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k_whatsit's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating life story of Roy Choi, who started the upscale foodie food truck trend with Korean tacos in LA. I had no idea he was classically trained at Culinary Institute. Peppered with recipes throughout, I'll have to go back and search through them, when I read it the first time I saw them as props to where he was in that point of his life.
arisa9290275's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
3.5.
L.A. Son is part cookbook/memoir of Korean-American chef Roy Choi, mastermind of the Kogi truck. The story follows his childhood growing up in L.A. to getting in trouble with gambling/street life before his ultimate transition to chefdom.
I had first picked up this book after eating an opulent meal at Best Friend in Las Vegas. The vibes of the restaurant was Korean fusion with the interior decorated like a Korean bodega. Intrigued, I read up more on Roy Choi and was excited to read his book.
I enjoyed the memoir sections of L.A. Son more than the cookbook sections, which were scattered and grouped in no particular order other than to their connections to his life story at the time. Choi's recipes lean restaurant (decadent and Americanized), and there weren't many included that I would want to try making at home myself. What bothered me the most was the the lack of consistency in the Romanization of his Hangeul-- every time he quoted "sohn-maash" I died a little on the inside.
Memoir-wise, I was surprised to read that he trained at the CIA, came from a hotel-chef background before starting Kogi and even worked under Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin! Roy Choi's relatively easy-going experiences were a big contrast to what I read from Fatima Ali's memoir, which I found interesting.
Otherwise, an entertaining read. Lots of beautiful pictures and Roy Choi's distinct writing voice shines through. Towards the back end where the necessary ingredients are listed he describes doenjang as "you can call it miso just like you can call a girl a ho: that is, you can't." Need I say more?
L.A. Son is part cookbook/memoir of Korean-American chef Roy Choi, mastermind of the Kogi truck. The story follows his childhood growing up in L.A. to getting in trouble with gambling/street life before his ultimate transition to chefdom.
I had first picked up this book after eating an opulent meal at Best Friend in Las Vegas. The vibes of the restaurant was Korean fusion with the interior decorated like a Korean bodega. Intrigued, I read up more on Roy Choi and was excited to read his book.
I enjoyed the memoir sections of L.A. Son more than the cookbook sections, which were scattered and grouped in no particular order other than to their connections to his life story at the time. Choi's recipes lean restaurant (decadent and Americanized), and there weren't many included that I would want to try making at home myself. What bothered me the most was the the lack of consistency in the Romanization of his Hangeul-- every time he quoted "sohn-maash" I died a little on the inside.
Memoir-wise, I was surprised to read that he trained at the CIA, came from a hotel-chef background before starting Kogi and even worked under Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin! Roy Choi's relatively easy-going experiences were a big contrast to what I read from Fatima Ali's memoir, which I found interesting.
Otherwise, an entertaining read. Lots of beautiful pictures and Roy Choi's distinct writing voice shines through. Towards the back end where the necessary ingredients are listed he describes doenjang as "you can call it miso just like you can call a girl a ho: that is, you can't." Need I say more?
chelseamartinez's review against another edition
4.0
I never intended to cook the recipes (I'm on a multi-year can't-be-bothered-with-using-cookbooks tear) so I can't speak to whether they are good.
(I also never ate at Chego!, A-Frame, Sunny Spot, etc.... I've only ever had Kogi truck many many times and LocoL a few).
I've watched a lot of TV with Roy Choi in it, but those shows/he tend to feature the other people in the show rather than his personal story. Roy Choi has so much energy that I didn't guess he is an entire 10 years older than me and that he lived so many lives before becoming a chef full time. Having lived in and moved around and driven in LA a lot myself, I appreciate so many of the places he describes and the arc of his family's story in those places (so much Orange County!!)
(I also never ate at Chego!, A-Frame, Sunny Spot, etc.... I've only ever had Kogi truck many many times and LocoL a few).
I've watched a lot of TV with Roy Choi in it, but those shows/he tend to feature the other people in the show rather than his personal story. Roy Choi has so much energy that I didn't guess he is an entire 10 years older than me and that he lived so many lives before becoming a chef full time. Having lived in and moved around and driven in LA a lot myself, I appreciate so many of the places he describes and the arc of his family's story in those places (so much Orange County!!)
caractacus's review against another edition
3.0
Cookbook-as-memoir is a tricky hybrid. Once in a while it's going to give you the worst of both worlds. Rarely is it going to yield the best. As a cookbook, this falls flat - there are a couple things I'll make, but very little that was new to me, and I can't imagine many readers finding more than a quarter of the recipes useful. From a memoir point of view, though, the recipe selections make perfect sense, and at times that's the strongest thing about the book. Unfortunately Roy Choi's voice is a textbook example of the bacon-tattoo swagger that's rewarded in the chef scene lately, and if you're over 22 you get tired of that pretty quick.
junolink's review against another edition
5.0
It's been a while for a book to keep my attention as this one did. Roy is straight forward and honest in his delivery of his story. there were parts that I wish were fleshed out a lil more.
The recipes weave into his story, which I found to be a great way of introducing them
It's a great read and it makes ya hungry!
The recipes weave into his story, which I found to be a great way of introducing them
It's a great read and it makes ya hungry!
alissanelson's review against another edition
3.0
Decided to go for this one as a crash course in LA food. Nothing particularly outstanding about Choi's writing or his insights into the local culture -- it's interesting, but not mind-blowing, basically. I wasn't trying to use this as a cookbook and I can imagine that the structure of the book would make that annoying, but in this context the recipes added another dimension to the narrative.
Read Harder: Food memoir
Read Harder: Food memoir
dray's review against another edition
3.0
Quite a biography, as a chapter states, he is one lucky guy. I'm glad food grabbed him and he is able to give his spirit through food. Unique recipes, fusion and creative.
cuteasamuntin's review against another edition
4.0
There are a lot of really great recipes in this book. They are adventurous, but not so much as to be unrecognizably strange for the average cook or family. The stories of Roy Choi's life mixed in with the recipes makes each far more meaningful and adds a further depth of appreciation and personality to each.