He loved to cook. She loved to cook. They both loved to eat. Beyond that, they both wanted the big score, running their own business.

Born in Kyoto, he came to America with his mother--in search of the military man that left them behind when he rotated back to America in 1985. Yoshiko worked in Japanese restaurants wherever she went, but she never got past waitress or hostess jobs--sushi chef jobs were reserved for the men. She watched them closely though, tutoring her son Hideko in the fine points of Japanese cooking.

Helga came from strong German stock, her father settled in Wisconsin, helping run the dairy farm his uncle bought from yet another relative. Her mother made some mean sauerkraut from the cabbage that grew there every year. Helga learned to make the schnitzel, the wurst and all the other items that made up a hearty German-American meal. Her father insisted she go to college; he didn't want her to be a farmer's daughter forever, destined to a life among pigs, cows and cabbage even as the young men in the area left home as well, looking for a more exciting life in Milwaukee, Madison or even Chicago.

Hideko couldn't get enough of the tempura, the sashimi, the sushi. Fortunately for him, his mom also got him going in karate school. He could just as well have wound up a sumo wrestler, they way he packed away the food. The karate skills, along with his practice with a chef's blade brought him to the forefront of professionals on the competitive sushi circuit--occupying yet another niche on the burgeoning network of speciality food channels on the cable networks.

That's where Helga and Hideko met, in the lounge of a cable network. As he came off a set, fish flying everywhere, he saw her braising brats. He took an immediate interest in the blonde brat packer. Striking up a conversation, Hideko says,

"Hey, you really know how to sizzle a sausage!"

"Well, it's a talent my mother had. Just ask my father; he'll tell you."

Well, one thing led to another, and soon enough they had their own restaurant going--Sauerkraut & Sushi, featuring the finest in German and Japanese food. An odd combination some might say, but until you slap some wasabi on a brat, you'll never know what you're missing.