Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix

By Jacqueline Briggs Martin, June Jo Lee and Man One

AWARD WINNING PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHY OF THE CHEF WHO KICKSTARTED THE FOOD TRUCK MOVEMENT.
Chef Roy Choi calls himself a “street cook.”
He wants outsiders, low-riders,
kids, teens, shufflers and skateboarders,
to have food cooked with care, with love,
with sohn maash.

"Sohn maash" is the flavors in our fingertips. It is the love and cooking talent that Korean mothers and grandmothers mix into their handmade foods. For Chef Roy Choi, food means love. It also means culture, not only of Korea where he was born, but the many cultures that make up the streets of Los Angeles, where he was raised. So remixing food from the streets, just like good music—and serving it up from a truck—is true to L.A. food culture. People smiled and talked as they waited in line. Won't you join him as he makes good food smiles?

Jacqueline Briggs Martin, author of the Caldecott Medal winner, Snowflake Bentley as well as Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, and Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious continues her Food Heroes series with Chef Roy Choi on people who change what and how we eat. Together with food ethnographer June Jo Lee and internationally renowned graffiti artist Man One, they bring an exuberant celebration of street food and street art.

Chef Roy Choi is also available in audiobook, narrated by illustrator Man One, a Audiofile magazine Earphones Award winner. The Spanish edition, El Chef Roy Choi y su Remix de la Comida Callejera, was published in fall 2022 along with with the audiobook, also narrated by Man One.

Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of the Caldecott Medal winner, Snowflake Bentley. Chef Roy Choi marks the third of her award-winning “Food Heroes” series, after Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table and Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious, on pioneers who changed what and how we eat. Her newest book is Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild, also co-written with June Jo Lee after Chef Roy Choi. She lives in Mount Vernon, Iowa. jacquelinebriggsmartin.com

June Jo Lee is a food ethnographer, studying how America eats for companies such as Google and is a national speaker on food trends. She is also co-founder of publisher READERS to EATERS, promoting food literacy with stories about our diverse food cultures. Like Roy Choi, she was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the United States. She now lives in San Francisco. Her newest book is Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild, also co-written with Jacqueline Briggs Martin. foodethnographer.com.

Man One has been a pioneer in the graffiti art movement in Los Angeles since the 1980s. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. He is the co-founder of Crewest Studio, a creative communications company focusing on contemporary global culture. This is his first children’s book. He also narrated the English audiobook, an Audiofile magazine Earphones Award winner, and will narrate the Spanish audiobook coming in late 2022.  manone.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Readers to Eaters
• Release date: Jun 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9780998047768

Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of Snowflake Bentley, winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal, and The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish, an ALA Notable Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, Riverbank Review Finalist, Notable Social Studies Trade book and winner of The Golden Kite Award for Illustration. She grew up on a farm in Maine much like the one in this story. She lives in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

Reviews for Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix

[nclegern-495838 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix tells the story of Chef Roy Choi coming back from failure and hardship to find his passion, recentering and continuing on. Roy refused to give into the criticism that said he couldn't be successful following his dream and serving his community. Told with graffiti style illustrations--even the call out bubbles are spray pain dots, the story includes important Korean terms and cooking processes supporting the story.Chef Roy was born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Los Angeles. His early life revolved around his parent's restaurant in Koreatown. After the restaurant closed, he felt adrift until culinary school. Although he found tremendous success as a chef, Roy burned out and had to find a new path. Chef Roy drew from his background of Koreatown and Los Angeles, combining diverse inspiration from his fine dinning experience with much loved Korean flavors and the street food of Los Angeles. He remixed these ingredients to open his successful food truck, cafes and "soulful fast food" restaurants in underserved neighborhoods. With a desire to "feed goodness" to the world, Chef Roy hopes to continue "remixing neighborhoods" with food made with love and care.**Orbis Pictus Honor Book