New owner renames popular eatery

Many local folks were near panic at the idea that SOBA Noodles & Rice would close down after manager Lindsey Aleckson left to go to college. Not least among them was Sisters resident Kay Hill.

Her husband heard about the pending closure while looking into an ad about restaurant equipment for sale.

"My husband said, 'We have SOBA night once a week,'" Hill recalled. "'My wife's gonna cry!'"

Instead of crying, Hill bought the restaurant from Howie Long and his sister Dee - on one major condition: She also got the menu. The owners agreed.

"They have made this transition so easy for me," she said.

The menu is staying exactly the same, and will be prepared by longtime cooks Hong Chi Zhang (known as "Chee") and his wife Hui Juan Tan (known as "Ken"). Hill plans to celebrate the changeover with a Locals Appreciation Party on Friday, October 17, at 7 p.m.

"One of the things we're celebrating with the Locals Appreciation Party is that our cooks are now local," Hill noted.

After years of commuting from Bend, Chi and Juan Tan found a home less than a block away, in easy walking distance.

Hill said the cooks are remarkable people.

"She is a scholar and a published poet and a well-known calligrapher," she said. "He was a teacher in China."

They are reputed to be fine dancers as well, and Hill is looking forward to the party, where they will dance to the music of The Anvil Blasters.

Another key employee for Hill is manager Cherie Bowen, who has worked as a manager at Ray's Food Place stores in La Pine, Bend and Redmond.

"I'm a full-time, stay-at-home mom, which is why we have a great manager down here," Hill said. "Because I'm not willing to give that up."

Hill's four children range in age from 18 to two. It was the children that landed Hill in Sisters. The Eugene native loved the town since vacationing here as a youth and she was drawn to live here by the quality of the schools.

Another member of the family lent the business it's new name: Soji.

"Soji is the name of a (Japanese) foreign exchange student who is part of my family," Hill said. "He was an exchange student 18 years ago and he's been part of the family ever since."

Hill said he will be delighted to have a restaurant named after him in Sisters. Of all the many places he has visited to reconnect with Hill's family, he says Sisters is the most beautiful.

Hill proudly notes that Soji is the only restaurant in town with a designated play area for kids, and she plans to convert the area adjacent to the restaurant's courtyard into a children's art garden.

This is not Hill's first entry into the food service industry.

"I had a portable restaurant (Star of India) that we would set up at Eugene Celebration and other events," she said.

Her mother was in the inspection business. That set up a humorous exchange with the health inspector who signed off on Soji and was dazzled by how sparkling clean the restaurant was.

"I told him 'I know I have to keep my inspector happy,'" she said. "'But the truth is, my mom is coming in December and I answer to a higher authority than you!'"

Soji is located at the corner of Cascade Avenue and Spruce Street. Call 549-8499 for more information.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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