I'm putting out that kind of food, the food that I love, and seeing other people enjoy it.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding thing about Papermill is seeing the business grow, and to see returning customers. All of the real hallmarks of a healthy business. We're still catering, you'll still find us at food truck events, and to have this restaurant here with Luke and Ella and with the staff that we have here, and having them run this successfully is just really motivating. I love working with them. I love discussing new ideas, new menu ideas. We're currently revamping our menu and introducing some new flavors, some new bowls and new salads. And that process is really fun. And to see us being able to execute it with the great team that we have is just really rewarding. That's my favorite part. When I see friends that start businesses, or friends of friends start clothing lines, consulting companies, or just start something, that really motivates me to support them and inspires me to continue that entrepreneurial journey. I like to encourage that in other people as well.

What is your favorite thing about Philadelphia and University City? 
Yeah, there are definitely so many things I like about Philadelphia. I've been here for 7 or 8 years now. I really think the food scene is great. Philadelphia definitely punches above its weight and the quality of restaurants that you can get, clearly exemplified in this food hall with Goldie, Pachuco, Double Knot Sushi, you can really get some great food offerings, even on UPenn's campus. I think that when I go out on a Friday night or a Saturday night, with my girlfriend, there's limitless options with great high quality James Beard nominated and winning restaurants that you can go to. The other thing I really enjoy is I'm a 76ers fan and I really enjoy basketball. So being able to go to a basketball match during the season and honestly tickets here so cheap; you can go see a game really cheap, and have a world class rowdy crowd cheering and booing and doing everything you want. I think that's pretty fun to do on a regular basis as well. So those are two things I'd really highlight about Philadelphia.

I love the University City area so much. It holds a special place in my heart. I've started my food truck only like two blocks away from here. So this is where I started, and having such a diverse, multicultural, neighborhood, with university students, international students, people that are studying here from abroad - it's just really great to have this diverse food that we do, really well received by such great clientele. Being on UPenn’s campus for the last five years has been really delightful, and we really enjoy serving the UPenn campus and all the faculty.

LIGHTNING ROUND:
What is your go-to guilty pleasure food?
I genuinely don't indulge in guilty pleasures, and I don't really indulge in bad snacks, but I would say a tahini shake from Goldie's.

What is the Shop Penn business you most frequent other than your own? 
Pitruco Pizza -  it’s the best Neapolitan style pizza that you can get around here.

What is one food you can’t live without?
Rice paper rolls at least twice a week.