CHOW! SUMMER 2005
other inexcusable offenses: stealing and
showing up late. But Gray stays on Joy’s
good side. She calls him her “Eugene
son” — her real son, who is 20, attends
Washington State — and even sponsors
him when he puts on punk rock benefit
shows for WomenSpace by paying for
the flyers and posters. “We both care
about people,” Gray says. “I think that’s
why we get along.”
Her husband, Dean Knudtson, main-
tains that getting along with Joy is sim-
ple: “Joy likes to be the boss,” he says.
“It’s important that people understand
that.” Brails is her
restaurant, and she’s
determined to run things
her way.
Joy says that’s why
her original stint with
Brails, when she co-
owned the restaurant
with her sister, didn’t
work out. “I decided I
don’t want to have a
partner,” she says, so
about 12 years ago, she
gave up her share in
Brails, leaving her sister
with full ownership.
At least one good
thing came from her first
Brails experience: She
met
her
husband.
Knudtson, a Vancouver-
based contractor who
specializes in building
Starbucks coffee shops,
was working on the
Starbucks store at 18th
and Pearl when he
became a Brails regular.
But it wasn’t the sand-
wiches
that
kept
Knudtson coming back. It was Joy, who
he says was “exactly the same” back
then, all smiles and energetic banter.
When Knudtson returned to Vancouver,
Joy and her son followed.
But in 2001, her sister was having
health problems and could no longer
work. Brails was in decline, and Joy
knew she needed to whip the place into
shape. She bought a house next to her sis-
ter’s and moved in with her son and
young daughter, now 7. During the week,
Knudtson stays in Vancouver. On week-
ends, vacations and whenever a
Starbucks is being built nearby, he stays
www.eugeneweekly.com
in Eugene. Although the separation is dif-
ficult, “Joy likes her freedom,” he says.
This independent spirit dates back to
Joy’s childhood in Seoul, Korea, where
she lived until she was 19. “When I was
growing up, I was kinda troublemaker,”
she says. “I could have finished college
there, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to
come to the United States.” Her sister
had already emigrated, so Joy left col-
lege and moved to Alaska, where she got
her beauty license and worked as a hair-
dresser. Later she moved to Eugene.
These days, Joy’s rebelliousness may
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The staff of Brail’s
have faded, but her outgoing, deter-
mined personality has not. Business at
Brails is booming and in 2004, Eugene
Weekly readers voted Brails “Best
Hangover Breakfast.” But Joy’s not
done yet. She’s thinking of expanding
the diner’s hours to include dinner, but
she doesn’t know how many people
would come in. Her real dream is to
open a second Brails in Springfield. Joy
says she’s not sure whether that will
ever happen, but Knudtson wouldn’t be
surprised to see it. “She just pushes
ahead, keeps moving,” he says. “I can’t
see her slowing down yet.”
CHOW! JULY 21, 2005 5