Selene Bocanegra Tizapan EDINBURG – The Korean American Chef Roy Choi made a guest appearance for the Distinguished Speaker series for UTRGV last Tuesday in Edinburg.
Roy Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea but raised in Los Angeles. In 2012 he was named ‘Best New Chef’ by Food and Wine Magazine, and he was featured in Time’s 100-Most Influential People in 2016.
Choi spoke out on his struggles to find his own passions while maintaining the expectations of his traditional Asian Parents. Choi said he tried to express to his parents that “seeing the world differently is not right or wrong.”
“So, every time I tried to explain to my parents that I saw the world differently, it doesn’t mean that it’s right or wrong I just was processing things differently,” he said.
Choi said he believes his food truck Kogi helped inspire others into following their dreams by ‘taking grandma’s blueberry muffin recipe and selling it’ through the strategies he and his co-founder used in 2008 by using social media.
“Back then no one was advertising, no one was using influencers or content creations, no one was doing food porn, or any shots of food or anything like that,” he said.
Choi said it is 10 times harder than running a restaurant because of the added factors such as weather and traffic but also offers freedom.
“Just don’t ever take that freedom for granted and don’t take your customers and people who support food truck culture for granted.” Choi said. “It’s a necessary vehicle for a part of life and sometimes gets overlooked by national media and by popular culture but people on the ground that are working they need food, you know, and food truck culture is very important so you have to always remember your audience no matter how famous or big you get don’t forget where you come from.”
Choi said he believes, “every day, every minute, and every second,” is a challenge when operating a restaurant.
“The restaurant business is not something that is stagnated,” he said. “…In the restaurant business the food goes bad things spoil. It’s all factors so your constantly pivoting, and then yesterday’s success never means today’s success.” As Choi’s platform continues to grow, he does not see himself an inspiration for new food truck owners and prioritizes humility.
