Roy Choi (born February 24, 1970), is an American Korean chef who became famous as the creator of Korean gourmet taco truck, Kogi. He is a chef celebrated for "food that is not fancy" and is known as one of the founders of the movement of gourmet food trucks.
Early life
Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea, to South Korean father, Soo Myung Choi and North Korean mother, Jai Nam Choi. Choi's parents met in the US but after marriage moved back to Korea. The family eventually emigrated from South Korea permanently in 1972.
Choi grew up in Los Angeles and southern California. When Choi grew up, his parents had many businesses: liquor stores, dry-cleaning shops, Korean restaurants, and after selling door-to-door jewelry, finally a successful jeweler company. His parents owned a California, California restaurant, called Silver Garden for three years when he was young. Choi's mom made a very popular cheesy kim in their community so they packed it up and sold it locally. His favorite childhood memories are making a cake at the age of eight in his own family restaurant. The family moved many times when he was young. His family once lived near Olympic Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, also in South Central, Crenshaw District and West Hollywood.
Choi attended the program of gifted students, but changed the school in his teen years when his parents achieved prosperity in the jewelry business and moved their families to a white-dominated environment in Orange County called Villa Park, Choi began to get into trouble, with signs slipping as he start using drugs and get together with bad guys. At the age of 15, Choi's parents sent him to the Southern California Military Academy in Signal Hill, California. He remembers this as a good experience.
After high school, Choi went to Korea and taught English there. He then attended California State University, Fullerton, graduating with a degree in philosophy. Choi attended law school at Western State University, but came out after a semester. At the age of 24, confused about his life, and in a dark period around 1994 or 1995, Choi said that he became obsessed with Emeril Lagasse's "Emergent Essence" show. The show inspired him to enroll in a culinary school. "Emeril saved my life," Choi said.
In 1996, Choi began studying at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He enjoys a highly structured block program, where there is no "wiggle room." He worked during this period as an apprentice at Le Bernardin in New York City.
Video Roy Choi
Careers
Choi gained experience as an adventurous hotel chef since the mid-1990s. In 2001, he started working for the Hilton Hotel. After being promoted to the company, in 2007, Choi became a chef de cuisine at Beverly Hilton. That's where Choi meets his future business partner, Mark Manguera.
Choi also works at Embassy Suites in Sacramento and Rock Sugar Pan Asian Kitchen in Los Angeles.
After this classic training and many years of background in cooking four and five stars, Choi said that the transition to the food truck, initially based on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice is very good. The company Choi, Kogi, was founded in 2008 with partner Mark Manguera and his wife, Caroline Shin-Manguera.
He was named one of Ten "Best New Chefs" of 2010 by Food and Wine magazine, and was the first food truck operator to win the difference. He currently runs several restaurants in the Los Angeles area: Chego! featuring a rice bowl, Caribbean-inspired Sunny Spot, A-Frame that conveyed Hawaii's idea of ​​aloha and built on IHOP's former, and Pot at Hotel Line in Koreatown. His cooking style combines Mexican and Korean flavors and dishes.
In June 2013, Choi, along with fellow chefs Wolfgang Puck and David Chang, gather at the Bel-Air Hotel to combine different styles such as ggaejjang and kochujang styles to the Bel-Air Hotel's menu.
In November 2013, Choi released his autobiography which is part of the memoir's guidebook called L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food.
Choi says she did not start writing books, but she keeps asking the same questions about her food, the taste, and how it is prepared. Though Choi did not see the book as a social comment, she felt it was important to show the "real deal" duality she felt growing up as an immigrant in the 1970s; the food served in the restaurant is very different from what the family eats at home. The book also talks about the culture of Los Angeles and how it has changed since the 1970s.
The Jon Favreau movie Chef (2014) is inspired by Choi and the food truck movement. Choi works as a technical advisor to Favreau on cooking and restaurant scenes and appears at the end of the credit. In addition to visiting all Choi restaurants, Favreau attends the French culinary school and trains in several Choi kitchens.
Time magazine includes Choi on their TIME 100 list of the world's most influential people for 2011 and 2016. Chef and writer colleague Anthony Bourdain writes that "Roy Choi first changed the world as he improved the concept of food trucks from" roach coaches "to a highly sought after, ultra-hot-yet-democratic restaurant. " In 2015, Choi and chef Daniel Patterson opened a restaurant called LocoL in Watts, Los Angeles, with the aim of delivering quality, healthy, and inspired fast food to the city's environment.
Maps Roy Choi
Personal life
Choi goes by the nickname Papi and El Guapo.
He teaches students how to cook when he volunteers at A Place Called Home in South Central Los Angeles.
Choi is a supporter of a Central Asian coffee shop and smoothie called 3 Worlds Cafe, a collaboration between Choi, the Community Coalition for Responsible Community Development, the Dole Packaged Foods fruit conglomerate and the nearby Jefferson High School.
He also maintains a blog post of recipes and rants.
During his tough teenage years and later as a young adult, Choi says that he has a lot of addictions. He was addicted to cracks for a short time and was addicted to marijuana and gambling, which lasted for three years in his early 20s. Choi says she will never get rid of her addiction; his current addiction is to feed people.
Choi is also known as a neighbor with comedians Brent Crystals.
Choi has a daughter, Kaelyn, who goes to Harvard Westlake high school in southern California.
Publications
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Choi, Roy; Nguyen, Tien; Phan, Natasha & amp; Fisher, Bobby (2013). L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food. New York, NY: Ecco, prints HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-062-20263-5.
References
External links
- Kogi BBQ
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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