L.A. Son

My Life, My City, My Food

By: Roy Choi, Tien Nguyen, Natasha Phan

Narrated by: Roy Choi

The maverick chef and co-founder of the wildly popular Kogi BBQ taco trucks, pays homage to the city he loves with this cookbook that captures the inventive, creative, and border crossing spirit of Los Angeles

“Spaghetti Junction” is the bittersweet nickname native Angelenos use to describe the famously tangled freeway interchanges that define L.A. For Roy Choi, the neighborhoods in the shadow of these overpasses are emblematic of all that he loves about the city: its sense of invention, its resourcefulness, the way disparate cultures come together to form their own patois, street food, music, insults—and the energy that results.

A gritty, charming, and flavorful love letter to Los Angeles, L.A. Son is the story of Choi’s love of food and his evolution as a chef. Choi returns to his childhood afternoons at his parents’ Korean restaurant, his nights in L.A.’s gambling halls, and his pizza-fueled studying at the Culinary Institute of America before making his way into some of the best restaurants in America.

It is a transporting, multifaceted story that tells the unlikely tale of how a Korean-American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming an acclaimed chef.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with recipes and tools from the book.

Killer!

Loved every part of it, I want more! We need the story of the truck life!

LA!

Love your story and I remember falling In love with kogi taco and when you opened a little kitchen at the Alibi Room on Washington I was there all the time.

His emotional journey

His story of how food sustainability helped him survive as well as his family all through their generations

Relatable

I relate to Roy C’s experience of LA, although I am not a cook. I agree with his observation of all the places he mentioned. In his story are also our stories. Great read!

You Have To Learn This Technique…

I encountered Roy Choi first on Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain. Then the mythos grew and grew from Chef to The Chef Show. I always felt like Roy stripped down everything that was stressful and complicated about cooking and gave it to you in its purest, most exciting form. And now that even more of the curtain is peeled back, I can see the gears that turn to make him the way he is. Thanks to Roy for sharing your story. Absolutely get this book. 10/10