Michael Kang: standing tall at Five Feet

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 31, 1994 by Robin Lee Allen

Michael Kang moved from the drafting table to the dinner table in 1985 when he switched his career from architecture to cooking as he, his brother and two sisters helped their mother open Five Feet in Laguna Beach, Calif.

The rest of the family has since left the venture, but Kang still draws his creativity from his Taiwanese heritage, a California upbringing and time spent working in different restaurants to put himself through school.

Among his specialties are the Five Feet catfish, a whole catfish marinated with lime, wine, ginger and scallions, flash fried to keep the skin crispy; a Muscovy duck breast and Chinese crispy duck with different sacues daily; and escolar cooked in a black trumpet mushroom crust with chanterelle mushroom sauce and sauteed baby leeks.

Title: Executive chef-owner of Five Feet in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Birthdate: Jan. 12, 1963.

Hometown: Laguna Beach, Calif.

Education: Bachelor's degree, Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Career highlights: Regional finalist in the 1994 Evian Healthy Menu Awards; continuing involvement in charity fund-raising events.

Why did you leave architecture for a culinary career?

I always cooked since I was young, but I always wanted to be an architect and did practice. I was on my way to graduate school when we opened a small business for my mother to run, and 10 years later I'm still here and happy to be here.

Do you find similarities between architecture and cooking?

There are many, many parallels. It's a fairly introverted process with long hours, and it's underpaid. Both deal with the design process and personal idiosyncrasies and needs. And both are necessities -- you have to have a roof over your head and to eat. But you create the necessity in the form of entertainment and enjoyment because you could live in a box and eat bread and water.

But the major difference is the instant gratification of being a chef, whereas it's a long, long time before you get any gratification in architecture.

Why did you open the restaurant?

Being in a Chinese family with a single mother and everybody going off in different directions, we decided to do a small restaurant so she had something to do. I always wanted to own a resturant -- just like everybody else in America.

Where does the name Feet Five come from?

People say that my grandfather was five feet, or I'm five feet or it's the sea level. None of that is true. When we got involved and started taking it real seriously, we decided it would be Chinese, French and California eclectic. Numerals are very popular in Chinese names, and feet are important in architecture, so Five Feet has dualities in meaning, like East and West.

You were born in Taiwan. When did you come to the United States?

My father came in the early '60s, and we came in the late '60s. Back then America was streets filled with gold, so everybody wanted to come here. There were better educations, better environments. Like any immigrant that comes to America, we were looking for bigger and better things.

What makes your cuisine unique?

We blend East and West and other ethnic cooking together harmoniously. A lot of people try to create across cultures, but I cooked traditionally in French and California restaurants; and with the cooking from home, I have a true understanding of all the cuisines, so I can blend things. We feature a daily menu, so everything is fresh. I shop all over the world for our fish, and I'm never afraid to try anything.

The menu you look at today compared to the first day we opened, it's almost two different restaurants. We're working with more seasonal things, and we're more progressive than before.

What is your favorite ingredient to work with and why?

Fish has always been a real strong point here. I love fish. It's healthy, low in calories and versatile. You can serve raw fish, smoked fish -- there are a lot of things you can do with fish. Fish are exciting and come from different parts of the world. Meats are meats.

Your son's birth has apparently changed your life. Why is that?

It's a lot of joy. I have a little different perspective; it makes me less of a workaholic; I look at things objectively; and it's changed my priorities in life. I got life insurance, things don't seem as urgent and it's had a real calming effect. I stay out of trouble now and have to be a role model.

Chef's Tips:

* Lightly blanching vegetables before quickly stirfrying them prevents over-and undercooking.

* Freshwater fish and Dover sole, as opposed to such steakier fish as swordfish, are best to steam.