Not Roy Choi . Choi has broken his own unconventional path to fame and success in the restaurant world , as his upcoming book , Son LA : My Life , My City, My Food , shows. Out November 5, it is a memoir and a collection of recipes from documentation transition Choi drug addict and gambler to one of the most admired civic leaders and charismatic Los Angeles ' , one that raises the bar on what the ' t mean to chefs to serve and feed their communities .
About five years ago , Choi got inspired by the Latin American food trucks in Los Angeles and decided to put his own spin on them , tapping his roots in Korea and trained at the Culinary Institute of America .
Its Kogi BBQ truck is popular almost immediately , thanks in part to his team's innovative use of Twitter as a way to get the word out . Nowadays , the number of trucks Kogi LA roaming the streets , and people line up to wait an hour for his short rib tacos and chicken , sweet and spicy dipping sauces .
Since the launch of Kogi , a Choi has grown its business in all kinds of directions, with more trucks , new restaurants , and even a cafe serving coffee and smoothies inside a high school in South Central LA That project , known as 3 Worlds Cafe, Choi was the first serious foray into the food justice , to exploring the deep and eloquently on the third annual symposium MAD , a collection of culinary illuminati - people like David Chang and Rene Redzepi - in Copenhagen at the end August.
Choi is a talk was entitled " The Gateway to Feed Hunger : The Promise Food Street, " and it's worth watching . In it , Choi challenged the chefs in the audience to reach out to people who can not afford their food . He referred to the oppression of junk food deserts in the inner cities and pushing the food cooks to think about how they might challenge . He asked them , " Do we have the courage , we , together, to break this cycle ? "
We call up Choi to get him to expand on it a little more challenge to the food world .
" The question , " Choi tells The Salt, " is how we can continue the evolution of the culinary world , culinary avant - garde , and balance that with the arrival of people are not being met . Already we are cooking at a high level and push ' the envelope . We can still do these things and balance it with food that is more accessible . "
For Choi , that means that chefs need to find ways to bring healthier food , with creative flavors they've refined their restaurants , the people who can not afford their restaurants .
"My dream is that in 20 years we will not have one this society where inner cities have no options for food other than fast food , " he said. "I think we can change it because of what happened with the food street , " referring to the growth of the food truck movement that he helped launch . " But we have to use the same model and framework of fast food , the same economic model , the same price point , to get them there . "
A Choi argues that people who have been raised on junk food to start going for the flavors of food haute . One way the chefs can facilitate this change , he said , is by including ingredients that are familiar to the communities they serve . For example , Choi says he uses ingredients such as Spam , canned green beans and mac and cheese in the meal preparation when he took his food truck to LA disadvantaged neighborhoods , but then it adds its twist itself.
"I pair it with something we do in the restaurant - so I took intense puree of leeks , chilies , spring garlic , and mix it with mac and cheese , " said Choi . " So they have something familiar and something different , full of flavor and nutrients . "
So what 's next for Choi ? It will promote his book , of course , but he has further plans to develop its food justice projects .
"I want to continue to evolve 3 Worlds Café, " he said. "I want more money invested in it , have hot food there, and I'm leveraging purveyors good to help me out . The aim is to create a cafe that would put you in any school . Helping to build and study - work program , provides jobs and foster .... and I 'm trying to open more projects to provide more jobs for people in the communities that really need them.
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