So, I didn’t want to make this person mean or seem evil.” But then this nice feeling of gratitude also came out, where she understood that this person is behaving this way because she wants the restaurant to succeed. “I don't think they named her, they just said something like, ‘this grumpy employee.’ And it was just so interesting talking to Mini about her because when Mini first met Patricia, she had the same impression as a lot of people.
“I read some of the reviews of their restaurant on Yelp, and she came up a few times,” says Ito with a laugh. Despite Patricia’s intensity, Mini describes her in the documentary as more of a mom figure, and an iconic, invaluable part of the business’ success. Most notably, the micro-Manager Patricia Won, who is hilariously shown obsessing over tong placement, staring down customers who break bowls by overfilling them, sending cleaning critics to Mini into the wee hours of the morning, and checking the cleanliness of employee shirts. Take a few minutes for a hearty chuckle and smile: The documentary features beautiful animation of grilling noodles and veggies, talks about Mini’s relationship with a stoic but loving Korean father and business partner, seeing the business through COVID, and profiles the eatery’s employees. The first and only of Ito’s Mall Stories shorts thus far, Atilla the Grilla, was just released on YouTube by the animation and design studio, Chromosphere, who partnered with Ito to animate the 7-minute documentary focused on Mini Yoon, who owns and operates the Asian-fusion buffet with her father Tai Yoon. When I found out they were still open, and adapting to the newly renovated Burbank Town Center mall, I pitched that as an Unreal project, and I got the grant.” And I was like, ‘I wonder if they've survived.’ It’s just hard to run a restaurant during this time. “Also, because of the pandemic, a lot of restaurants and places that serve food were closing. “I used to eat there when I was working at Cartoon Network,” she says. Ito chose to profile one of her favorite eateries, the Mongolian Grill at Burbank Town Center, a third-generation family business of 21 years. Dart suggested Ito pitch the idea as a short, start there, and “who knows where it could lead.” “I mentioned it to Kevin Dart, and that it would be fun to do my own thing about malls.”ĭart had already been working on his own project with one of Epic Game’s Epic MegaGrants – supporting developers from a variety of industries working with Unreal Engine – and told Ito that her pitch “Mall Stories” seemed like a good opportunity to apply for her own such grant. “I had watched this documentary called Jasper Mall that was about the economic hardship of this mall in Alabama, and also coming off City of Ghosts… it got me thinking about how much I missed going to shopping malls,” says Ito. Over the course of the pandemic, one of the things Elizabeth Ito says she’s missed most, despite how simple a pleasure it may seem, is hanging out at the mall.
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