James Syhabout with Roy Choi

Thursday, January 25, 2018
8pm 
 
James Syhabout
in conversation with Roy Choi
 
discussing his book,
Hawker Fare:
Stories & Recipes from a Refugee Chef’s Isan Thai & Lao Roots

Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404

PURCHASE TICKETS 
$50 General Admission Seat + a copy of Hawker Fare
$60 Reserved Section Seat + a copy of Hawker Fare
$20 General Admission Seat  
$30 Reseved Section Seat

James Syhabout was born in Oakland. He graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 1999 and headed to Manresa and the Fat Duck before working as commis at El Bulli, chef de partie at Alkimia, and chef de partie at Daniel Patterson’s Coi. In 2009 in Oakland he opened Commis, which holds two Michelin stars, and its casual sister restaurant Hawker Fare in Oakland and San Francisco in 2011 and 2015 respectively. He’s also co-owner of Old Kan Beer and Co. in Oakland.

Roy Choi was born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Los Angeles, California, Roy Choi is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and later worked at the internationally acclaimed Le Bernardin. In 2010, Food and Wine named him Best New Chef.  His cookbook/memoir L.A. Son was a NY Times Bestseller in 2013. He was included in the 2016 TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World list. And in 2017, LocoL received the first ever LA Times Restaurant of the Year award.  Roy resides in Los Angeles where he is the co-owner, co-founder, and chef of Kogi BBQ, Chego!, A-Frame, Commissary, POT and LocoL.

“With Hawker Fare, Syhabout has done more than any other person in the world to get the word out about this unfairly, unnecessarily secret country and cuisine, and he’s done so with the most perfect invitation ever invented by mankind: spicy, fishy, MSG-y bowls of goodness. And BBQ. This book will make you a better person. That’s before you even try any of the recipes.”-Anthony Bourdain in the Preface of Hawker Fare

“James is a suspension bridge between form and flow, meticulous and laid-back, Thailand and Laos, chef and friend, awkwardness and confidence, technique and soul. He’s not one thing or another, and he’s probably going to be someone completely different than you though he was after you read this book. He’s a man of surprises.”  –Roy Choi in the Foreword of Hawker Fare

James Syhabout’s hugely popular Hawker Fare restaurant in San Francisco is the product of his unique family history and diverse career experience. Born into two distinct but related Asian cultures—from his mother’s ancestral village in Isan, Thailand’s northeast region, and his father’s home in Pakse, Laos—he and his family landed in Oakland in 1981 in a community of other refugees from the Vietnam War. Syhabout at first turned away from the food of his heritage to work in Europe and become a classically trained chef.

After the success of Commis, his fine dining restaurant and the only Michelin-starred eatery in Oakland, Syhabout realized something was missing—and that something was Hawker Fare, and cooking the food of his childhood. The Hawker Fare cookbook immortalizes these widely beloved dishes, which are inspired by the open-air “hawker” markets of Thailand and Laos as well as the fine-dining sensibilities of James’s career beginnings. Each chapter opens with stories from Syhabout’s roving career, starting with his mother’s work as a line cook in Oakland, and moving into the turning point of his culinary life, including his travels as an adult in his parents’ homelands.

From building a pantry with sauces and oils, to making staples like sticky rice and padaek, to Syhabout’s recipe for instant ramen noodles with poached egg, Hawker Fare explores the many dimensions of this singular chef’s cooking and ethos on ingredients, family, and eating well. This cookbook offers a new definition of what it means to be making food in America, in the full and vibrant colors of Thailand, Laos, and California.

 

Emeril Lagasse with Roy Choi

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Thursday, October 8, 2015
8:00pm (Reception, 6:30-7:30pm)
 
Emeril Lagasse
in conversation with Roy Choi
 
discussing his new cookbook,
Essential Emeril: Favorite Recipes 
and Hard-Won Wisdom from My Life in the Kitchen


Crest Theatre, Westwood
1262 Westwood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90024

PURCHASE TICKETS
$47 General Admission seating + Book*
$57 Reserved Section seating + Book*
$95 Pre-Reception(6:30-7:30pm)** + Reserved Section seating + Book
Reception includes selections prepared from the book, California wine
* Books will be pre-signed, available for pick up at check-in
** Books will be personalized in person at the reception

Emeril Lagasse is the chef-proprietor of 12 restaurants across the country. He has received numerous Best Restaurant, Best Chef, and Best Service awards, and in 2013 received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the James Beard Foundation for his work through the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, which supports children’s educational programs. The author of 18 cookbooks, his phenomenally successful Food Network show Emeril Live! launched a new era in culinary TV. In 2014, Lagasse participated in his third consecutive season as a main guest chef on Bravo’s hit food series, Top Chef, and joined TNT as co-host for their cooking series, On the Menu. Most recently, Emeril’s Florida entered its third season in January 2015 on the Cooking Channel. 

In Essential Emeril, Lagasse goes back to basics, presenting more than 130 recipes that defined his award-winning career, each tested and perfected for today’s home cook. Dishes such as Crab and Corn Fritters with Fresh Corn Mayo, Roasted Portuguese Pork Loin With Potatoes and Homemade Pimenta Moida, and White Chocolate Bread Pudding With Toasted Macadamia Caramel Sauce reflect a lifetime of lessons in technique, showcasing the big flavor for which he is known and his continued evolution in the kitchen. Emeril offers valuable tips and step-by-step photo tutorials to ensure flawless results.
 
The book includes Emeril’s anecdotes revealing the inspiration behind each recipe, with appearances from A-list names – Mario Batali, Roy Choi, and Nobu Matsuhira, to name a few – alongside family members and early influences such as Julia Child and Charlie Trotter.
 
Classically trained chef Roy Choi is a culinary street revolutionary. He brings together the high and the low – deliciously, passionately, and socially. While his pedigree includes Le Bernardin and the Beverly Hilton, his fame rose with one amazing taco that tastes like L.A. – and nearly single-handedly created the gourmet food truck movement with his partners on the wings of Twitter.

Before hitting the streets with his popular food truck Kogi BBQ, Choi executed classical techniques in professional kitchens and banquet halls for twelve years in New York, San Francisco, Portland, and Lake Tahoe. Then came the Great Recession. Laid off, having lost everything, with a family to support, Choi had to get creative: He said yes to a friend who rented a truck and co-founded Kogi BBQ, which Newsweek later dubbed “the first viral eatery.” 

Choi provided yet another source of culinary revelation with his first sit-down restaurant, Chego in April 2010, now located in Chinatown, followed by A-Frame in 2010, and Sunny Spot just east of Venice Beach in 2011. His newest restaurant venture, featuring the tastes of Korea translated through an L.A. state of mind, opened at a new hotel, The Line, in L.A. in late 2013. Choi’s first book, L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food, was published in the Fall of 2013.

Corey Lee with Roy Choi

Wednesday, April 22, 2015
8:00pm (Reception: 6:30-7:30pm)
 
Corey Lee 
in conversation with Roy Choi
discussing the cultural influences, inspirations, and motivations behind his East‐meets‐West approach to his San Francisco restaurant, Benu


Anne and Jerry Moss Theatre

Herb Alpert Educational Village
New Roads School
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404

PURCHASE TICKETS 
$20 General Admission seating
$30 Reserved Section seating
$65 Reserved Section Seats + Corey Lee’s book, Benu
$95 Pre-reception + Reserved Seats + Book*
* Reception includes items inspired by Corey Lee’s cookbook
and prepared by our caterer.

Since striking out on his own from Thomas Keller’s acclaimed French Laundry in 2010, Corey Lee has crafted a unique, James Beard Award‐winning cuisine that seamlessly blends his South Korean heritage with his upbringing in the United States. Benu has gone on to receive three Michelin stars, four stars from The San Francisco Chronicle, and the AAA Five Diamond Award. 

Corey Lee’s career has spanned nearly 20 years of working at some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, including a tenure as head chef at The French Laundry where his work was recognized with a James Beard Award. He opened his San Francisco restaurant, Benu in August 2010. 

The Phaidon-published cookbook Benu, is an archive documenting the restaurant’s food, inspirations, and people who make it possible. Benu is a tribute to the dining experience at the restaurant and is presented in the format of a 32-course tasting menu. 

In recognition of his work and influence, he also became a goodwill ambassador for the city of Seoul, South Korea, an honor given to leaders in various fields.

Classically trained chef Roy Choi is a culinary street revolutionary. He brings together the high and the low – deliciously, passionately, and socially. While his pedigree includes Le Bernardin and the Beverly Hilton, his fame rose with one amazing taco that tastes like L.A. – and nearly single-handedly created the gourmet food truck movement with his partners on the wings of Twitter.

Before hitting the streets with his popular food truck Kogi BBQ, Choi executed classical techniques in professional kitchens and banquet halls for twelve years in New York, San Francisco, Portland, and Lake Tahoe. Then came the Great Recession. Laid off, having lost everything, with a family to support, Choi had to get creative: He said yes to a friend who rented a truck and co-founded Kogi BBQ, which Newsweek later dubbed “the first viral eatery.” Choi was hailed as a pioneer, and the Kogi model has often been duplicated.

Building on his success (including television appearances and major buzz in local, national, and worldwide press), Choi provided yet another source of culinary revelation with his first sit-down restaurant, Chego in April 2010, now located in Chinatown, followed by A-Frame in 2010, and Sunny Spot just east of Venice Beach in 2011. His newest restaurant venture, featuring the tastes of Korea translated through an L.A. state of mind, opened at a new hotel, The Line, in L.A. in late 2013. Choi’s first book, L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food, was published in the Fall of 2013.