TV is a hard thing to do. It's a hard thing to get a show.
Korean food is primarily based on herbs and shoots and sprouts. There's no pasture land in Korea; we eat like Hobbits.
I want to pay homage to Los Angeles.
I grew up on Julia Child, Paul Prudhomme, Sara Moulton - and obviously, Emeril's first show had a huge impact on my life.
My parents worked and sold and hustled; they were gone from the morning, and I pretty much took care of myself. But in a Korean household, you're always eating with your family no matter what, and you're always cooking. And our food is not one you can just open a package and eat right away; a lot of our food takes time to develop.
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 really care about job security.
All Korean food is not just one thing.
I didn't just grow up lowriding: I grew up lowriding and also in mansions in Orange County.
I went to high school in Orange County.
I know all about Orange County.
I know what it's like to be a teenager in Orange County. I know what it's like to be a kid in L.A. I know what it's like to not have any money and have your lights turned off. I know what it's like to live in a house with five rooms.
I'll never be able to outlive Kogi. Kogi is a beast.
A lot of my friend's mothers and parents worked at Paramount Studios, so I would always go. I met the Fonz when I was really young, like four or five years old. I was always around people in entertainment all the time throughout my whole life.
A-Frame was a real, pivotal moment because that's where I really got to channel a lot of emotions.
I like to go to a Korean salon.
I typically like Sicilian pizza.
When you never see yourself in the mainstream format, you are stripped of the strength of your identity.
You have to believe in something, and you have to believe in the things that you feel and find value in those things, and not be swayed all the time. Maybe you're gonna get swayed 90% of the time, to keep those things submerged, but you can't distrust yourself 100% of the time.
Go out one day and treat yourself. Go out and have the best sushi you can find, or go to the best barista in your city and have just a cup of cappuccino, and tell yourself that you deserve this. I think that is very empowering.
