CleverRoot

w i n t e r 2 0 1 8 | 2 7 For an Asian take on the culinary mecca of New York, David Chang and his Momofuku chain (Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, Ma Pêche, and Nishi) tend to be in quirky parts of town, occupying oddly-shaped spaces with long tables and wooden seats that offer all the comfort of sitting on a milk crate. And yet the food is always worth the trip. From his Montauk scallops with umami purée and preserved lemon to his lettuce-wrapped rice ssam with seven-spice beef brisket and slow-roasted pork shoulder, every bite is a journey to a land never seen before (and his fried chicken rocks, too). Speaking of chefs with a taste for quirk: On the other side of the country in Los Angeles, we have Chef Roy Choi, who began his career combining Korean and Mexican dishes on his chain of Kogi BBQ trucks. He then moved on to brick-and-mortar creations like A-Frame, Sunny Spot, Chego, Alibi Room, LocoL, and several restaurants at the LINE hotel in Kore- atown. His cooking was easiest to define when he had just the trucks, but with every new iteration, it's ventured further and further outside the box. The singular defining factor is that Chef Choi does like his spice. This isn't cooking for the faint of palate; rather, it's for those who want to dive in with abandon. This is not to say that one-offs by creative and hugely-talented chefs aren't worth track- ing down, but this is about a strategy that's part of a larger strategy. You arrive in a new city, where the concierge suggests you eat breaded veal in the revolving restaurant at the top of the hotel—and if you have any wisdom, you flee into the night. Obsessing on a singular chef with a proven track record gives you a step up, and then, when you have time, you can find the singular eateries that you'll be bragging about for months to come. In fact, that reminds me of that amazing Israeli restaurant in—of all places—New Orleans called Shaya, where the food is on par with anything found in Tel Aviv, for instance. But before you find Shaya, it's nice to know that Donald Link's restaurants Pêche, Cochon, and Herbsaint are there to save you from joining the tourist throngs on Bourbon Street. For a committed culinary traveler, that's a torture even worse than the TSA. PHOTO: ERIC SHIN The Asian-influenced tacos from Roy Choi's Kogi truck kick-started his restaurant empire. PHOTO: TRAVIS JENSEN Roy Choi is an LA restaurateur who has made fusion food relevant again. ■cr

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