Helloo,
happy Tuesday. I’ve been slammed with work in the last couple of weeks so I haven’t had a chance to keep up with the Substack. To be honest I was mentally ready to push today’s post until next week but… consistency is king so here we are. I don’t have enough time to write up a full-length post like I usually do but I wanted to do a quick recap of the recent pop-up and share a few of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles that you’ve got to hit the next time you’re in LA.
It’s already been 2 weeks since the pop-up my friend Brendan and I was able to do at Ostudio in Brooklyn. More than anything, I just wanted to express my gratitude to the many friends who showed up and supported our pop-up. This was the first pop-up that I was able to do in New York since moving here a little under two years ago. When we posted the Resy for people to secure a spot, to our surprise, we sold out of 140 seats within a few hours. Crazy. Thanks to my raging impostor syndrome, I was more worried about figuring out ways to fill the seats. But I couldn’t imagine that we were faced with the opposite reality where we were struggling to find slots to squeeze in friends who weren’t able to snag a reservation.
Looking back, even wanting to do 140 covers in the tiny space we were in with an even smaller kitchen was… ambitious to say the least. But we did the damn thing. We didn’t have any major hiccups, service wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked, but everyone seemed excited and happy. Looking into a packed dining room to see every table full of people that you love and appreciate is an unmatched feeling. It almost makes me… want to… reconsider… opening up a spot. Lol… just kidding.
The few days leading up to the pop-up were maddening. Grocery shopping for hours. Early morning prep that finished late at night. Grilling pounds and pounds of shallots, peppers, garlic, etc for hours. Shuttling a car full of groceries and prepped ingredients from my little apartment to the restaurant since we weren’t able to use their prep space while they were running their own service. Setting up a kitchen so that it worked for our menu then breaking it down fully after it all. Madness. So much respect for the chefs and cooks who do pop-ups regularly in NYC.
Thank you to all those who trusted us with your evening, hard-earned cash, and stomachs.
About an hour after our last table was finishing up on Sunday night, I got an urgent call from my friend. For context, he’s been asking me to come to Joshua Tree with him and several of our friends for a couple of months before this. But I kept having to turn him down; though freelance work was starting to pick up I didn’t want to blow more $ to take a trip out to LA.
He tells me on the call: “My old producer needs someone to grab a few dresses from Manhattan and fly them out to Los Angeles TOMORROW. He’ll pay for your time and flights. PICK UP THOSE DRESSES AND COME TO JOSHUA TREE. I’ll give him your number if you’re down and he’ll text you asap”.
Mind you, when I got this call my brain is a heap of steaming slop after an almost 70-hour sprint to do this pop-up. I was a walking zombie by this time. All I was looking forward to was sleeping in, vegging out, and not leaving my room for a couple of days, not including a trip to a sauna, after the pop-up was over… but… a paid trip to LA… right when good friends are also planning a trip to JTree… I took it as a sign. Sounded serendipitous enough. Sure, sleep was probably the most logical and best thing my body needed… but the moment I thought of the food in LA - I texted back the producer immediately with a “Hell yeah I am down”. I had no idea who this guy was, who the dresses were for, and why this was happening but… yolo.
I mean, these are the moments that make life fun right? There is nothing more fun and exciting than spontaneous and serendipitous moments like this for me. After another night of stealing 4-hours of sleep, I was up early doing laundry, hastily packing a bag, and on calls with a few producers trying to coordinate last-minute flights, where to pick up the dresses, and where to drop them off. By 3:00 PM I was on my way to JFK with 5 massive dresses. Got to LA, dropped the dresses off in Beverly Hills, got to my hotel room, and immediately blacked out only to wake up right before my check-out time. I hope Kate Beckinsale put those dresses to good use.
I now had a few days to eat as much as possible before heading to JTree, and I want to report back on a few spots. Three of these spots have become spots that I have to hit whenever I am in LA. One is a spot that I wanted to gate-keep but… is too good to not share.
Corner Place Restaurant (Gilmok)($-$$)
This is one of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles. I remember having vivid memories of coming here as a kid with my mom and other relatives. Their menu hasn’t changed and I always come here for one dish. One dish that I haven’t been able to replicate at home nor find a spot that does it as well as Corner Place does.
Their dongchimi gooksu (동치미국수)… that damn gooksu. I cannot be more honest than this, every single summer… the moment it reaches the 90s… I crave this dish. A massive bowl of ice-cold dongchimi gooksu, specifically from Gilmok. Dongchimi is Korean water kimchi that is made with daikon, Korean pears, onions, scallions, and sometimes 7Up. Fermenting in a salty brine for days at room temp before being transferred to the fridge. I’ve made dongchimi and dongchimi gooksu so many times before. But for some reason… it never hits as good as it does at Gilmok.
Their broth is cloudy from the fermentation. Tart but sweet. A slight tinge of spice from the peppers but served ice cold. The somen noodles are perfectly cooked every time. This place is perfect. Pair the noodles with some Korean BBQ at the table… One bite of galbi (grilled marinaded short ribs) on top of a bite of the noodles… finished with kimchi as you’re still chewing on the rest of the food… heaven. Go here. It always feels like summer in LA so just go whenever you’re in LA.
Jinsol Gukbap ($$-$$$)
If you know you know. This is the best gukbap (soup and rice) spot in Koreatown, aka the US. Don’t @ me. If you disagree, I don’t care. This is my shit. For $13 you can get a bowl of pork broth that has been simmering for days, packed full of slices of pork shoulder meat, tendon, noodles, and a side of soondae (korean pork blood sausage) to put in your broth. Mix in their red pepper paste that they give to you on the side and some black pepper… God. God almighty. I miss living in LA because of spots like this. Gukbap is my favorite kind of Korean food. The broth is similar to tonkotsu ramen, but lighter, more subtle, and… just better. This with rice and banchan… throw in a plate of their pork trotters that are cut up and sautéed with a sweet and spicy gochujjang sauce… will be, arguably, one of the best meals you can have in LA.
Yangmani ($$$)
Apparently, Koreatown in LA has about 70 Korean BBQ restaurants. I’m not sure if anyone has successfully visited every single one without dying. But Yangmani is the spot. Trust me. When it comes to KBBQ there are four things you need to be aware of.
What kind of KBBQ spot is it? Is it a spot known for its beef cuts? Is it known for its pork? Is it an intestines spot?
How good are their sides? Is it an afterthought? Or are they putting out solid banchan to go with the meat?
How is their soup game? A KBBQ spot needs to have solid dwenjang jjigae (fermented soy bean soup) or kimchi jjigae (kimich stew).
Is it AYCE (All you can eat?) or can you only order via combos and meat cuts?
Frankly, just avoid AYCE spots. You think you’re getting a deal… but really you’re just not getting the best cuts and the quality just won’t be as good. If you’re going to get KBBQ might as well go all the way.
Yangmani is a spot that hits all points to a tee. They serve cuts of beef, pork, and intestines - all great quality cuts. Their banchan is imo the best banchan I’ve seen at a KBBQ spot. They give you yukhoe (korean “beef tartare”), kkaennip kimchi (fermented perilla leaf), omasum salad (beef stomach), a variety of salads and kimchi, gangdwengjang dipping sauce (a thick soy bean paste stew that is reduced to a sloppy joe consistency), and Kongbiji-jjigae (a ground soy bean stew)… Kongbiji as a side is… goated.
We got a combo that gave us pork belly, pork jowl, and beef brisket along with a brisket soybean stew. This is one of those spots where you just eat. You can’t talk when the food is this crazy.
Carnes Asadas Pancho Lopez ($-$$)
This is a Mexican restaurant nestled in-between Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park. I messed up this trip and didn’t get a chance to get tacos anywhere, but this spot made up for it all. I don’t remember what region of Mexico this restaurant repped, but the food hit different.
We got a queso fundido, chilaquiles con heuvo, Birria en consome, and a torta ahogada.
The queso fundido was a massive plate of sizzling cheese with sauteed chorizo and a grilled scallion served with a plate of tortillas. Their birria en consome was a kind of birria that I have never tried before. Chunks of beef and bacon simmered in a light green broth that probably had some tomatillos and jalapenos in the mix; not the dark red broth that I was used to and expecting.
A plate of chilaquiles with a rojo and verde sauce along with rice, bean, and sunny side up eggs. And the torta ahogada was insane. A torta packed with carnitas then smothered in a light orange tomato sauce with a side of pickled red onions… Crazy
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Everything was so good. LA has so many incredible Mexican spots, but spots like this that are a bit farther from the city are the heavy hitters.
That’s it for today. Save these spots if you haven’t been yet and please got for me the next time you’re in LA.
Thank you for taking the time to read today and thank you all for supporting this substack and for those who were able to come and support the pop-up. I am forever grateful for y’all. If you enjoyed todays newsletter, please feel free to share and subscribe.
All love,
Edmond