Not many people can say they used to snowboard professionally or be identified as a “rising star ” chef in the United States. Akira Back, born in Korea, moved to Colorado at a young age and became a professional snowboarder. He was featured in some of the top snowboarding magazines such as Transworld and Snowboarder and also earned prominent endorsements with companies such as Etines.

As a professional snowboarder, Akira also spent time cooking in local Aspen restaurants, where he realized his passion for food was equal if not greater than snowboarding. After a strong 7 year career in snowboarding, Akira decided to attend culinary school and began working for some of the best Japanese restaurants in the world, include Chefs Nobu Matsuhisa and Masaharu Morimoto.

Akira has been widely recognized for his food by the culinary world including being named one of the “Rising Stars” by Restaurant Hospitality magazine.  As the Executive Chef for Nobu Matsuhisa’s namesake restaurant in Aspen, he became even more popular for his unique style and precision.  He has prepared meals for many celebrities and important figures such as Jay Z, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and former President Bill Clinton.  Currently, he is the Executive Chef of Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, where Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift has called the meal that Chef Akira Back prepared “the best of her life”.    Akira has also been featured on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America, taking on Bobby Flay in a spinach battle. (see battle video below)

Less than a month ago, we had the pleasure of trying out Chef Akira’s current restaurant to taste and talk about his food.

The food was a pleasant surprise especially for a Korean American. Although the restaurant is technically called a Japanese restaurant and you can order sushi, what makes this restaurant good is the Chef’s ability to use his creativity and integrate Korean flavors into fresh and clean tasting food. I would not call his food Korean Japanese fusion, but rather American Cuisine, using Japanese and French techniques using Korean flavors.

For example, one of my favorite dishes was his Toro Sashimi wrapped around some micro mixed greens and “gochujang” (korean red pepper sauce) topped off with some caviar. (see picture below)

I’d also recommend the Big Eyed Tuna Pizza, his signature dish that will blow your mind.  It’s basically tuna on a fried tortilla with some minced onions with some truffle oil and greens on top.  (see video below)

So the next time you are in Las Vegas, I would highly recommend trying at least a couple of Chef Akira’s dishes and ask for something with gochujang in it, because you won’t be disappointed.

From our friends at Seoul Eats, a featured article on the Best Burgers of Seoul.

Today is the day that my diet begins. Finding and ranking the best hamburgers in Seoul has been a joy and a curse. Luckily, the restaurants have gotten better but there are more of them as well. Suffice it to say, hamburgers are not just a fad in Seoul; you’ll find burger restaurants dotted all over the city.

The first review that I did a year ago was received with an equal amount of praise and scrutiny. I found people are passionate about their burgers. For this review, I went to over 20 restaurants – a few more than once. This year I decided to not include franchise burgers to this list. Also, I decided to look at the signature burgers of each restaurant. My criteria for ranking were on the quality of meat, bun, toppings, service, and overall enjoyment.
Slyders

10. “Slyders” from Julio in Gangnam. This Mexican joint serves up some tasty mini burgers. Does this mean that they will be the new trend? I can see it happening. They use all Austrian beef and they have three different options: classic cheese, chili, and teriyaki (not recommended).
Price: Three slyders for 7,000 won
Phone: (02) 568-5324
Where: Gangnam
Jack Sauce Burger

9. “Jack Sauce Burger” from Bistro Corner in Itaewon. The sauce was a bit too sweet for my liking, but the hickory char-grilled hamburger patty is excellent.
Price: 7,500 won
Phone: (02) 792-9282
Where: Itaewon
Bacon and Egg Burger

8. “The Bacon and Egg Burger” from Tony’s Aussie Bar and Bistro in Itaewon. It’s breakfast on top of a burger. You get a cooked egg, bacon, and cheese on top of Australian beef. The burger is great with their hand-cut fries.
Price: 7,500 won
Phone: (02) 790-0793
Where: Itaewon
Sliders from Yaletown

7. “Sliders” from Yaletown in Sinchon. Yaletown is the youngest restaurant in the group, but they are making waves with their delicious cuisine and attention to quality. Their char grilled sliders (mini hamburgers) come on homemade bread with a dollop of mayonnaise and a single leaf of lettuce.
Price: Three mini burgers come for 8,900 won
Phone: (02) 333-1604
Where: Sinchon
The Webby

6. “The Webby” from Beer O’Clock in Sincheon. By the way, char-grilled= delicious. Here you get a char-grilled handmade patty topped with cheese, jalapenos, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, ham and BBQ sauce. Sure, it might sound like a train wreck of toppings, but it works damn well.
Price: 9,000 won
Phone: (02) 333-9733
Where: Sinchon
Paddy Mac’s Big Beef

5. “Paddy Mac’s Big Beef Burger” from Wolfhound Pub in Itaewon. Weighing in at over a half a pound (240 grams), you get a fist full of meat topped with two slices of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and 2 strips of bacon. The paddy is made from savory wagyu beef and it is well seasoned. You also get an option of fries, mash potatoes (recommended), or salad with your side of cow.
Price: 12,800won
Phone: (02) 749-7971
Where: Itaewon
The Hamburger

4. “The Hamburger” from Sam Ryan’s Sports Bar and Grill in Itaewon. If you want a classic bacon cheeseburger that’s the size of a baby’s head, then this is the place. The burgers at Sam Ryan’s are massive. They are manly burgers that should be enjoyed with a beer and football.
Price: 13,500 won
Phone: (02) 749-7933
Where: Itaewon
Mushroom Burger

3. “Mushroom Burger” from Banana Grill in Hannam (near the U.N. Village). Sauteed onions and mushrooms with a hint of balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise is a great combination. Banana Grill is all about flavor and they don’t ruin the burger by adding unnecessary ingredients such as lettuce, tomato, and onion when they are not needed. The meat is plush and well seasoned, the buns are toasty, and they serve great fries.
Price: 7,000 won
Phone: (02) 792-3088
Where: Hannam
The Chili Burger

2. “The Chili Burger” from Chili King in Itaewon. You need a fork to get started with this burger because you have to get through the generous heaps of chili on top of the beef patty topped with real cheddar cheese (we are not talking about the plasticy individually wrapped stuff). The chili is excellent on it’s own (what else would you expect from the Chili King) but magical on the beef patty and between the rolls. The jalapenos on this dish are an added bonus.
Price: 8,900 won
Phone: (02) 795-1303
Where: Itaewon

1. “The Fresco Burger” from Jacoby’s Burger in Haebangchon. This is the Eiffel tower of hamburgers in Seoul. You have a moist and richly favored hamburger patty topped with mozzarella cheese, bacon, tomato sauce and a tower of onion rings. It is a beautiful thing to behold and a tad difficult to eat. The crunchy onion rings with the tar tar sauce, plush garlic beef patty, and mozzarella cheese fuses beautifully. After your burger you will be smiling with a halo of shiny beef grease around your mouth. Oh, and you can customize your burger just the way you want.
Price: 10,000 won
Phone: (02) 3785-0433
Where: Haebangchon

The Best Burger Franchise in Korea: “W-burger.” Woah, they have excellent meat that’s a little pink in the middle just like I like it.
Price: 4,700 won
Where: Throughout Seoul

Honorable Mention: “The USO Hamburger” at the USO near Samgaki Station. Get the military burger with fries for only $2.
Phone: (02) 795-3063
Open: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Weekdays
Where: USO

In a Class of their Own: The W-hotel Hamburger. Now I’m not talking about the X-burger (150,000 won) but its little brother. It’s a classic hamburger on an oat-wheat bun speckled with pumpkin seeds and topped with melted cheese. The meat is a mix of lean sirloin and marbled wagyu beef. The meat is so good that I’m sure that Buddha change his religion just to have it.
Price: 25,000 won
Phone: (02) 465-2222
Where: W-hotel

By Daniel Gray

Korean chef Roy Choi who made truck food famous with his kogi tacos in southern California is now about to expand his food empire.  What started a year ago with a single truck and a bunch of Twitter followers has now become an empire of 4 trucks and a soon to be restaurant in west L.A.

The new, still unnamed restaurant won’t use the Kogi name, Mr. Choi says, and he doesn’t plan to serve the taco. Instead he will try to update the rice bowl. “I see bacon-fat-studded chestnuts and fresh herbs on braised lamb; steak with a soft-poached egg and hand-crushed sesame seeds; organic rice, braised pork-belly, fresh-water spinach in a beautiful broth with sesame leaves,” he says, rattling off ideas. The food, he says, will be inexpensive enough that people who normally eat McDonald’s can afford it.

We named Roy Choi as one of the most influential Korean-Americans in 2009 and his impact was truly evident with new Korean taco trucks popping up everywhere and restauranteurs serving up their version of a Korean taco.  Roy Choi embodies the hard working culture of Koreans and many Korean-Americans can relate to his life.  He may not be the most eloquent guy but his focus and diligence has brought him this far and his belief in himself has turned the food world upside down.  ”There is something very Korean about Roy being Roy,” says David Chang of New York’s Momofuku restaurants, who is also of Korean heritage and who met Mr. Choi last spring. “It’s about working your a— off, and not believing that you’re any good.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

I recently had a discussion with a friend about dumplings, and we concluded that each country has its own form of dumplings. The Chinese have their dumplings that everyone seems to love these days. The Italians have ravioli, the Argentineans have empanadas, and the Polish have Kluski. And then there’s mandoo, Korean dumplings.

They may look similar, but Korean dumplings are actually not quite the same as Chinese dumplings. The main difference lies in the stuffing – in mandoo, you will obviously find kimchee but also tofu and sometimes seafood! In New York, there’s something to say about restaurants that have stayed open for over 10 years. Mandoo Bar, which lies in the heart of K-town on 32nd St, has wooed patrons for years with its hearty and flavorful Korean dumplings.

Mandoo Bar offers several types of dumplings, some healthy (steamed ones) and some not so much but the deliciousness makes up entirely for it. Flavors include traditional pork, kimchee tofu, and shrimp. My personal favorite is the kimchee tofu, just because it’s the most unique and the mashed tofu adds a creaminess to the dumplings. You can make your own sauces with various chili pastes and herbs they offer.

What some people might not know is that Mandoo Bar actually has a pretty extensive menu that goes beyond just dumplings There are a ton of salad options, as well as various bi bim baps and traditional Korean stews like Soondooboo (tofu stew) and Yook-gae-jang (spicy beef broth with veggies and clear noodles).

Check out our visit to the dumpling tour de force!

It’s that time of the year again for some hot soondooboo! As you may remember from my entry a couple months earlier, Korean soft tofu stew is one of my favorite Korean foods. My darling is still Cho Dang Gol, but it now has a hefty competitor sitting in the middle of 32nd Street – BCD Tofu House.

The chain was started in California in 1996 and has since expanded to the motherland Korea (I guess that’s how good it was), Japan, and most recently, New York. The decor of BCD is starkly different from other restaurants, with its tall, black ceilings and minimalist architecture. On first sight, BCD definitely strikes as a more modern setting, especially compared with more traditional, wood-floored restaurants like Kunjip or Woorijip.

The focus of BCD’s menu is unsurprisingly, tofu. The menu offers seven different flavors of soft tofu stew, and you can choose your preferred level of spiciness.  The meal is served with a variety of complimentary banchan dishes, but unlike other places, it offers a plate of fried fish. Each person gets one! I’m not a fan of their fish, but I do know some that swear by them. Taste-wise, BCD’s soondooboo is quite different from the one at Cho Dang Gol. BCD uses silken tofu that is extremely soft and slippery, whereas Cho Dang Gol offers freshly made tofu that has a more crumbly texture. BCD’s soup is also a bit heavier in flavor than Cho Dang Gol’s, but each to their own!

If you’ve never been to BCD and are curious, check out our video below!

From our friends at Seoul Eats, here’s a review of Namdaemun (남대문) Veggie and Honey Hotteok (호뗙).

Today we went to Namdaemun in Seoul today and we saw this ridiculous line of people waiting for something. At the head of the line were Veggie Hotteok and Honey Hotteok. Hotteok are like ricecake donuts that are usually stuffed with honey or sugar and cinnamon.

Here they veggie hotteok that are stuffed with yummy japchae!

They only cost 600won for a honey hotteok and 800 for a veggie hotteok.

See the long line of people? I think there were 20 people in line and it kept growing all day.

Here is the queen hotteok maker.

You can see the big flat honey Hotteok in the back and the yummy veggie ones up front. Oh, and yes, that’s a big pool of oil.

So you first make the rice dough pocket and then stuff it with honey or with japchae and then you slowly fry it in the pool of oil. You have to flatten it down after it gets golden brown.

See. It’s quite a production.^^

Time to make the Hotteok

Personally, this was the best part! There are whole oranges and slices of apple in the sauce for the Hotteok!

Yummy! Yummy!

Michelle Min is a freelance graphics designer and photographer based in Seoul.

Continuing our top ten of most influential Korean-Americans in 2009, we meet a man who stormed America with his food truck.  How influential was Roy Choi and his Kogi Truck?  The Zagat guide for 2010 began including the ratings of food trucks and it would be safe to say that the Kogi truck made the most influence on the Zagat guide to include this new category.  How many restaurateurs can say they were profiled in the New York Times, LA Times, Newsweek, ABC News and many other national media outlets?  Not many if any, but a little truck that zooms around southern California with Twitter followers may have made the biggest news in the food world in all of 2009.  New trucks were popping up all around the country and this was a direct correlation to the success and popularity of the Kogi Truck.  Of course David Chang is the most famous of Korean-American chefs, but it was Roy’s grassroots efforts and guerrilla mentality that got Kogi Truck on the American map.  Roy Choi has a pedigree – a La Bernardin alum and Culinary Institute of America valedictorian - but he chose to do something very innovative with the invention of Korean Kogi Tacos and delivering them on wheels.  No one else out there used Twitter and social media as a marketing tool better than the Kogi Truck.  Roy Choi and the Kogi Truck were honored at this year’s prestigious Bon Appetit Awards, where he spoke in front of America’s top chefs and restaurateurs.

He (Roy Choi) spoke of delivering cheap, healthy, sustainable fast food to kids and adults in underprivileged neighborhoods who from birth to death eat nothing but fast food. (Later Choi explained to Eater that what they do would be the equivalent of an NYC truck going into the South Bronx or Bed Stuy at midnight). He spoke of starting with $1,500 and a family of co-workers and growing it into a 53 person company. He got a standing ovation. Ten minutes later, reps from both the Today show and the Food Network were scheduling spots with Kogi.

Roy Choi and the Kogi Truck is #9 on our list of top ten most influential Korean-Americans in 2009.

If you don’t know about the Kogi truck, then you’ve been living under a rock. Roy Choi and buds started humbly with a truck and an idea to cook and sell kogi tacos on the streets of LA. It’s taken the country by storm and it seems like everyone is trying to start-up a truck. Who would’ve thought that truck food could be so popular. It caused such a craze that now food trucks are covered for the first time by the new Zagat guide for 2010. We covered these guys back in January and who would’ve thought they would explode onto the food scene like they have. Walk down memory lane with a video from the Kogi guys on how it all started.

West 8^th Street recently welcomed a new addition to its restaurant row. 8^th St Kitchen ups the scale of the ambiance and offers a refreshing change from the hectic restaurants in K-town. The restauranteurs and Third Floor Café manager Jungmin Kim have branded 8^th St Kitchen as a Korean small plates restaurant, which sounds like an interesting concept, but is essentially piggy backing on the enormously popular tapas trend in the NY dining scene.

The restaurant’s got a trendy, casual feel to it, and the décor is done quite nicely, with the minimalist furniture and modern lighting.

I love the asymmetrical wood pieces that span across the entire wall. C’est tres chic!

Now onto the food. Between two people, we ordered one appetizer and two dishes, which was just about the perfect amount. One caveat is that they don’t serve banchan here. I’m sure it helps cut down costs, but that is something I always look forward to. At least they should serve the steamed egg!

What’s a Korean meal without pancakes? Below is the classic Hae Mool Pa Jon (green onion pancake with shell fish and squid). The portions were generous, and the pancakes were fried to crispy, golden color. We both agreed that the quality was definitely comparable to K-town.

Next, we had the Jap Chae, which are wok-fried glass noodles sautéed in soy sauce with assorted vegetables. Unfortunately these noodles were not as flavorful as we had liked. They were chewy and not too greasy, but lacked the rich, meaty flavor that is usually found in excellent jap chae.

Finally, we ordered the Je Yook Gui, thin sliced pork-belly marinated with pepper sauce and served with mixed greens. This was actually my least favorite of the three, as I felt the red pepper sauce was overly salty and overpowered the natural taste of the pork belly. The texture was very soft nonetheless, and the mixed greens helped neutralize the heavy sauce. In hindsight, I think it would have been fine if they had served the dish with rice, but that’s for next time.

If you live around the area or go to NYU, be sure to mention it and you’ll get an extra 10% off :)

All in all, I think the key takeaways are that 8^th St Kitchen’s ambiance is a big winner, but the food needs a little more flavor to compete with the ones in K-town. Perhaps the young’ens have much to learn from the ajimaas in K-town?

Cheers,

Jess

8th St Kitchen
22 W 8th St
New York, NY
10011-9002
(212) 477-7755

When it comes to finding good food for good value in New York, I find that the simplest way can often be the best one. Find the crowds and follow them. I’ve been to pretty much all the restaurants in New York’s mini strip of Korea Town and of them all, Woorijip probably has the biggest crowds and the best value. At six in the evening, this Korean deli is filled with people just getting off work. At two in the morning, it’s filled with groups of party-ers winding down their night.

Woorijip translates to “our house,” which is quite a fitting title for the Korean “fast food” joint.

During the day, Woorijip offers buffet-style dishes, hot and cold, all for $6.50 per pound. They’ve literally got quite a comprehensive collection of dishes here, ranging from egg-free zucchini pancakes, kimchee, cold chewy noodles to pork belly, grilled fish, and fried rice. I love the flexibility here, since I just love to sample and nibble on a bunch of different dishes in one meal. You do pay a premium for the variety, but it is within reason and quite affordable.

There’s nothing very special about the space at Woorijip, but the large sit-down area is quite convenient for a quick chat over dinner or if you’re too inebriated to wait to eat until you get home.  Between the checkout registers and the buffet dishes is a thin aisle that houses all the prepared hot dishes. It’s a tight squeeze, but people generally know what they want and move pretty quickly. These hot dishes are nice and steamy, and there’s also an impressive variety of dishes (Korean fried rice topped with an egg, Spicy Squid with Rice, Kimchee Pork with Rice, etc.)

To the left of the tables is the refrigerated section filled with prepared cold foods, like kimbap, one of my favorites since it’s so easy to eat and portable too! Comparable to E-Mo, Woorijip also has a pretty big selection of kimbap (tuna, beef, chicken, vegetable, and a sample platter of everything).

In this section are also the various Korean soups – spicy, clear beef broth, tofu broth, pumpkin soup, and many others.

The Noodle Bar is apparently a newer addition to the restaurant’s options. I’m actually embarrassed to say I haven’t tried the noodles at the bar, but I’ve heard good things about them. Generally, I think the key to good noodles is the broth, and if they’ve managed to cook up a decent one, then it’s definitely worth a try.

Woorijip isn’t the hippest of all places, but it does a pretty good job at what it aims to do — offer customers a large variety of different dishes at great values. I forgot to add, in addition to food, Woorijip also has a refrigerated section offering all sorts of sojus, sakes, and wines. This may not be too common yet (or maybe it is), but I have friends who swear by this Korean joint when they’re in the mood for a “low-key” night of cheap drinking with friends. After all, it’s the company that should matter most, right?

Cheers,

Jess

Woorjip
12 W. 32nd St (between 5th and Broadway)
(212) 244-1115