Roy Choi, taco truck entrepreneur, stood before hundreds of chefs, food historians and cooking instructors at the elite Culinary Institute of America, and his voice cracked. For the creator of Los Angeles' Kogi Taco Trucks, a graduate of the CIA's New York branch, this was a homecoming of sorts.

Street food was the focus of the 12th annual Worlds of Flavor conference Nov. 12-14 in St. Helena, Calif., and the CIA gave the subject an Ivy league spin. Rick Bayless of Chicago's Frontera Grill waxed on about the thrill of visiting food stalls beneath Mexico City's antiquated highways. Ole Miss academician John T. Edge lectured about the democratic ideals behind America's "street food renaissance." Singapore entrepreneur KF Seetoh raved about the money he makes bringing hawkers together in his Makansutra food courts across Asia. Celebrated cookbook authors, including Naomi Duguid, Paula Wolfert and Jessica Harris, completed the all-star lineup of speakers.

Only Choi knew what it meant to pay his rent by hawking food out of a truck window. For a moment, words failed him. Then, as he described the combination of sweat and passion that he pours into his Kogi BBQ, he choked back tears. He had an unapologetically emotional message for his peers: Make the food that comes from your neighborhood and your heart.

Los Angeles is home to battalions of taco trucks. Its urban streets are filled with the savory smell of the city specialty: sizzling hot dogs wrapped in bacon. Launched a year ago this month, the Kogi Taco Truck moved beyond these roots to become a phenomenon. People from all over the country have made pilgrimages to Los Angeles to queue up with the local hipsters for a taste of Kogi BBQ. And while it seems that there is a new upscale food truck rolling onto L.A.'s streets each day, Kogi fans remain devoted to Choi's sweet and spicy grilled meat tacos and sliders.

Discovering a Micro-Cuisine

Choi spent a decade rising through the ranks of the traditional European-centric restaurant world, avoiding anything that smacked of his family's Korean restaurant, he says. He spent eight years with Hilton hotels, including working as chef de cuisine at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, only to be laid off in the early days of the ongoing recession. With no one returning his job search calls, Choi took to the streets, returning to his old neighborhood just west of downtown in Los Angeles' Koreatown where Latino and Asian immigrants living cheek-by-jowl have melded a singular culture. The home cooking that emerges from such melting spots is a "micro-cuisine" all its own, he says, and it will constitute the next American food movement.

In this tough economy for restaurants, Choi's story resonated with the chefs at the CIA conference. "Nothing was intentional," says Choi. "I tried to write a business plan, but it ended up in the trash."

He still isn't able to relax, he says. Everything he earns goes back into building the business. He has four taco trucks that roll the streets of Southern California; 45,000 followers track their every-changing locations on Twitter, lining up for hours for late night bites of what he calls "Angeleno" cuisine. He has his first bricks and mortar location at the Culver City lounge Alibi Room. But most nights still find Choi inside one of his trucks grilling beef short ribs and spicy pork.

"My food is a bite of L.A.," he says. "We pay an extreme amount of attention, execute the food at the highest level." Dozens of ingredients including Asian pears, fresh ginger and an imported Korean chili paste called gochujang go into the marinades and sauces for his Korean-style grilled meats. He wraps them in the fresh tortillas and garnishes that define the cooking of his Latino neighbors.

Food for Joe Angeleno

Choi's commitment to top-shelf ingredients may have earned him a loyal following of hungry eaters. But staying true to his neighborhood roots has meant keeping prices low. Kogi tacos are $2. The price on his hefty burritos hasn't risen beyond $5.

"We're not on some soapbox trying to change people," Choi says. "But we roll the streets of L.A. and reach thousands of people each day." And those people respond to great food at a decent price.

The first time Choi drove his Kogi truck into Inglewood, he recalls, people were on the rooftops cheering. They poured out of their homes to thank him for coming to their neighborhood. "This is a tough community, with gangs like the Bloods. Still, if great food is that foreign to that many people, what the hell are we doing" as a food culture? Choi asks.

In his 12 years working in tricked-out kitchens fussing over haute cuisine, Choi says, "I did exactly what you are supposed to do as a chef, and I was ignored by the whole food establishment. No one knew I existed until I opened a Korean taco truck that was an expression of my soul ... and the pulse of the city. Once you open your eyes to your world, it's all right there. Construct your food based on what you see. I would love for you to each put your own style on this, to do your own thing."

When he left the stage, it was the audience that was choked up.

Corie Brown is the co-founder and general manager of Zester Daily. A former editor and writer with the Los Angeles Times, she is writing a book about wine and climate change.

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Comments (1)

Kogi Virgin

I am long overdue to try a Kogi taco. And this story just proves it.

robinrauzi , November 24, 2009

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