Cooking is one of the most zen things - you have to be there.
It's so easy to produce food, throw it away, and watch people starve. It's so hard to produce food mindfully and to feed and to reduce waste.
You have to believe in something, and you have to believe in the things that you feel and find value in those things, and not be swayed all the time. Maybe you're gonna get swayed 90% of the time, to keep those things submerged, but you can't distrust yourself 100% of the time.
There is no typical day, not when there are so many people out there that I care about that can't access good food in their neighborhoods.
The things that make Korean food delicious are garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili powder, and chili paste. They make anything delicious.
I was a salary man for so many years. I never had to worry about the ins and outs of business or entrepreneurship or funding. I just had to show up and do my job. And then, all of a sudden, I was having to be responsible for my own business.
I don't have many hobbies or talents other than cooking, but I've always been good at figuring out a city.
I make milkshakes at home, but the two best are at at Gulfstream and Disney's Soda Fountain on Hollywood Boulevard.
Oh yeah, the 'Chef' movie was awesome.
A-Frame became an expression of creating a place where everyone would feel comfortable, even if you were made to feel uncomfortable in restaurants before. It's a place where I explored my own insecurities as far as being mistreated in restaurants or being given the worst table.
Go out one day and treat yourself. Go out and have the best sushi you can find, or go to the best barista in your city and have just a cup of cappuccino, and tell yourself that you deserve this. I think that is very empowering.
I like to go to a Korean salon.
When you have parents that come from a country that you weren't raised in, you feel this weird sense of familiarity, like you've returned to something.
I don't really do that much office work. I just go to the office, and I'm like Steve Carell in 'The Office.' You know, like, I just go around and like - I don't know what I do in the office. I look at paperwork and act like I'm understanding what's going on there, and I shake my head and put my hand on my chin and like, 'Hmm.'
Straight up, Oreos, sodas, chips, salsa dips, egg white omelets, yogurts, breads, ketchups, mustards, barbecue sauce, frozen pizzas, hot pockets, ice cream, all these things that you eat in your normal life - I think if chefs got more involved in that, then it could be better. Because we're the ones that know flavor.
I didn't just grow up lowriding: I grew up lowriding and also in mansions in Orange County.
In mainstream media, everything gets turned into a stereotype of ourselves.
A-Frame was a real, pivotal moment because that's where I really got to channel a lot of emotions.
Yes, a business should thrive, but it shouldn't thrive at the expense of everyone else losing.
I'm just trying to cook good food, and I'm not afraid to do whatever I need to do to keep the food evolving.
