"I wanted anyone that was from LA, that grew up around hip-hop as a brown skin, black skin or minority in Los Angeles, to walk in this thing and be like, 'Oh f*ck yeah! This is it!"
For lauded chef Roy Choi, his fierce love and loyalty to the city of Los Angeles is one of his defining characteristics. Everything up to this point in the proud Angeleno's culinary career has been an homage of sorts to the City of Angels. Given an opportunity to extend his culinary empire to Las Vegas, Nevada, Choi took that very flavor and vibe of Los Angeles' Koreatown and successfully transplanted it right onto the Vegas strip.
Enter the latest Taste the Details episode highlighting Best Friend, the newest restaurant venture from the celebrated chef credited for sparking the gourmet food truck movement. For Choi, capturing the very nucleus and substance of his beloved KTown was of the utmost importance when first considering this latest venture. Since we're talking about Las Vegas, the world's playground for high-end escapism, virtually transplanting the one-of-a-kind vibrancy of a liquor store on Olympic Boulevard right in the heart of the infamous Vegas Strip was no problem, given the big budget that Choi was able to work with.
The end result is an honest snapshot of Choi's Los Angeles, from the menu serving up his greatest Korean-inspired hits to Best Friend's very own "Kimchi Chamber" to the regular rotation of veteran hip-hop DJ's orchestrating the vibe — all within the brand new Park MGM Resort & Casino.
