About Nyam Nyam Kawaii

 

Nyam Nyam Kawaii is excited to bring Asian bakes to the North Idaho and Spokane area.

 

As our area grows, and we welcome wonderful new people from different places, we are blessed to also learn about new cultures and food.

 

Asia is full of many amazing cultures, ethnicities, and food! At Nyam Nyam Kawaii, most of our recipes pertain to East Asia, because of our founder's familiarity with that region. Many countries in East Asia are full of cafes! Often, you can walk less than a block and will already be at the next cafe. Each one offering their own unique, and adorable treats and drinks. One of our missions at Nyam Nyam Kawaii is to bring these tasty, adorable, and not-too-sweet treats to this part of the US.

 

If you have a request for other treats, we welcome you to send an email! Your idea could certainly come up as a seasonal offering.

 

 

What does our name mean?

 

Our name contains words from two languages, Korean and Japanese.

 

Nyam (냠 ) is a Korean word similar to the English word yum.

 

Kawaii (かわいい, or 可愛い) is a Japanese word with an interesting history! In English, a short translation would be something like adorable, or cute, but there is also a whole Kawaii-culture that exists.

 

Put those together and you get: Yum, yum, cute!

About the Owner

God has always put in my heart the love of baking, and other people, places, and cultures.

 

Baking has always been part of my life. Making sweets goes back in my family a few generations, to my great-Grandmother working at The Parrot in Helena, Montana.

I have been baking since I was teeny tiny! Always excited to help my Mom in the kitchen, and even more excited to eat everything afterwards. Being an only child has huge perks in the baking world, you know. I got to lick all of the spoons, be the taste tester, and sweet eater, with no competition.

I certainly enjoyed baking for friends, neighbors, and family every holiday, and had fun running through the neighborhood delivering treats to everyone's porches.

As I grew older, I would bake weekly for my small groups, special events, and gatherings of friends.

 

 

So, how and when does Asia fit in? I'm not Asian, and from North Idaho of all places!

 

I grew up watching a lot of Japanese and other Asian shows as a kid. I lived for Pokemon, and Hamtaro, and my favorite part of the week was when Digimon, Magical DoReMi, Mew Mew Power, and Dinosaur King would play on Saturday mornings. Even through dubbing, and changes made for the American audience, I picked up on cultural differences, and had a lot of appreciation and fascination. As I grew up, I actively searched for ways to learn more about Asia.

 

I figured I would always at least go to Japan on vacation, but never imagined how God would direct my path.

I first found out about the adventure of English teaching. I figured that I would be good at it, since I had taught pre-school for a few years. I got my TEFL certification in 2017, and couldn't decide if I wanted to teach in Korea or Japan. I decided to start by visiting both for slightly longer than a vacation.

Luckily, an opportunity came to stay with a Korean family in Incheon during the summer of 2019. Since then, I have been to Korea 3 more times. Putting all four trips together, I have stayed in Korea for about 6 months in total, and have been to almost all of the major cities.

At the end of 2019, I was also fortunate enough to visit the Philippines for a few weeks, and stay with a family there. It is a wonderful country full of welcoming people, and delicious food!

My very short, and only, trip to Japan happened earlier this year, as part of my honeymoon cruise. We will definitely go back soon for a proper trip, but I can certainly say from the few days that the cafe game over there is leaps above the US!

 

Besides these trips, I also have an educational background pertaining to East Asia. I graduated from Oregon State University specializing in Anthropology- Culture, Language, and Archaeology, with a minor in East Asian History in March 2024. I hope to start my MA soon, focused more on East Asian Studies, and museum work. Then, I would like to work in Korea in one of their wonderful museums.

 

While we live in Korea, my husband and I are also hoping to adopt!

 

TLDR: My studies and travels to East Asia have been a blessing that I want to share with the place I grew up in. The state of Idaho is 80% white, and the panhandle is about 95% white. Diversity in people, culture, and food is very slim here, and I am bringing more flavors.