roy kim: this is the roast gui. this is what we re known it s thinly sliced rib-eye, marbled rib-eye. anthony: oh, it s beautiful. roast gui. thin-sliced rib-eye. and bulgogi. thinly-sliced, fat-marbled beef, barbecued table-side. roy choi: for us koreans, it s kind of funny that barbecue has become the gateway to our food, though. anthony: hey, it could be roy choi: it could be worse, yeah. anthony: at least it s delicious. roy choi: it s delicious and we re like, okay, this is the, this is the portal. we re cool with that. anthony: then there s kimchi bulgogi bokkeumbap. basically kimchi fried rice. but it fries into the pan like paella. so many great rice dishes where that outer layer of crispy stuff is just the best. roy choi: the tableside cooking, i think people overlook that a lot. you know, this is like crepes suzette, filleting a dover sole. anthony: oh man, that s just
a lot of love, and there s, there s a lot of care. anthony: across town in venice is a-frame, roy s first brick- and-mortar. roy choi: this used to be an ihop, so everything s anthony: oh, yeah? roy choi: yeah, everything s really narrow. anthony: ah, hence the, uh, the shape. it s heavily influenced by local takes on hawaiian cooking, not that you d necessarily notice. every dish designed to be eaten with the hands. what s good? the baby back ribs are air-dried, braised, then breaded and fried. lean cod tacos treated like shawarma. beer can crackling chicken it s brined, rotisseried, then air-dried like peking duck, then fried. meanwhile, not too far away, on sawtelle, a kogi truck pulls up, stops, reverses back to the corner. before the awning is even up, there s already a line. hungry people have been waiting
i got ninja swords and ninja stars and stuff. anthony: you need you need a puppy, man. [ laughter ] anthony: you need a puppy. david: i do need a puppy. [ laughter ] i m going to paint you today. is that cool? anthony: yeah, sure. david: all right, so, just sit. anthony: sit? david: right there. and sorry. don t usually paint this early in the morning. okay. i m going to go more expressionistic, if you don t mind. anthony: i want to know, and you were on record, you said, you know, young people, uh, looking to follow your road to success, your advice is, whatever you do, don t date a korean girl. david: oh, okay. i try to be open-minded about things, right? but, well, i m racist. you know, for me, i ve given it a shot. and then i end up in a situation where i feel like i m dating my mom. anthony: so, what characteristics, uh, in common were, were, were
anthony. this is mari. anthony: how you doing? david: this is, uh, harry kim, aka guam cruise. here s more koreans right here. man: here s more koreans. anthony: some friends of cho seem to favor this place. they are a thirsty and diverse bunch. anthony: i m asking everybody stress position as a child? did, did you have to do the, uh, knees forward? man: oh, you know about this. anthony: it went right in, right into it. stress positions? woman: oh, we did that. anthony: you did that? see? man: there s this, too. anthony: the speed with which they assume the position. [ laughter ] man: you had to hold a bucket over your head with water. anthony: water? wow. what if your arms get tired? man: they make you do it again another 45 minutes to an hour, you know? the whole thing is doing it again. anthony: look, i m not korean. i m not asian. i m a white boy from the suburb. but i noticed something over time in my k-town adventure. similar anecdotes, you might s
new york city. he runs his trucks like you d expect of someone with that background. roy choi: within our food media landscape, we ve romanticized certain compositions of what a great chef and a, and, and a great kitchen are supposed to look and smell and feel like. but just because those are beautiful doesn t mean that this is not beautiful. for me, i don t see mustard plants and sheep grazing. i see barbed wire and telephone poles, and i see puddles. and, you know, all of that stuff contribute to the flavor of the food. so, it s truly what i call a terroir, you know, uh, a regional food. okay, gracias. buena suerte! and they re off. anthony: every lunch shift and every evening, the trucks locations are sent out over twitter. the locations change every day. and people flock quickly to find them, as the lines can get long. very long. i took a run with roy as he made his nightly rounds.