Clockwise from top left:An array of appetizers at Cheevitdee includesThai classics like GaiTa khrai (lemongrass chicken skewers) and KanomJeeb (shumai dumplings);Abowl of Pad Kra Pow features ground chicken,boiled egg,and “riceberry”–a type of purpleThai rice; Head chef and co-ownerJay Pranadsri ;The shrimp crepe,or Kanom BuangYourn,is served with a cooling side of cucumber vinaigrette. Hungry Eye 50 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine from top: Meaghan Maurice; courtesy hakka me HEART AND SEOUL Yobo is proof that, in Portland, when one culinary door closes, another opens. When owners Bill and Andrea Boutwell decided at the end of 2016 to shutter Bibo’s Madd Apple Café, the hippie-style pre-show din- ner destination for Portland Stage-goers for 18 years, the place didn’t stay dark for long. Sun and Kim Lully Chung’s new Korean restaurant opened at 23 Forest Avenue this summer. Today, there’s not a batik pillow in sight. Serene rooms with creamy-cappuc- cino walls are silhouetted with handsome black wooden furniture and banquettes. “Yobo isn’t quite traditional, but it’s ex- actly what we intended: small and intimate with a short, thoughtful menu,” says chef Sun. “Good honest food.” K im Chung, serving as hostess and waitress, starts us out with sake ser- vice. “In Korea, it’s a form of hospi- tality to offer your guests a little gift of some sort.” She places a stemless sake glass for each of us in its own small lacquer box. Pouring the ice-cold sake, she allows the glasses to fill and then overflow lavishly into the box- es. “Now you have a glass of sake plus a little gift.” She smiles. “I’m a County girl,” says Kim of her Aroostook roots. “In Korea, banchan are made of whatever vegetables are plentiful, just like here.” “We ran Sunny’s Table in Concord, New Hampshire, for years,” Kim says. [It’s now closed.] “Sunny was born in Korea. He came here when he was six.” Kim is not Asian, but “Mama Chung says that after a couple of decades in the family, I must be at least half-Korean.” “Asian cuisine allows people to try simple items like dumplings or pancakes in a whole new way with flavors and textures that are bold and comforting at the same time.” And the translation of Yobo? “In our house, it means ‘Yes, Dear,’” says Kim. “Yo- bo is an expression of communication be- tween husband and wife.” FINE CHINA Portland’s ongoing renaissance for quality Chinese restaurants continues. Empire gave us a taste for elegant Cantonese dishes. Then Bao Bao arrived, with Cara Stadler’s supe- rior dumplings. This year we added Sichuan Kitchen, the neighborhood café in the shad- ow of the State Theatre. And this summer, we gained Chinese food on wheels. We feast on a mung-bean pancake with garlic-chive kimchi minced into the bat- ter. It’s nicely browned and cut into wedg- es for easy dipping in a soy-scallion sauce. Skinny steel chopsticks and serving spoons are the utensils here. “Metal sticks are tra- ditional,” Kim says. Pan-fried pot-stickers have an irresistibly crispy skin; they’re filled with pork and kimchi and are delicious. I take back every snarky thing I’ve ever said about kimchi! Braised, boneless beef ribs are meltingly tender. Daily banchan veggies of local, sea- sonal produce include cleaver-cut zucchini with toasted sesame seeds, spicy eggplant, and remarkable potato cubes dressed in Ko- rean chili powder and sesame oil. Potatoes? Hakka Me food truck serves Chinese classics to-go,like Lu ShuiJi,brined chicken with “grandma’s ginger sauce.”