As a Korean American foodie, Yoo were honored to meet chef and activist ROY CHOI, whose powerful experiences during the 1992 L.A. 사이구 “Sa I Gu” uprising are described in my book RISING FROM THE ASHES: LOS ANGELES, 1992. EDWARD JAE SONG LEE, LATASHA HARLINS, RODNEY KING, AND A CITY ON FIRE. We exchanged our signed books at the 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books! I was excited to get a signed copy of his latest book, THE CHOI OF COOKING: A Cookbook that Meets You Where You Are. We Got You (by Roy Choi with Tien Nguyen, Natasha Phan).
I’ve been a longtime fan of Roy Choi, whose innovative cooking and passion for the diverse food culture in Los Angeles led to his activism and iconic “Kogi Tacos” in the food world. In RISING FROM THE ASHES, I wrote about Choi’s experiences as a young man banding together with other youth activists to protect Koreatown during the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, known in the Korean American community as 사이구 “Sa I Gu” (4-2-9 – indicating the first day of the civil unrest starting on April 29, 1992). Yoo love and highly recommend Roy Choi’s KOGI food truck and his Las Vegas restaurant BEST FRIEND.
Roy Choi gave a fantastic cooking demo, along with a surprise appearance by Top Chef winner Brooke Williamson! (We love her amazing restaurant Playa Provisions! https://www.playaprovisions.com) He gave great advice about how 고추가루Gochugaru (“Korean chili powder” or “Korean chili flakes”) has different levels of texture, from coarse to fine, much like the different textures and salt content of salt (table salt, Kosher salt, sea salt, and sea salt flakes). When asked by an audience member about how to start a successful food truck business, he gave a surprisingly moving speech about finding and pursuing your passion and how sometimes life is the best book of all.
Speaking of books, Roy Choi then signed copies of his new book, THE CHOI OF COOKING: A Cookbook that Meets You Where You Are. We Got You (by Roy Choi with Tien Nguyen, Natasha Phan). I also love his previous book, L.A. SON: My Life, My City, My Food (by Roy Choi with Tien Nguyen, Natasha Phan and photographs by Bobby Fisher). For more info his latest book, go here: https://thechoiofcooking.com
Speaking of signing books, Yoo also signed copies of RISING FROM THE ASHES: LOS ANGELES, 1992. EDWARD JAE SONG LEE, LATASHA HARLINS, RODNEY KING, AND A CITY ON FIRE (Norton Young Readers 2024) at the Korean Books & Culture Experience booth #314. Thank you to the wonderful staff and leaders at the Korean Culture Center Los Angeles (KCCLA), King Sejong Institute Center, Visit Korea, and HanBooks!
The Korean Books and Culture Experience Booth #314 is open all day tomorrow Sunday April 27, 2025. Stop by and try on a hanbok, have your name written in the Korean alphabet (Hangul) and check out all the amazing books from HanBooks!
Although there was a lot of rain (and lightning and thunder) at today’s book festival, that didn’t deter a HUGE crowd of book lovers as we clutched our umbrellas and heavy bags of books! I also was excited to see the USC Trojan marching band. This Gen Xer LOVED it when they played the famous “Tusk” song by Fleetwood Mac! (Check out the original video with Fleetwood Mac here: https://youtu.be/ATMR5ettHz8?si=AMuStBOqBhZrtGdS
And of course, Yoo had to stop by the food trucks. Having grown up in Connecticut, I was THRILLED to see a lobstah roll truck that served authentic actual CONNECTICUT LOBSTER ROLLS. Instead of having to fly 3,000 miles back home, I enjoyed my Connecticut lobster roll right here in L.A. Roy Choi is right… Los Angeles truly is the most diverse food city! Yoo HIGHLY recommends COUSINS MAINE LOBSTER food truck! Go here to find out when they’ll be in your neighborhood! https://www.cousinsmainelobster.com You can take YOO out of Connecticut, but you can’t take the Connecticut out of Yoo!
On my way home, I passed by the DOSAN AHN CHANG HO FAMILY HOUSE. I wrote about Dosan Ahn Chang Ho and his family in my RISING FROM THE ASHES book and the history of Korean American heritage in California. The house was closed for today but I was excited to at least see the exterior! For more info: https://dornsife.usc.edu/ksi/ahn-family-house/
Thank you again to the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books for another successful event! Yoo have been attending this festival every year since it first began in 1996, and I have been honored to speak at various panels over the years about my books, including my Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist book, FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: THE KILLING OF VINCENT CHIN AND THE TRIAL THAT GALVANIZED THE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT (Norton Young Readers 2022) and more recently, RISING FROM THE ASHES.
There’s one more day so check it out here: https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/ THE TROJAN looks forward to your visit!
Until my next blog, I always say WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT, but today, I’m going to say READ LIKE YOU MEAN IT! #ReadLikeYooMeanIt