Culture

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Chef John Kang: Owner of Chef Kang Sul Box

Worn out after a summer of quarantining? Feeling robbed of being able to travel? Looking for some semblance of normalcy after perhaps the craziest year that any of us have ever experienced? Chef Kang Sul Box may be the answer for you. Their warmly lit tents lining the streets of Los Angeles’s Ktown provides a Korean pocha experience that will transport you directly to the streets of Korea. Join us today as we get to know the man behind the Korean fusion cuisine: John Kang, also known as Chef Kang.

Chef Kang first opened Chef Kang Sul Box in February of 2020 following the success of his previous restaurant Chef Kang Food Rehab that opened in January of 2018. He identifies as Korean American and attributes much of his success to both his loving mother and wife who supported his desire to open a restaurant despite working as a mortgage broker for 16 years.

Although Korean food is very popular now, it was not always the case. Chef Kang reflects on his experience growing up around people who put Korean food down, trying to belittle it with racist remarks, making it all the more special that Korean food is now well known and loved by Koreans and non-Koreans alike.

“I believe love of Korean food lets people from other nationalities know what Korean culture is all about and made us closer to each other.”

Beyond sharing Korean food, Chef Kang has always been passionate about his Korean-American identity. As a child, he was picked on every day and berated with “so many Asian racial words that really hurt my feelings.” This has changed as Los Angeles has become increasingly diverse. While the racism he experiences has diminished, it has not completely disappeared. Despite the attacks that he endured due to his Korean heritage, Chef Kang has always considered himself Korean American. He says, “I consider myself Korean American, which means I’m very proud of my Korean heritage combined with ideas and beliefs as an American made me two times stronger with the goodness from both cultures.” This dual heritage is reflected in the menu at Chef Kang Sul box, which features both traditional Korean cuisine and Korean fusion dishes.

Aside from his positive outlook on life, Chef Kang’s cuisine also stands out due to his background in art. He tells us, “plates are my canvas now. My background interest and talent in art allows me to create dishes that are appetizing to the eyes as well as

flavors. I believe people eat food with their eyes first and I can express my artistic skill on a plate and on my menu.”

Like many of us, Chef Kang was deeply impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. “It changed everything, the way I run my business, retraining my staff, the way we make and serve food, take extra precautions, and even how we market ourselves. It almost feels like we are in a whole different world.” Beyond how the virus has affected his restaurant, Chef Kang also reflects on how it has impacted society. “It’s really sad that something like COVID is breaking us up. Fear and lack of truth are causing more racism among us, I feel very concerned and even worried that this will continue even after COVID is gone.”

Despite the challenges, Chef Kang has no regrets. “Just being open is a blessing,” he says. He hopes that other restaurant owners will quickly adapt to survive this harsh climate. Chef Kang believes that food is a very important aspect of knowing other cultures, and to lose that is a loss for us all. We know that the pandemic won’t last forever, and Chef Kang has big plans for the future! He plans to open a chain of Korean fusion restaurants with a new-age menu that people from all cultures can really enjoy. It will be Korean American food. “Not American, not Korean, but Korean American food.”

Location: 3881 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010

Delivery: Grubhub, Postmates, Ubereats

https://chefkangfoodrehab.com/

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Traditional Boba Drinks Made with a Cocktail Like Flair

signature drinks including the Hey Hey: royal milk tea, boba, flan, caramel, house creme

As you stroll down LA’s iconic Sunset Blvd, you may be drawn to the live music and laughter of Hey Hey Drinks. The boba hotspot’s radiant energy extends a warm comforting glow, centered around the unmatched feeling of community and home. The established cafe reflects hard work and planning, but the genius behind Hey Hey wasn’t always the boba mastermind he is today. We took the time to meet with the owner of Hey Hey Drinks, Chris Kwok, and below you will find his awesome responses to some of our questions and lots of information about his journey to boba land.

Q: Why did you start Hey Hey?

I started Hey Hey because I wanted a place that offered a more social environment with culturally rich beverages with the same focus and flair as cocktails. I saw that the industry had turned drink shops into public libraries and co-working spaces, so I wanted to offer the community a place to just play and connect. Since specialty coffee shops, tea houses, and bars were all excellent in their own way, I wanted to bring some of those key elements together in Hey Hey, from spatial design to menu, music, and event programming.

What is your background and how has it brought you to today?

Having gone to boarding school and living in a dorm in college, I always treasured the novel and casual magic that happened in common rooms. There was always a playfulness that occurred there, whether it was intellectually stimulating conversation/debates or just listening to someone jam out on a guitar. As I got older and worked as a management consultant working with Fortune 500 companies, I realized those moments were few and far between, almost non-existent. This desire for open community became the catalyst for coming up with the Hey Hey concept. Initially I went to school for Architecture and my desire for spaces and how people interact within them has always been very important to me. I saw that many drink shops were designed with similar elements which helped me shift the paradigm and do more installations that would serve as ice breakers for people to meet more naturally. I also greatly benefited from the corporate training I received from designing efficient processes, to working with vendors in a professional manner, and most importantly the ability to adapt and pivot to more advantageous situations.

Why did you decide to leave the consulting industry? What was your pivotal movement?

I loved what I was doing and was pretty good at it. But as I was climbing the ladder, I looked at my bosses and realized that wasn’t the life and path that would fulfill me. I vividly remember one night I was at Kinko’s late into the night preparing reports for a big client presentation the next day and returning to the hotel room after. I just realized I’ve given enough years to know that this was not how I wanted to invest my life and work. Even though it was much higher risk and less compensation to leave the career I was in, I felt led to build something to serve the community in a way that didn’t fully exist yet, another way to combat loneliness as our cities grew more disconnected while digitally more connected. Lastly, I wanted to showcase Asian and culturally popular beverages in an artisan, high quality way that was branded to speak to the current generation and hip neighborhoods.

What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes? What is your mantra for surviving and thriving during this time?

Like any startup and successful enterprise, adapting and pivoting – being honest and quick to identify and stop doing things that don’t work and test things that might. The key is to take on problems like food when you’re hungry. Look at each problem as a way to get stronger and better. One key thing that’s resulted from this pandemic is how much we’ve improved our delivery from process to packaging to the technology and platforms we use. Another is utilizing the down time, since we have shortened hours, to tend to areas of the business we haven’t before. Overall, I’m just very grateful we’re still able to keep the lights on, serve people delicious beverages, help add some joy into people’s restricted lives, and have a healthy team. We also took the opportunity to launch our Pay It Forward Campaign where people have the ability pre-purchase drinks for first responders. Since launching the program in April, we’ve already seen over 500 redemptions from healthcare workers.

What is it like to be an Asian American business owner during this challenging time for the country?

For me, the biggest thing is to be friendly and proactive in reaching out to other minority business owners to build a good peer relationship: one that is supportive and encouraging, at the same time, maintaining strong relationships with vendors and non-minority businesses. Relationships are everything. Also it’s on us as leaders to do the right thing, and do good things for people and communities while we have the power to. These things can range from educating your guests, your team members, etc. Some things that we’ve done during this time are providing context for our multi-cultural drinks, including civil rights cards with all our deliveries, and starting a book club series focused on anti-racism topics where we sponsor drinks for that club.

How did you feel signing the lease agreement when you were committing to Hey Hey?

Finding a space and ultimately signing a lease was probably the most challenging part to starting up Hey Hey. There were many milestones and signing the lease was definitely one of the biggest ones. I looked for a space and attempted to sign many leases over the course of 3 years. Thankfully I had a great mentor and expert who helped me along the process to figure out what I needed to consider from space, to infrastructure. When I decided on Echo Park, there was some anxiety there because the neighborhood was far from where it is today, and that was only a few years ago. I also am fortunate to have an understanding landlord that recognizes my success is his success. We are able to communicate and make collaborative decisions toward a common goal, and of course paying rent on time helps!

At any point, did you look back or have regrets?

No regrets, but it is definitely much more challenging.

Do you have a destination for Hey Hey? Is there a specific goal you are aiming to fulfill?

If people get closer and find the human connection that’s becoming hard to find in this digital era, then mission accomplished. Beyond that, I hope Hey Hey becomes the go-to community hub, known by young working professionals as the spot they can call their second home that is cool enough to bring dates to and surpass the stigma that boba and non-alcoholic beverages are for younger people only. I would love to showcase regional niche market beverages and popularize them to the level of Arnold Palmers. I’m looking towards either opening smaller concepts or becoming an advisor to guide others looking to open similar concepts or even just helping future operators startup their brick and mortar store.

How did you feel shifting from finance to creating artisan boba?

Pure excitement mixed with a little fear of the unknown. Because it’s so easy to focus

on all the day to day operations, I sometimes have to remind myself of what’s been accomplished and enjoy the awesome team around me and all the people that get to enjoy beverages that are popular in other parts of the world.

What was it like entering the boba scene without any former experience?

One of my personal requirements in starting Hey Hey was to make sure I paid some dues for a few reasons. One, I needed to know if I was capable of making this work and whether it was just a fun side hobby that would get old fast. Two, I needed to know core aspects of how to operate a cafe. My journey took 3 years before being able to build Hey Hey. Back in 2014, I took a 3 month leave from work to work at the most popular boba shop at the time – Half and Half Tea House – while developing my business plan. I worked for another 2 years after that. I then resigned in 2016 from consulting, having signed my first lease. Unfortunately, the space fell through because of unforeseen building problems and was left with an indefinite period of unemployment. I used that time (which ended up being 1 year) to work at places from Japanese crepe shops, Taiwanese dessert shops, and finally ending my research at Philz Coffee. I learned invaluable hands on experience at each place which allows me to give the best to all our Hey Hey guests. While I didn’t have much prior experience, I utilized professional consulting experience to go in and learn the business inside and out, make adjustments, and build something special.

Tell us about your experience pitching to landlords/developers.

It’s a humbling experience, especially when you have no business history and no brand presence. There were many instances where I was bullied and also cast a side, I couldn’t even get a meeting with some of the developers. I’m thankful for these because it forced me to tighten up my concept, focus my pitch, learn how to speak their language, and get to the point where I was extremely confident about what Hey Hey is about. The good thing about not being able to compete for spaces that are only looking for big chains is that you find hidden gems in culturally rich neighborhoods that have an exploratory palette, such as Echo Park.

As an Asian American, what was it like diverging from a traditional and highly regarded career to paving your own unconventional path?

I’m very grateful and fortunate to have such supported parents and great examples of leaders to follow within my immediate and intermediate family. I’ve always been encouraged to be passionate about something, and the schooling I received trained me to have a strong work ethic while finding purpose in the work I do. Although it wasn’t an immediate agreement in my switching career paths, once they realized the work and focus I put into manifesting this dream, I was given all the tools from emotion to physical to put me in a position of success. I’ve always felt like my previous experiences have helped me get to where I am today and each experience was a learning point.

What are your thoughts on the recent increases in racism and attacks due to the unreasonable association between our appearance and COVID?

I expected it because there’s a lot of ignorance, misinformation, and fear in this world. I think the best way is to combat it with education, being assertive, and supporting Asian leaders. It’s equally important that the Asian community supports one another and builds each other up, having that mentality even in the face of competition.

Have you ever come across racial discrimination (during your childhood, career, etc.)?

Yes, I think the first time I really experienced it without knowing until later was playing the “I’m Chinese/Japanese/Korean, I’m confused” game where you use your fingers to slant your eyes up and down. I was taught that game by a non-Asian and went home to show the game to my parents thinking it was funny. I can’t imagine what they must have thought, but I feel disgusted thinking about it. I would experience slights here and there when people would assume that I was naturally obedient and subservient because I’m a quiet Asian. One of the biggest discriminating times in my life was during SARs, everyone at school had a joke about it or assumed I had it because I was Asian.

Growing up was there ever a culture clash? Do you still experience it now?

The culture clash that was food specific was probably being made fun of by people who don’t understand the type of ethnic snacks I grew up eating – things like dried squid or seaweed instead of your typical fruit snacks and gushers. When it came to beverages, I think it was pretty easy for people unfamiliar with them to try and enjoy since the textures were similar.

We see that you have a program that helps first responders. What inspired you to help the community in this way?

Being a first responder is such a critical role and they were on the front lines of fighting the pandemic, risking their lives. I know many people understand this and have tried to find a way to help. Our giveback program was designed to give others the opportunity, primarily those who still had jobs and could work in the comfort of their own home, to take quick action and provide some form of break and joy in a first responder’s day by pre-purchasing drinks for them. To me this was a quick win-win situation that could be effectively rolled out.

You included cultural drinks on your menu. Could you tell us the story and significance behind that? Have you been influenced by other cultures in your journey as a business owner?

I just think there’s so much history baked into the everyday drinks that people grow up with drinking around the world and also was fascinated by how similar some of the drinks were although completely separate. For example, the Vietnamese soda chanh is basically like a mojito because of the components except that there’s no alcohol and there’s a carbonated aspect to it. Despite the differences in cultures, there’s often much similarity because at the core humans have the same needs, desires, and cravings.

Chris Kwok’s boba and business journey started as nothing more than a craving for delicious drinks, enjoyment of community spaces, and a decision to leave a corporate job, yet it has blossomed into something that is so so much more. Hey Hey truly embodies the spirit of dedication and passion.

Chris Kwok was such an inspiration to work with and talk to and we hope his story and his lessons reach all ears! Make sure to visit Hey Hey Drinks and support their Pay It Forward Campaign! Hasta la vista!

1555 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Takout: (213) 278-0689 | Delivery: Doordash, Postmates, Grubhub, UberEats

https://www.heyheydrinks.com/

What do you get when you mix Hawaiian nostalgia, Asian flavors, and a passion for sustainable beverages? Kirra Iced Tea! Founded by model-turned-entrepreneur Amanda Paige and her husband Jerrod, Kirra has reimagined the classic iced tea with better-for-you ingredients and a deep connection to their roots.

In this interview, Amanda shares how growing up in Hawaii shaped her vision, why sustainability is at the heart of their brand, and how they’re putting a fresh spin on the beloved POG (passion orange guava) drink. Let’s dive into her journey of creating a beverage that’s as refreshing as it is meaningful!

Tell us about Kirra Iced Tea!

Kirra is a better-for-you iced tea, think of a new and improved Snapple with Asian flavors inspired by growing up in Hawaii. We only sweeten our iced tea with our juice, so there’s no added or artificial sugar. We keep it simple and classic.

Do you have any fond memories of starting Kirra Iced Tea?

I think the first time I saw a stranger holding Kirra in their hand and sipping on it was a huge moment for me. It was validating that someone outside of my network was enjoying it organically.

Founders of Kirra Iced Tea: Amanda & Jerrod

How has your heritage influenced your approach to building Kirra Iced Tea, both in terms of product development and brand storytelling?

I say Kirra is my husband and my baby! Every inch of that can is a representation of our childhoods. Everything from the name “Kirra” which is the surf spot my husband Jerrod grew up surfing in Australia, the design of the sunset which was inspired by a graphic of a sunset behind diamond head on a vintage t-shirt I once had, the flavors of growing up with an asian mom in Hawaii, the nostalgia of drinking a cold ice tea on the beach. 

As an Asian founder, have you faced any specific challenges?

Contrary to how some other founders feel, I am proud and love being Asian. Growing up in Hawaii exposed me to a huge melting pot of different cultures, with a heavy emphasis on different Asian cultures. I never felt different or like I didn’t belong because essentially everyone is a mutt. Growing up with this pride of being Asian has actually catapulted me to having an edge by incorporating it into my business.

What is your signature iced tea flavor? What is the significance behind this iced tea flavor?

This is controversial, I’d say my favorite flavor right now is the mango, it’s just perfectly balanced and a little more punchy. However, I do believe our signature flavor is the passion fruit guava black tea because that was the first flavor that inspired the business. I grew up drinking POG (passion orange guava), a staple in Hawaii. In my early adulthood I became more interested and aware of nutrition as I dove into the health and wellness space it became very apparent that guzzling a can of POG with 40g of added sugar was no longer aligning with my life!

Looking at the next generation (like us!), what trends or behaviors do you think will shape the future of the non-alcoholic beverage industry? 

I think we will go back to simplicity, I’m seeing these extra added adaptogens, functional ingredients, and superfood ingredients that I think are just really a buzz word of the moment. I think simple, better for your drinks will be standing the test of time. 

Looking back at your journey with Kirra Iced Tea, what is one key lesson you’ve learned that you wish you had known from the start? 

I think something I have learned not only in this business but in my other businesses is be careful who you let in your court, make sure they are there for the right reasons and truly believe in you as a person. A business is only as good as the people involved so I always make sure to only allow in the right people.

What role does sustainability play in Kirra Iced Tea, and how do you balance eco-friendly practices with running a profitable business? 

This is my favorite question so far because it’s one of the ones that feels most near to my heart. To us, sustainability is probably the MOST important practice while running a business. Growing up in Hawaii, it was instilled in me to respect our oceans and preserve their beauty. Since we are creating a product and adding more into this world, it was super important to try to be as sustainable as possible. One of the biggest decisions we made was choosing to put it in a PRINTED can which is 100% infinitely recyclable. A lot of people don’t know that not all cans are fully recyclable; often times, cans have a shrink wrap on them made of plastic. Even when you make choices to have a sustainable product, you have to also consider packaging. We use only paper to pack and send our products, even down to the paper tape.

My other job is a model, and having been in the fashion industry for 15 years, it really opened my eyes to the constant barrage of marketing and creating more “stuff,” especially in fast fashion. I swore to myself that when I created something of my own (which I always felt I would), I wouldn’t bring more “stuff” into the world unless it was an absolute F* YES and it had intention. Something that’s always suggested to us is merch because our brand can translate really well to it. While I agree our brand would make some kick-ass merch, I don’t want to just throw our logo on a t-shirt. That being said, stay tuned – we are going to do one little merch drop and it is definitely a F* YES.

As a student who both cares about the environment and wants to start a business someday, Amanda’s story is truly inspiring. She shows that you don’t have to choose between success and sustainability! I love how she thought through every detail – from recyclable cans to paper tape – proving that eco-friendly choices can be built into your business from day one. Her approach to avoiding unnecessary “stuff” (even waiting on merch until it felt right!) shows that you can grow a brand while staying true to your values. Her journey gives me hope that I too can create something successful that’s good for the planet!

Check out Kirra Iced Tea!

Website: https://kirralife.com/

Kirra’s Instagram: @kirralife

Amanda’s Instagram: @amandapandapaige

Follow us @jiafoodblog, comment with your favorite Kirra Iced Tea flavor, and subscribe to our blog below so you never miss a post!