Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, June Jo Lee, and Man One

From the endpaper photograph of tightly packed, wavy ramen noodles to the mouthwatering... read more

From the endpaper photograph of tightly packed, wavy ramen noodles to the mouthwatering descriptions of food, this account of Chef Roy Choi’s fusion of fine dining and street food and cultures will whet appetites, but for more than just something to eat. Born in Seoul, Roy Choi grew up in Los Angeles, eating his mom’s Korean cooking at their family restaurant and exploring the city. Looking for where and how he fit in, he found the answer in cooking, attending culinary school and then working as an elite chef until “he couldn’t cook fast enough for all those diners. He forgot recipes. Lost his job.” He opened a Korean barbecue taco truck, Kogi Tacos, with a friend. But he didn’t just want to make food; he wanted to feed people. Roy opened cafés in “worn- out neighborhoods” and encouraged other chefs to open fast-food restaurants in challenged areas of town. He also taught kids to make and sell their own food. For Roy Choi, cooking is activism and community as well as good eating as he strives to “remix neighborhoods everywhere with hope, mad cooking skills, and fresh ingredients.” Street artist Man One’s spray paint and digital ink illustrations further energize a vibrant work full of optimism. (Ages 6-9)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2018

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