On this episode of the Kinjaz PodKast we have world renowned chef and restaurateur, Roy Choi.
This K-town native grew up dirt poor, found a passion for cooking and grew the skills needed for success.
"Roy Choi is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and later worked at the internationally acclaimed Le Bernadin. In 2010, Food and Wine names him Best New Chef. His cookbook/memoir L.A. Son was a NY Times Bestseller in 2013. He was included in the 2016 TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World list. And in 2017, Locol received the first ever LA Times Restaurant of the Year award. Roy resides in Los Angeles where he is the co-owner, co-founder, and chef of Kogi BBQ, Chego!, A-Frame, Commissary, POT, and Locol."
From <http://kogibbq.com/about-chef-roy/>
Roy Choi
https://www.instagram.com/ridingshotgunla
http://www.twitter.com/kogibbq
Kogi
Chego!
Alibi Room LA
A-Frame
Chef
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2883512
Locol
Unfortunately at the time of the release of this episode Locol has officially closed as a retail store. They aren't dead they're moving into the catering business! Check out the link to find out more.
https://la.eater.com/2018/8/22/17769058/locol-watts-roy-choi-daniel-patterson-closed-news-catering
Recipe for Roy Choi's Ginger Miso Spinach Strawberry Salad
https://www.usmagazine.com/food/news/roy-choi-shares-ginger-miso-spinach-strawberry-salad-recipe/
If you try digging up Food Truck History as mentioned around the 20-ish minute mark Roy and Kogi BBQ truck are mentioned in EVERY article. They for sure disrupted and revolutionized the Food Truck movement in the early 2000's.
https://mobile-cuisine.com/business/history-of-american-food-trucks/
Golden Nuggets:
“Frozen yogurt is like social media. In a sense right—its a quick spike if at the end of the day you’re not true to the culture or the craft its gonna fall.”
“Every doesn’t have to follow the same way. You can take your own way. You can start shallow just like we did, you can start just wanting to be famous. Its like people asking you, you can do a viral video and you don’t have to have any experience but I think the key to longevity after that even if you start shallow is accept that opportunity, acknowledge it, then put in the work. Some people have to put in the work beforehand, like I put in the work beforehand. So when the moment came I already had all that knowledge. I was like a blackbelt already and then MMA came along.”
“You still gotta get there. It doesn’t matter. Its like tattoo’s you can get them when you’re 14, you can get them when you’re 44 it doesn’t matter its all about timing right, its about when that timing is right for you. But if it does happen to you and you get famous and you do figure out Youtube and you get it; if you don’t put the work back into it after that people are gonna move on.”
Whats Next?
Las Vegas Restaurant - December 2018
Park MGM (Old Monte Carlo)
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/roy-choi-las-vegas-restaurant-koreatown
Broken Bread
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/roy-choi-tv-show-broken-bread
Golden Rule
“Its not about only you. If you have the ability to help others then you better fucking do it.”
““Be generous.””