Or so says the NYT. But it makes sense. As the second generation of Korean Americans get older (as in their 30s and 40s), they are now acquiring the capital, business sense and networks to open restaurants that cater to more than just other Koreans.
Per the article:
These chefs and entrepreneurs are fueled in large part by tech-boom money here and in South Korea, culinary-school educations and in some cases, their parents’ shifting perspectives about the profession of cooking. In the last year, new Korean restaurants have popped up on the powerhouse restaurant strips of Washington Boulevard in Culver City and Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood….
“We thought Korean food was under-represented here, and we were right,” said Robert Benson, the executive chef of Gyenari in Culver City, who has two Korean partners. “There is a certain mysticism to Korean food, and we have tried to make it more accessible.”
Edward Chang, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside sums it up:
The first generation of Korean immigrants here mainly catered toward a Korean clientele, or made grocery markets catering to a minority clientele… But more recent immigrants have ethnic and capital resources that enable them to branch out in the mainstream economy.
Highlighted in the article is the Kogi Taco Truck, first mentioned in TMH here.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Two posts in a row on “Kogi Taco Truck”. Wow it must be a hotter topic than “Dokdo” in the hole.
Expect referee Rob to delete and/or consolidate one.
Be sure and count your fingers after dealing with a Korean… Their business ethics are rather, shall we say, loose.
I know what you mean man… Jesus H. Christ we Koreans are so fucking sneaky. But then again, if the squinty eyes didn’t tip you off about our deceptive nature, you deserve to be screwed by us.
Turning bitter sarcasm off…
Jesus H. Christ. Really?
bumfromkorea —- with a comment like that, I can’t consolidate this post now, can I?
“…and in some cases, their parents’ shifting perspectives about the profession of cooking.”
Right, because we all know that everyone in Korea is a doctor.
In reality, a large portion small to medium sized Korean businesses are restaurants.
My impression of the evolution of Korean restaurants in Hawaii is that when the Korean population was small and mostly ise or samse, the food was very bland and boring, overemphasizing the quantity of meat and underdoing the flavor and variety of kimchee in order to appeal to local non-Koreans. But after a lot of new ilse showed up in the 1980s and 1990s, the food got much better in variety and quality. Same for the Japanese food after Japanese tourists began to overrun the islands. It got far, far better. And of course both cuisines influenced the Asian fusion trend that is now well-established in the islands.
Ah, is that why “Hawaiian bbq” places on the mainland have galbi along side with tuna rolls?
# 6,
You’d be suprised. Sure lots of Koreans cook for a living, but none of them want their kids to cook for a living.
#6,
None of them? I find that very hard to believe. It’s just a stereotype, no matter how you try to defend it.
This is getting a little out of hand when the Financial Times reports on it too…
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8e9ecefa-fedf-11dd-b19a-000077b07658.html
Isn’t there a global economic and financial crisis out there that needs some reporting?
SomeguyinKorea. If you were a parent slaving away at a food stall hawking 50 cent dishes of dokbokki or bent over in a tiny kitchen of a hole-in-the-wall eatery, wouldn’t you want something better for your kids? Regardless of ethnicity or nationality, I think the answer is yes. For Koreans this is magnified because of a confucian cultural background that stresses (rightly or wrongly) status and the general fact that Korean parents are very anal about putting a boot to their kid’s backside.
So, all? Okay, maybe not all. Most? 99.9%? It would be a very weird parent who would want something better for their kids, don’t you think?
#11,
So, in your opinion the stereotype is true? Korean parents are unable to have realistic expectations of their kids?
Some kids would be lucky to grow up to be hawking 50 cent dishes of dokbokki or be bent over in a tiny kitchen of a hole-in-the-wall eatery.
“Korean parents are unable to have realistic expectations of their kids?”
For us gyopos, yeah.
Maybe parents in Korea are different since they are not immigrants who feel pressure (either directly by themselves or indirectly through their kids) to succeed in a foreign land.
#13,
I’m not convinced.
Besides, Korean kids aren’t the only one to feel the pressure to succeed.
Take me, for example. My parents were educators. Many of my ancestors were French aristocrats, so you could say that I come from a long line of people obsessed with education. To make matters worse, my father often knew my grades at school and university before I did because he had either taught or studied with many of my school teachers and professors. How’s that for test anxiety inducing situations?
My mother was a teacher. Mrs Linkd’s dad was a teacher, along with more than half of her 15 aunts and uncles, and many of her cousins are following suit. They’re all obsessed with job stability, benefits and pensions, not education.
The cousin generation, however, is using their parents’ lifestyle as a benchmark, not realizing yet that (Canadian) teacher pay hasn’t kept pace, and their pension entitlements are nowhere near as generous. It’s amazing how much people are willing to give up in order to get lifelong job security. In financial terms, we might look at the differential between straight monthly pay of Korean vs foreign teachers here as the risk premium foreigners demand for the lack of security they get.
#14 sgk, I don’t think wangkon is saying that Korean kids had to work any harder than other kids. It’s that they, along with other immigrant Asian kids, are often forced into specific careers regardless of their choices. Check the faces on say, a computer engineering class, and it’s believeable.
The sad part is that if these kids aren’t doing well, most of the time they are physically abused, and it’s near impossible to have a rational argument even coming from a teacher which they supposedly respect. The hypocritical thing is a lot of these parents can’t even assist with the elementary subjects they are pushing at.
If you’ve never had to question the circumstance as a grade schooler, you’re getting beat for getting 70′s in English, while your parents can only speak in say, Hindi, then be glad. The expectations might be the same, but the support and atmosphere sure ain’t.
Now in Newsweek???
http://www.newsweek.com/id/187008/output/print
Okay, the hype machine is getting WAY out of hand…
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