A lot of my friend's mothers and parents worked at Paramount Studios, so I would always go. I met the Fonz when I was really young, like four or five years old. I was always around people in entertainment all the time throughout my whole life.

Kogi changed what a generation eats, introducing people to fermentation and different vegetables and flavors.

There are certain foods that are somewhat sacred or you're not supposed to mess with. When you do mess with them, it touches a nerve where you have to compare it to the original, and then that thing you're creating has a loosing change right out of the gate.

I think that a lot of times, we all want to help each other and be a part of each other's lives. It's just - we don't allow ourselves into each other's lives.

I'm a quiet person in real life.

For us in Asia, fermented, bubbly, creamy things are just the norm.

I really think I cook good Korean food. I really do, just straight up.

Go out one day and treat yourself. Go out and have the best sushi you can find, or go to the best barista in your city and have just a cup of cappuccino, and tell yourself that you deserve this. I think that is very empowering.

People think that being Korean is all one thing.

Animals have been talking to me. And any shaman will say that that's not that weird.

Food trucks are an essential part of people's days. They are important to the fabric of feeding people, like hotel chefs cooking breakfasts or for weddings.

The things that make Korean food delicious are garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili powder, and chili paste. They make anything delicious.

I make milkshakes at home, but the two best are at at Gulfstream and Disney's Soda Fountain on Hollywood Boulevard.

I knew of the 'Gilmore Girls' - I wasn't a rabid fan, but I watched it sporadically when it was first on.

I was a salary man for so many years. I never had to worry about the ins and outs of business or entrepreneurship or funding. I just had to show up and do my job. And then, all of a sudden, I was having to be responsible for my own business.

Myeong-dong in Seoul is an area that is crazy at night, just packed.

I was a latchkey kid, from 4 or 5 years old.

I wanted to be a topographer when I was young.

A lot of times in television, you don't get the opportunity to show real life because we're brainwashed to believe the propaganda that these things aren't marketable, that these things don't sell.

Being a cook, there's always pressure - not for your ego but for people to love your food.

I don't have many hobbies or talents other than cooking, but I've always been good at figuring out a city.

I grew up around so many different people in so many different neighborhoods, but the Latino heritage, the neighborhoods, and people have always been a part of my life, ever since I was a kid.

When I was around 25 years old, I lost everything and was a complete dirtbag.

Oh yeah, the 'Chef' movie was awesome.

I know all about Orange County.

You have to believe in something, and you have to believe in the things that you feel and find value in those things, and not be swayed all the time. Maybe you're gonna get swayed 90% of the time, to keep those things submerged, but you can't distrust yourself 100% of the time.

TV is a hard thing to do. It's a hard thing to get a show.

I go by 'Papi' on the streets.

I don't go for average.

My parents and friends, they're Ph.D.s that worked as custodians, that owned their own businesses, that went bankrupt, that moved seven times, that sent their kid to Harvard, that don't have any money for retirement. Highs and lows of life.

When you never see yourself in the mainstream format, you are stripped of the strength of your identity.

When Kogi started, I was dead broke, selling tacos on the street just to survive.

I didn't just grow up lowriding: I grew up lowriding and also in mansions in Orange County.

I like to go to a Korean salon.

Chefs have always been leaders, but now, because of social media and the evolution of the chef identity, we have a voice that expands beyond cooking.

I translate Hawaii as a place where people make sure I'm having a great time, eating terrific food, without any expectation of anything in return. It's a place for people to be happy. It sounds corny, but in Hawaii, it's not; it's uncorny.

I was watching TV and saw the 'Emeril' show, and it spoke to me. I went out and started researching the culinary world and chefs that I knew nothing about. Then I moved to New York and went to culinary school, and everything just fit like a glove. It's been on ever since.

I grew up on Julia Child, Paul Prudhomme, Sara Moulton - and obviously, Emeril's first show had a huge impact on my life.

My parents worked and sold and hustled; they were gone from the morning, and I pretty much took care of myself. But in a Korean household, you're always eating with your family no matter what, and you're always cooking. And our food is not one you can just open a package and eat right away; a lot of our food takes time to develop.

There is no typical day, not when there are so many people out there that I care about that can't access good food in their neighborhoods.

What was important for 'Broken Bread' to do was show real life.

Why can I cook for tourists that come and visit L.A. and are so excited to see the Kogi truck? Because I cooked at country clubs and Embassy Suites hotels.

I make food as affordable as possible.

Yes, a business should thrive, but it shouldn't thrive at the expense of everyone else losing.

What if every high-caliber chef told our investors that for every fancy restaurant we build, it would be a requirement to build one in the hood as well?

I'm just trying to cook good food, and I'm not afraid to do whatever I need to do to keep the food evolving.

I went to high school in Orange County.

I've always wanted a straight-up cooking show since I was a child.

There is something timeless and beautiful about cooking straight to camera.

I know a lot of artists and chefs don't talk about this, but sometimes you just don't get to the finish line. That honesty and tenderness is something we're kind of not supposed to express.