From Seoul to L.A.: The Flavors That Shaped Roy Choi
Roy Choi was born in Seoul and moved to Los Angeles when he was 2. As his parents worked long hours running small businesses, he spent his childhood exploring the city streets. At home, large containers of his mother’s kimchi filled the kitchen with familiar aromas. Outside, he discovered American fast food and Mexican-style grilled meats sold from street stands and parking lots.
Choi later studied at the Culinary Institute of America, one of the world’s leading cooking schools, and went on to work in high-end hotel kitchens. Even in fine-dining settings, he kept returning to the bold, comforting tastes of his childhood. That blend of Korean home cooking and Los Angeles street food inspired Kogi, his food truck. Kogi’s tacos, filled with Korean barbecue, kimchi, and Mexican-influenced sauces, quickly gained a devoted following and helped spark the modern food truck movement.
For his later project, POT at The Line Hotel in Koreatown, Choi traveled frequently to South Korea. He visited underground food courts, tteokbokki streets, night markets, and bakeries selling red bean buns and everyday snacks. He brought those flavors back to Los Angeles, creating dishes that merge Korean traditions with his American upbringing, resulting in food that feels both familiar and new.
May For The Teen Times teen/1764139303/1613367679
1. When did Roy Choi begin blending Korean barbecue and Mexican influences to spark the food truck movement?
2. What combination of Korean home cooking and Los Angeles street food eventually inspired Roy Choi’s famous Kogi truck?
3. Who introduced Roy Choi to traditional Korean flavors at home, influencing his later cooking throughout his career?
4. Where did Roy Choi receive his formal culinary training before returning to the comforting flavors he grew up with?
1. Have you blended flavors from different cultures in your own meals, similar to Roy Choi’s approach?
2. Have your family introduced you to meaningful flavors that influenced your preferences as strongly as Choi’s mother?
3. If you revisited places from childhood, what foods would instantly remind you of home and comfort most?
4. If someone influenced your food tastes early, who shaped them most strongly and still affects your choices today?
Roy Choi was born in Seoul and moved to Los Angeles when he was 2. As his parents worked long hours running small businesses, he spent his childhood exploring the city streets. At home, large containers of his mother’s kimchi filled the kitchen with familiar aromas. Outside, he discovered American fast food and Mexican-style grilled meats sold from street stands and parking lots.
