Over a decade ago, former Westword food editor Mark Antonation began his food-writing career by eating his way up Federal Boulevard. Now, we're turning our attention to another vibrant culinary corridor.
The four-plus-mile stretch of Havana Street between Dartmouth and Sixth Avenue in Aurora is home to the most diverse array of international cuisine available in the metro area. From restaurants and markets to take-and-go shops and stands, food lovers of nearly any ethnicity or interest can find a place that will remind them of home or open new culinary doors. In Eat Up Havana, Antony Bruno will visit them all, one by one, week by week.
Previous stops:
Next Up: Tofu Story
Tofu is a massively unappreciated and misunderstood ingredient. Despite serving as the foundation of countless dishes across multiple cuisines, it’s largely regarded as boring…just a sponge that soaks up the flavor of whatever it's cooked with.At Tofu Story, that stereotype is being challenged on a nightly basis. The restaurant is one of the few that actually makes its own tofu in-house, from scratch, then uses it in a dish within 24 hours.
So quick that the time it takes to make the tofu is often longer than the time it takes to get the tofu to your plate. The difference between tofu that fresh and pure, versus the stuff you might find in grocery stores (even Asian supermarkets), is striking.
The texture is both smooth and silky, yet strong enough to hold its shape under the boiling heat of the many soups it's featured in. And while still subtle, it brings a notable flavor component to each dish rather than simply serving as a vehicle for the sauce and other ingredients with which it's combined.
Perhaps that’s why Tofu Story has made such a big splash on the metro dining scene since it opened in early 2023.
Making the Tofu
The first step in making Tofu Story tofu is soaking whole, fresh soybeans overnight; they're sourced from a Korean-run farm in Minnesota boasting GMO-free produce. Once ready, the beans are poured into a grinder to pull out the liquid “milk” that is the foundation of all tofu products. That milk is then mixed with an acidifier food additive to lower the pH and promote coagulation, boiled for about twenty minutes to reach a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and strained into a bucket to cool.
For soft tofu (called “soon”), that’s about it. For firmer block tofu, the kitchen adds a bit of saltwater brine, strains the milk through fabric into a block mold, and condenses it with a hydraulic press before vacuum-sealing it.
It’s a very exact process, not unlike making bread, with each ingredient measured by weight to the gram and the temperatures regulated to the single degree. Diners visiting Tofu Story in the late afternoon will often see the step-by-step process taking place inside the glass-walled Tofu Lab that is strategically placed so all can watch.
Eating the Tofu
As you can imagine, tofu is strong across the Tofu Story menu. There’s a whole page dedicated to soon tofu stews in which the soft, silky white pieces are mixed with beef, pork, kimchi, ramen, seafood, and even ham and sausage. There are hot pot options where the tofu is paired with anything from beef intestine or pork bone to mushrooms and dumplings.
There are also plenty of non-tofu focused sides, including scallion pancakes, a wonderful rice cake tteokbokki, japchae noodles, fried fish and a variety of mandu (dumplings). And, of course, each order comes with an impressive array of Korean side dishes (banchan).
The Tofu Story Space
Sitting inside Tofu Story is a different experience than dining at many of the other establishments along Havana Street. It’s decidedly sleeker and upscale, but not so much so that it feels out of place amid the mom-and-pop casual eateries it borders. As at most other Seoul Hospitality establishments, there’s a helpful call button to summon an equally helpful server, and every table has a handy utensil drawer full of chopsticks, spoons and toothpicks.
Unfortunately, Tofu Story no longer features a display cooler where guests can buy fresh tofu. According to Lee, the demand wasn’t strong enough to move the fresh tofu as fast as it needed to be sold, although she says they do set aside a few blocks for die-hard regulars.
But the wall decorations indicate what Tofu Story is ultimately trying to achieve. The restaurant’s motto — “Tradition & Innovation” — highlights its roots in the Korean tofu-making tradition, where buying fresh tofu at a shop is as common as buying a baguette in France. The restaurant’s posters aim to provide a level of additional education on anything from seasonal kimchi preparations to tofu processing traditions and more.
It’s a fitting dichotomy. By not preserving its tofu, Tofu Story is preserving its traditions. And for a near commodity ingredient so taken for granted, a visit to Tofu Story will have you appreciating tofu in an entirely new light.
Tofu Story is located at 2060 South Havana Street, Aurora, and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, visit thetofustory.com.
