Quotes from Roy Choi

I really think I cook good Korean food. I really do, just straight up.

People think that being Korean is all one thing.

I make milkshakes at home, but the two best are at at Gulfstream and Disney's Soda Fountain on Hollywood Boulevard.

My parents worked and sold and hustled; they were gone from the morning, and I pretty much took care of myself. But in a Korean household, you're always eating with your family no matter what, and you're always cooking. And our food is not one you can just open a package and eat right away; a lot of our food takes time to develop.

Cooking is one of the most zen things - you have to be there.

There are certain foods that are somewhat sacred or you're not supposed to mess with. When you do mess with them, it touches a nerve where you have to compare it to the original, and then that thing you're creating has a loosing change right out of the gate.

The things that make Korean food delicious are garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili powder, and chili paste. They make anything delicious.

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.

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.

Pico Union is an underrated part of L.A., and not a lot of people go unless you live there.

I grew up around so many different people in so many different neighborhoods, but the Latino heritage, the neighborhoods, and people have always been a part of my life, ever since I was a kid.

I've lived through a lot of different neighborhoods.

I'm not a get-off-my-lawn guy. I embrace the new generation.

As a young manager, I had no idea what it meant to be a chef.

In mainstream media, everything gets turned into a stereotype of ourselves.

For us in Asia, fermented, bubbly, creamy things are just the norm.

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.'

Oh yeah, the 'Chef' movie was awesome.

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.

I don't really have a strategy for social media. I think that's my strategy is that I don't have a strategy.

I go by 'Papi' on the streets.

When you never see yourself in the mainstream format, you are stripped of the strength of your identity.

I don't know if I'll ever be as good as I was when I started Kogi, but I strive for that.

I know all about Orange County.