Chasing Choi

Kogi Names Restaurant ‘Chego,’ Plans to Reinvent Rice Bowls and Rocky Road

Today Kogi-founder Roy “I Feel More Comfortable in Dark Alleys” Choi reveals new details about his forthcoming Kogi restaurant in an interview with Chow. Opening in April, the currently vacant storefront on Overland will be named “Chego” for the mark-of-approval babies give family members who stuff them with food, Choi says, and thankfully not for the offensive definition we just found on Urban Dictionary. So what’s Choi serving in his take on rice bowls, which he claims “every single Asian person eats?”

He offers that pre-Kogi, he would have been on the lemongrass foam, uni, and herb emulsion tip, but after taking it the streets, he likes to focus on simplicity. Five to seven rice bowl recipes will be served upon opening, though Choi promises “it will grow weekly” like Kogi’s menu. In addition to apps like Korean meatballs and salads, the rice bowls will come with central ingredients like lacquered pork belly, chicken, vegetarian kimchee fried rice, and steak and egg. Chego will also have one dessert in which Choi hopes to “reinvent the Rocky Road with marshmallow cream, spicy peanut brittle, and broken-up cookies inside.”

The chef admits that rice bowls in our country “aren’t that good,” but hopes that bucking tradition and adding ingredients not normally approved of could exalt this fast food. Still, he seems realistic about the results, “If we hit it, it’s going to blow people’s minds; if not, I’m going to be a laughingstock in the industry.”

Kogi Parks It [Chow]
Earlier: Kogi Gunning for Yoshinoya’s Ground [Grub Street]
Kogi’s Roy Choi Reveals New Restaurant Recipe Ideas [Grub Street]
How Emeril Lagasse Influenced Kogi Tacos [Grub Street]

Kogi Names Restaurant ‘Chego,’ Plans to Reinvent Rice Bowls and Rocky Road