Quotes from Roy Choi

My parents and friends, they're Ph.D.s that worked as custodians, that owned their own businesses, that went bankrupt, that moved seven times, that sent their kid to Harvard, that don't have any money for retirement. Highs and lows of life.

Myeong-dong in Seoul is an area that is crazy at night, just packed.

Only if you're from L.A. do you know Elysian Park.

Why can I cook for tourists that come and visit L.A. and are so excited to see the Kogi truck? Because I cooked at country clubs and Embassy Suites hotels.

I grew up on Julia Child, Paul Prudhomme, Sara Moulton - and obviously, Emeril's first show had a huge impact on my life.

What was important for 'Broken Bread' to do was show real life.

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.

My restaurants are about community and about sharing and about warmth.

I used to be a chef.

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.

A-Frame was a real, pivotal moment because that's where I really got to channel a lot of emotions.

With public television, they're making things that aren't driven by advertisers. They're one of the only platforms where we can really mine for truth.

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.

Food trucks are an essential part of people's days. They are important to the fabric of feeding people, like hotel chefs cooking breakfasts or for weddings.

Cooking is not a craft to get into for money. The money may come, or it may not. But you must get into it for the craft and the culture.

I'm in a place where I feel comfortable not being a chef anymore. That's taboo in our industry. 'Chef' is supposed to be the ultimate end of the road.

The Korean taco was a phenomenon... It just came out of us. We didn't really think about it.

I don't have many hobbies or talents other than cooking, but I've always been good at figuring out a city.

When you come out of the ocean after surfing all day, loco moco is the best thing you ever tasted.

What if every high-caliber chef told our investors that for every fancy restaurant we build, it would be a requirement to build one in the hood as well?

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.

Korean food is primarily based on herbs and shoots and sprouts. There's no pasture land in Korea; we eat like Hobbits.

I grew up around food and in a restaurant, so it never dawned on me that this was a thing to do; it just was. Then I found it as a profession in my mid-twenties after years of bad decisions and depression. The first step was going to the bookstore and learning about this craft. Then applying in kitchens and just getting to work.

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.