Street Gourmand

The people of LA -- you are lucky, lucky bastards. For a long time now I've been reading about Kogi, the fusion cuisine on wheels that has taken the city by storm. Its founder Mark Manguera and chef Roy Choi have blended the best of Mexican and Korean food (I dare you to go look at their Korean Short Rib Tacos or Kogi Kabezza without drooling) and serve it up as street eats. That alone is a tasty idea, but in a stroke of marketing brilliance, they chose to use online technology (Twitter) to let people know where their two trucks -- Roja and Verde -- are parked on a given night. The "Where's Waldo" elusiveness combined with exceptional cooking and social networking has made Kogi a local phenomenon.



Chef Roy is open to experimentation, it seems, much to the delight of Angelenos. Take a look at his Specials. His Pork Belly with Lychee makes me crazy with hunger and yearning. The Venice Beach Vegan Black Sesame Seed Jelly Special was Roy's response to a vegan challenge -- it uses fermented soybeans which many of you know I adore. And as if to taunt my love for good molé sauce, Kogi served up the Spicy Korean Chicken Molé Special last winter. Fuels the imagination, doesn't it?

I would love to do something like this in Toronto if I had the resources or capability. Perchance to dream...