street food

kogi bbq truck

I was lucky enough to score reservations at the exclusive Kogi BBQ event at Colorado Wine Company. They were doing a wine pairing dinner with the tacos that Chef Roy Choi has made so popular. I am very impressed with the sudden rise of Korean BBQ tacos, although it has probably been done many times before in household kitchens across the nation. Mark Manguera and his wife were very savvy to transform this simple 'street food' style taco into one of the biggest trends in cuisine today. Just recently, they were profiled in the NY Times about the rise of Korean chefs; David Chang, Sang Yoon, Roy Choi, and Corey Lee, just to name a few. They are probably the first food service vehicle to utilize Twitter and the benefits of viral marketing. Now, I tried these tacos way back in late 2008 and I was impressed. They were solid. A twist of Korean and Mexican, two of some of my favorite cuisines. Lucky for me, the lines back then were 15-20 minutes long, AT MOST, but from what I hear now, people are waiting up to 2 hours for these tacos.
Anyway, we got to Colorado Wine Company around 6:30pm although the event was scheduled to start at 6:00pm. The truck had not arrived but as soon as we had checked in, the truck pulled up in front of the store. From 6-8pm, the lucky 100 who had scored a reservation to the event had exclusive access to Kogi BBQ as well as hand picked wines designed to pair with what was offered: a short rib taco, spicy BBQ chicken taco, spicy pork taco, and for dessert, brie cheese with pickled onions and strawberries.
We were hungry so we scarfed down the tacos in about 10 minutes. I'm not a huge wine aficionado because for some reason I can't bear the taste of alcohol but I was curious to see what the pairings were all about. They offered four that evening and I stopped after pairing #1. I only had one sip of pairing #2 cause it tasted like vodka. If any of you are curious, here's what they chose to pair with the food:

Kalmuck Wachau Gruner Veltliner 2007, Austria - paired with Kogi spicy BBQ chicken

Lustau Solera Reserva Light Manzanilla Sherry, Jerez, Spain - paired with short rib tacos

Ramian Estate Linden Hills Vineyard Grenache 2006, Lodi, California - paired with spicy BBQ chicken tacos

Bear Bottom Creek Zinfandel 2005, Dry Creek Valley, California - paired with spicy pork or short rib tacos

Many people say that wine enhances the flavor of food. Personally, I believe the quality of the ingredients enhances the flavor of the food, nothing else. Needless to say, after pairing #1, I proceeded with my food tasting sans wine. Now, before I get into my thoughts on Kogi, I want to commend them for their street smarts and being able to reach out to so many people with Twitter and their blog. They have their PR side of the business down. But their food? Its nothing worth writing home about, especially now, with waits being over an hour long. Korean food and Mexican food are two of my favorite things to eat and ironically, when combined, they're just mediocre. During both times eating Kogi, I either craved some authentic Korean food or some authentic Mexican food. Either my palate is not used to this combination of flavors or its trying to tell me to pick one or the other. And personally, the Kogi taco just isn't as good as either/or. Dare I say, Kogi BBQ is rather dull compared to freshly grilled galbi with kimchi and hot rice or an al pastor taco with diced onions/cilantro and fresh pico de gallo. I would have any of those over a Kogi taco. Sorry Kogi.
But after the tasting, we were still hungry. Our next stop? Hot dogs. Now these aren't your ordinary hot dogs. These are Lets Be Frank dogs. 100% grass-fed beef and pork. 100% organic hot dogs. Sounds like an oxymoron huh? But this place has been on my to-try list since the cart opened up last year in Culver City. The proprietor, Sue Moore, is as genuine as can be and gave us that "mother" treatment. She gave us recommendations and offered guidance in our selections. We went with one beef dog and one spicy pork dog. They came out freshly cooked on a soft and chewy bun. For acoutrements, they offered organic sauerkraut, relish, mustard, and ketchup. I went with the classic sauerkraut and deli mustard combo and subsequently, fell in love.
These dogs are heavenly. When I bit in, the casing snapped and the juices from within poured into my mouth; almost like a Din Tai Fung juicy pork dumpling. Paired with the sauerkraut and the spicy mustard, it was amazing. The spicy sausage had just enough kick and the beef dog was simple yet classic. We washed it down with one of these: Boylan's Birch Beer.
We had previously requested Boylan's Cream Soda (one of the best cream sodas on the market) but she only had diet. But Sue offered us Birch Beer and according to her, it was a combination of root beer and cream soda. She was on point! It literally tasted like cream soda with that root beer kick. After the good eats, I thought the night was over but to be honest, my stomach was wanting more. For some reason, the Kogi tacos just didn't hit the spot. I was yearning for some genuine tacos and luckily, on the way home, I stopped by here.
Classic. Simple. Understated. Now THIS is what a taco should taste like. THIS is street food at its best. Located off of Fletcher and Larga near Glassell Park and Atwater Village, this taco stand, in my opinion, is the epitome of street food. Add in some dirty dogs and I can call it a night. They were serving asada, buche, al pastor, and carnitas but I had to go with my favorite, al pastor, and buche. The pastor was flavorful and juicy and the tortillas were warm. The buche was a little chewy as I should have asked them to cook it a little longer to give it some more crunch. Eaten right after they were made, the tacos were nice and hot and it warmed my body on that rather chilly night. With a little lime and salsa, it was a perfect way to end the night.
Its good to know where your buche is coming from.
I love the honesty and authenticity of street food and that night was a fine example of what Los Angeles has to offer. Try finding these foods in San Francisco or New York City. Its just not the same and incomparable to the diverse array of cuisine LA has to offer. Street food is the heart and soul of Los Angeles cuisine and the people working behind these stands, carts, and trucks, continue to make me believe that Los Angeles is home to the best food in the nation.

a day in the life, part 4

a slab of pork ribs
animal, co-owner/co-executive chef jon shook

The alarm clock would go off every Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am. The bus was never late and I had to make it to the stop by 8:21am in order to be at the restaurant in time to prep for the weekend brunch. By this time, I’d gotten a pretty good feel to my place at the restaurant and what I was capable of doing. I had developed a good rapport with the executive chef and he had taken me along on multiple food events on behalf of the restaurant. I would clock in around 8:50am and from that time till approximately 4pm, I was on my feet. I ran upstairs, still half asleep, and put on a chef’s jacket and an apron. I tucked my black Sharpie in my pen slot, put on my UCLA cap, and ran back downstairs into the kitchen. In the kitchen, I manned the pastry/dessert station. I had memorized almost every recipe we used frequently at the restaurant. Carrot cake, churros, fruit crisps, lemon poppy seed and blueberry muffins, pecan scones, citrus tuiles, multiple ice cream bases, and the list went on and on. When it came to desserts and pastries, I was your man.

For the weekend brunch, we offered a specialty appetizer, a bread basket; a maple glazed pecan scone, a blueberry and lemon poppy seed mini muffin, two slices of chocolate chip banana bread, and two slices of cinnamon toast. The first thing I did when I got to my station was set up my ‘meez.’ I set out a cutting board and placed a hotel pan full of water on a warmer for the hot chocolate dipping sauce (churros). I set out a half stick of butter and two small bowls of sugar and cinnamon for the toast. Then I pulled out the scones and muffin batter. I popped those into the oven and started working on the pancake batter. We offered German pancakes and traditional buttermilk pancakes. Each had to be made fresh prior to each brunch service and placed in an ice bath. By this time, the muffins and scones were ready and I placed those on the speed rack to cool down. In the meantime, I re-stocked my plates and checked to make sure that I had every side or garnish ready for service. This included candied pecans and walnuts, citrus tuiles, fresh berries, candied carrots, chopped pineapples, and so on. Afterwards, I topped each scone with maple glaze and generously sprinkled them chopped toasted pecans. By this time, we had about ten minutes till brunch service. Now came my favorite part of the day, staff meal. One staff member usually was assigned staff meal, meaning they had to whip something up using leftovers in the walk-in. Joel, one of the prep cooks, usually made this and he always made a delicious scramble and a tossed salad. Sometimes, he’d make classic Mexican dishes that were amazing. It was so good but none of us really had time to enjoy the meal because we had to rush right back in for the start of service.

I had a ticket machine at my station so any orders made at my station came directly to me. The only thing I did not make was the toast, which was made on the hot line by the exec chef, in the salamander (an open faced toaster oven). Every time a bread basket order came through, as soon as I’d assembled my part of the basket, he would rush back with two hot pieces of toast. I’d butter them, sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon, and finish off my basket. I’d rush it to the runners and this was essentially what I did for the next 3-4 hours, but for different orders. When it got busy, the one thing that really pulled me through was getting into a rhythm. There were so many times when so many orders would come in that my mind would kind of freeze up. I’d have to take a second to gather my thoughts and think about what I needed to do first in order to successfully plate the orders. This was usually when the adrenaline kicked in. My body would just know what to do once I got into a groove.

Just to give you an idea, our brunch service attracted 60-75 covers on Saturdays and about 100 covers on Sundays. On my last day of work, Mother’s Day 2008, we did 272 covers. That means, from 11:00am to 2:30pm, we turned over 272 people’s orders. Considering our dining room only fit about 70 people, I’m amazed at how that was even possible. That was probably my busiest day of work but I don’t remember much because it just seemed like a blur. Everything went by so fast and I didn’t have any time to gather myself.

I learned a lot of things that helped me become more efficient in getting food out to the kitchen. For example, you never plated ice cream first in a multiple order. Ice cream and sorbets are ALWAYS plated last on dishes kept in the freezer. Also, you never walk around without at least one dishtowel on you. Towels saved my life in that kitchen. I went through at least 5-6 towels each shift and after awhile, I started carrying around two, for convenience. There were a bunch of little things I picked up that made my life easier at the restaurant but I will never forget the dead times, when business was slow and I had a chance to wander around. I would station myself at the end of the hot line, in view of the executive chef, and watch him make magic. To this day, I cannot grasp how he was able to juggle so many orders and get them all right. He would have multiple proteins on the grill and be plating three other entrees behind him and still remember which ones were at medium rare or medium. Most of what I know today about cooking comes from watching him work. I would see things he would do and they would get imprinted in my mind. Now, when I cook in my kitchen, I always have a visual of how he did it. I have nothing but respect, love, and admiration for him and I cannot say enough about how he has changed my life.