I used to be a chef.

I go by 'Papi' on the streets.

I like to go to a Korean salon.

I know all about Orange County.

I typically like Sicilian pizza.

At my lowest point, I found cooking.

I want to pay homage to Los Angeles.

I make food as affordable as possible.

All Korean food is not just one thing.

Oh yeah, the 'Chef' movie was awesome.

I don't really care about job security.

I want to reshape fast food in America.

I went to high school in Orange County.

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

I'll never be able to outlive Kogi. Kogi is a beast.

TV is a hard thing to do. It's a hard thing to get a show.

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

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

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

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

Chefs don't have a union. We don't have a Screen Actor's Guild.

I bet a chef could get more pussy than a guitar player right now.

I've always wanted a straight-up cooking show since I was a child.

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

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

Time is an illusion anyway. You can create as much time as you want.

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

Sometimes, in the deepest moments, there are no words. There is only food.

There is something timeless and beautiful about cooking straight to camera.

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

When Kogi started, I was dead broke, selling tacos on the street just to survive.

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

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

I didn't just grow up lowriding: I grew up lowriding and also in mansions in Orange County.

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

Yes, a business should thrive, but it shouldn't thrive at the expense of everyone else losing.

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

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

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

I knew of the 'Gilmore Girls' - I wasn't a rabid fan, but I watched it sporadically when it was first on.

I've got a lot of experience under my belt, but I still have a very naive and idealistic outlook on life.

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

Through that windshield I saw a city that didn’t know it was hungry and a reflection of a guy who was FREE.

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'm just trying to cook good food, and I'm not afraid to do whatever I need to do to keep the food evolving.

Kogi changed what a generation eats, introducing people to fermentation and different vegetables and flavors.

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

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

Everything I do is like tough love; everything I put out there in the universe is me trying to feed you. I really care.

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

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