WEBVTT - Roy Choi: Cooking with Purpose and Flavor 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:08.159 Welcome back to those amigos. This is part two of 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:12.600 this incredible conversation with our brother over here. And we're 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:16.000 talking his book, we're talking heritage, we're talking the struggle 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:19.120 in the climb up and uh, Freddie, I know that 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:19.680 you you. 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:21.639 Have some thoughts on the matter, and you were going 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:22.320 to ask something. 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:25.319 Absolutely, I'm just I'm just so happy and grateful to 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:26.439 have my boy Roy here. 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:31.520 But that after after you you put out, especially. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.440 With all the intention and the media that we got, 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.120 because then the media gets involved, right, and then the 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:40.000 media wants to understand the craze, right, the craze. They 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.800 want you to put it in some poetic one liner 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.120 right right. And for me, in those early days, you know, 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:50.040 I was just speaking, spitting my truth, you know, kind 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:51.600 of like the hip hop that we love, right Like 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.680 I was, I was speaking like early Queen's Bridge, you know, 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:58.360 I was describing where I'm from, you know whatever, uh 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.800 and uh. For us, it was like I was just saying, like, 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.440 this is our food, this is the way we talk, 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.000 this is our slang. This is if you eat this taco, 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.840 it tastes like this block, you know, it tastes like 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.679 Vermont and eighth Street, you know, and then those things 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:18.360 were written by Australian journalists, English, you know, people from 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:20.640 around the world. And then then then what happened was 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.840 instead of la being this huge thing, it started to 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.679 get very regional micro right, and then they would say, oh, 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.640 because of this flavor and this chili and this block 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:33.320 that these flavors come out. 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:35.039 So that's so interesting. 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.919 I mean, it's such a I think, like the street 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:40.640 food is now being celebrated worldwide in a way that's 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.240 just like, I mean, I I was shooting in Europe 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:45.479 or like a year and a half ago, and uh, 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.280 you know, you go to Rome somewhere and there's a 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.680 corner with a bunch of food tructions, Like, whoa, what's. 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:50.960 Going on here? 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.960 I mean, everyone's like really getting inspired. What what do 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.000 you think to you what do you think change in 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:58.760 the view? What what do you think this brought to 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:01.200 people that it became such a worldwide phenomen You know. 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.040 We were we were right there in the middle of 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:09.480 it all. And again, why was it an Asian fusion Mexican, 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:13.360 Korean Korea town tackle truck that ended up being the 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:17.040 focus of all this? But you know, I can't speak 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.640 for that. All I know is to tell you the truth. 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:21.960 And we were there, you know, and the time that 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.560 we started cooking on the streets, there was a lot 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:27.440 of racism around street food. 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:30.200 You know, and perception. 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.640 You know, they were called roach coaches. You know, the 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:38.399 lonchettas and trucks were called roach coaches. The whole negativity 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:44.279 and racism around the way that Western culture looked at Latinos. 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:48.840 You know, the water in Tijuana diarrhea, If you eat 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.320 the food, it's dirty, it's roach coaches. These are words 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.840 that like people were using to describe culture, you know, 0:02:56.040 --> 0:03:01.200 to describe life. And what happened was we just went 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:02.680 out there with this truck. I think it was the 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.880 technology and the social media and then the craze of 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.240 everyone being able to access it. A lot of racism 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:13.800 comes from ignorance and fear right and so finally people 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:17.480 that didn't have access to food trucks or street food 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.720 or vendors, they were finally able to access things in 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.000 their life because it was this new kind of hip 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:28.519 thing and they realized it wasn't what they were led 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.080 to believe, you know what I mean, It wasn't dirty, 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:35.000 it wasn't it wasn't gross, It wasn't a roach coach, 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.120 you know, and it was actually delicious. And we're all 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.080 human and these are this is culture, and so that 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:47.040 all led to things moving from roach coach to gourmet 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.800 and then all of a sudden, you know, and that 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.440 shows how powerful language is, right, you go from calling 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.800 something a roach coach to calling it a gourmet food truck. Right, 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.520 then all of a sudden, that same person that was 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.400 saying those things is now hiring that same truck for 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:09.280 their kids' birthday party. And that's all within one It's 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:12.160 a circle of life. And then that leads to the 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.640 next thing. Then all of a sudden, corporations and economy 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.599 gets behind it, and the industry gets behind it. So 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:20.599 all these things start to change. We see it in 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.800 your guys, this world with like storytelling, right and you know, 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:29.200 you know, different projects being funded now, and then people 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:33.800 like yourselves becoming producers and you know, and investors and 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.880 you know, bringing in stories that were not brought in before. 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:39.320 All of that stuff changes. 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:41.200 It really does change until your point. 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:46.039 It takes individuals like you to say that fusion is 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.320 not only allowed, right, I mean we always talk about this, 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.159 you know, they always try to make us you're either 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.960 Korean or you're American, or you're either Latino or you're American, 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.719 you know, And we always talk over here about the 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.000 two hundred percent, Like why can't be two hundred percent? 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:01.960 Yeah, I mean to one hundred percent of that one 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.359 hundred percent of this and that makes it really special. 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:08.400 I think that the idea that these these collaborations with 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:12.359 flavors and culture that happened in the streets now have 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:13.120 a moment. 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.240 In pop culture worldwide. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.000 You know, these are restaurant ideas that were never allowed 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.520 to be because they weren't allowed to play nice with 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.400 each other. You know, they weren't they weren't seen as mainstream. 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:26.839 They weren't seen as as crowd pleasers or you know. 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.680 And so that's what I think, Like what Kogie did 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:33.560 in such a you know, in such an iconic way, 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:35.719 is that it allowed it for it to be like 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.080 why not all these fusions were happening in the streets, 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.240 but they were never allowed to be a real business. 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:41.560 You know. 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.760 I'm a strong believer in like the cream rises to 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.599 the top, right, Like like good is good, right, Like 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:53.240 I have family members in Chicago and Wisconsin who don't 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.560 know anything about acting, nothing about movies or TV. But 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:58.720 they can sit there and they can tell you if 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.040 an actor is good or not or I or if 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.279 the thing that they're watching is good or not, because 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.719 they have this sort of instinct this this this visceral 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.200 reaction to it. And I just think that part of 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.039 what made you successful was that you were telling your truth. 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.640 This is your truth, right, this food was your truth 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.320 and good is good. You know, people got over this 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.160 sort of like, oh, how could you merge sort of 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.800 Korean and Mexican, And then once they took a bite, 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:25.520 they were like, damn, this thing is good. 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.760 Yeah, you know, and that truth goes back, It goes 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:30.880 back deeper than just the beginning of the truck. You know, 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.160 like I grew up around Latinos my whole life. 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:34.440 You know. 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:37.400 That's why I really want to do this podcast. It 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.039 just like it feels comfortable to me. It feels it 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.880 feels very familiar to me. It's you know, I was 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:45.280 low riding when I was sixteen. 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:47.919 It's part of who you are too, who I am. 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.120 I was Wittier boulevard. You know, you could you could 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.640 you could check the receipts, you know, like you know, 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.240 I was on with your boulevard cruising Pico Rivera back 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.800 in the day. I was. I was spitting game at 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:01.839 you know, you know, trying. I was at the dances. 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.280 I had the pompador, you know, you know, I was 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.400 listening to freestyle. I was out there, you know, and 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.240 I was in kitchens. I was, you know, at the 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:14.000 side of teas and moms and you know, helping them 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:16.520 cook and watch. And I was a good eater. You know, 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.440 growing up, I was real chubby kids. So like the 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.600 moms used to love me. Man, you know, like all 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:23.840 my friends, I go to the houses and again, like 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:25.960 I told you, I was alone a lot. So I 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:28.040 just rolled to my friends houses and I was a 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.000 little chubby can they loved me. 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.000 Yeah, I had to. 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.680 I couldn't leave the table whole they would clean. 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.280 And so I think once I started cooking, and once 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.560 I especially when I went out there to the streets, 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.720 it just felt natural and people could feel that I 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:52.280 wasn't a poser or or my you know, they felt 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.840 something familiar as well, from from us, I want to believe, 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.680 you know, and even from the early early nights, we 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.880 would come back because the just so you all know 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.560 the trucks here in Los Angeles. We we're like our 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.880 own subculture. We're like, we're like the kind of like 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.440 the gangs of the movie The Warriors. Yeah, like we 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.200 go back to our own little kind of like compounds 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.559 at night. So at night we all chuck back to these. 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.239 There's three three or four big compounds here in Los Angeles, 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.720 one up here in the valley, there's one on Slawson, 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.880 and one in downtown LA, and then one in Huntington Park. 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:31.280 And basically all the trucks you see out there on 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.360 the streets, we all go back to one of these 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.679 four compounds. And in these four compounds are surrounded by 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:40.400 these big cinder block walls, and it's like it's like 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.520 a big prison yard but in the in the but 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:45.320 if a prison yard was like a musical. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:51.760 You know, it's like colorful truck colorful trucks and a 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:56.880 bunch of like uh like ladies teas that are really bossy, 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:00.679 really bossy, but in charge and amazing, and they've been 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:01.360 working all day. 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:04.920 And then there's so much gossip, street gossip, as. 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.400 You all know, like it's the best got each other 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:13.680 and everything, everything so much that thing's awfully does so 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.640 much gossip and then so you think they're not the 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.720 ladies got egoized. Man, you think they're not gonna notice 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.520 like a bunch of Asian guys coming in on a truck, 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:23.080 you know. 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.280 So they spotted us right away. But we were accepted 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:29.600 right away and loved and they tasted our food and 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:30.040 they're like. 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:31.719 Yeah, what y'all was gonna ask you that? Have you 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.440 ever had like a straight up like Mexican dia, like 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.080 taste your food, taste your burritos, taste. 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.439 From the early days, they knew, they knew too, you know. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.840 What did they What was their reaction or something like that? 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:46.920 They I got my nickname. They call me Poppychulo from 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:51.240 they one they want they want get that level of 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:55.720 difficulty eleven eleven, that's it. From day one, they christened me. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.120 They christened me like at first they were just like who, 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:00.360 you know, who are they? Everyone was on water again, 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:04.320 like a prison yard. Everyone truck, So our truck we 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.880 pulled in, Everyone's you know, whistling, Everyone's like who is this? 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.360 You know, they knew everything, They knew everything about us 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.800 from day one, you know, and then they tasted the food. 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:23.200 Then I'll tell you exactly exactly, but they I fed 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.280 everybody the food. I walked It was almost like I 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.280 walked out of this pile and I had like lipstick 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:34.360 marks all over that I've seriously, it was like a movie. 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.200 That's what happened on day one, and we haven't looked 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:36.760 back since. 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:38.200 You know, you know this is this. 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:40.560 I am so happy that we were able to do 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:44.120 this episode of Euroy because what we've been trying to do, 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:46.559 and I'm going to use this word that's like so 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:48.800 terrible for everybody, but we've been trying to preach for 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:53.559 so long, is that we all share the same passions. 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:57.200 We our cultures are co existing together for decades and 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.520 decades and hundreds of years in this country. 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:01.920 And then that allowed us to actually. 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.720 Acknowledge that we're not only in the same room together, 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.679 but we're all winning and losing together, you know. And 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.240 I think the idea that we can bring all of 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:12.920 our cultures in one room, and whether it's an industry, 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:15.040 whether it's a project, whether it's a movie, whether it's 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.320 a business, whatever it is, you know, you have an 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.200 opportunity to tell everyone, hey, we're not like we've. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:21.720 Never been different. 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.360 We all want the same thing, right, especially when we're 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:24.920 in America. 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.079 Man, I love what you're saying, because it's going to 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.800 be even more difficult as we move forward with the 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:33.520 algorithms and technology and AI and all. 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:34.880 That they're gonna make us categories. 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.200 Everything is so categorized, everything is so binary. It's either 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:42.080 your this or that. I think that's why it's even 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:45.360 more important for us that are still are the the 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:49.559 last legs of these legacies to continue to speak our truth, 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.439 share our truth, and try to shape culture moving forward. 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:55.960 You know, we can't stop it, but we can at 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.320 least continue to water the garden because there was a 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.360 very special time. I mean the times that we talk 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.920 about at dinner. You know, I come we come from 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:07.760 an era of hip hop where it didn't really matter race. 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.760 You were a part of cruise, right, Like if you could, 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:12.800 if you could be boy, it didn't matter what color 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:17.360 res you were. You're nice. You just had to be nice. 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:22.119 And there's something about that that I want to translate 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:26.520 in the right words, in the right expression for for 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:28.560 the future. You know, I want to still make it. 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:32.560 I want to make it relatable and use the language 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:35.920 that you know, the algorithm can pick up on or whatever. 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.600 But there's something about that that I want to continue 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:40.920 and you're just talking about that, is that you know, 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:44.400 we're all here together. You know, we spend so much 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:49.720 energy separating each other. What if we spent that energy 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:53.319 like really, you know, investing in each other. Like, imagine 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:54.040 where we could be. 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:55.520 I mean, you did, right. 0:12:56.080 --> 0:13:03.400 Nobody everybody really frown on cross pollinating. Right, They're like, Okay, 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:05.839 you know, you stay your lane. You're living this block, 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:07.679 they live in that block. But look at what happened 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:09.400 when you cross polanated. Look at what happened when you 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.840 took what you knew when you grew up with and 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:13.400 embraced the culture. 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:14.319 That you were being raised around. 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.000 Right, all of a sudden magic happened, and you are 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.640 not only feeding that community, we're feeding others and welcoming 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.720 other communities to discover the fusion and the gift of 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:24.360 two cultures coming together in one. 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:28.480 Truck picking up on that and we're just food. We're 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:31.120 like the lowest not the lowest thing, but we're like. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:35.040 But it's the most powerful cultures. 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:40.600 Have fusion happened in politics, in storytelling, in business, in 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:46.400 the wealth gap, you know, in education, in access to 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.400 UH to opportunities. You know, you know you asked me 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.480 earlier about why do I do these things? You know 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:57.360 the reason I do them because I'm still out there 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.200 on the streets every day feeding. And when you're out there, 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.400 you're still plugged in and connected. And no matter how 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:05.840 much we want to believe that the world has changed, 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.200 it hasn't. We could go right now, I could take 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:13.520 you block by block, city by city for miles and 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:17.319 miles neighborhoods and schools that don't have Wi Fi, you know, 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.640 that don't have access to nutritional food or fruits or vegetables. 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.440 They can't they can't even get a job, you know, 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:28.280 because there's no industry around where they're living. You know, 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.400 that don't even have like sports programs or arts program 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.200 that they can funnel their energy into because all those 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:37.000 things are cut, you know what I mean. And so 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:40.480 like we got we got to start investing in each 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.080 other in some way, because, as you say, look at 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.600 the magic that happens when we strip away like all 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.320 of the barriers and we just let who we naturally 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.600 are grow and we we have no idea like how 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.040 much magic there is out there in the world, And 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:58.000 I hate to be so passionate about you guys, but like, 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:03.800 you know, like we don't even know the potential of 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:06.440 where we could be as humans. 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:19.240 You know, are people ever surprised that that you're you're 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:21.480 still that plugged in, that you're still in the trucks, 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.920 that you're still I'm sure the perception is like, well, 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:26.160 why are you still on these trucks, Like why aren't 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:29.920 you and like why haven't you started your gigantic restaurant chain? 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:31.880 Why aren't you there? Why aren't you? 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:34.880 But like every time I see you, I've been with 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:36.880 you on your you know, I've seen You've gotten me 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.320 burritos from your truck before, and I found that really like. 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:41.840 Oh yeah, you saw me when I did the pop 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:44.560 up last day, right Tacos Vida you saw it was 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:45.160 just like oh. 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:46.200 Yeah, that one man. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:47.200 You should have seen him. 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:49.560 He was like out there, you were, you were in it. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.960 But like like why, like like for the people who 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:55.040 wonder like why, and I know you just sort of 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.080 answered it, But like I find that incredibly humbling that 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.440 you're still that you're still like in the trenches where 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.160 where you you clearly could be somewhere else doing other stuff. 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:09.480 Thank you. I I don't know. I think on one end, 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.960 I don't know if people are too surprised, because I 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.760 think once they meet me, they know like, yeah, you know, 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.520 like I haven't gone anywhere. But I think a part 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.680 of it is, you know, it's what I love to do. 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:23.240 You know. 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:27.360 It's like and I feel tapping into your two hundred 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.160 percent idea. I feel like I can do two hundred 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:34.680 percent of things, Like I can still use my brain 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:39.520 for things and think think about you know, other things, 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.120 or you know, manage projects or be a CEO of something. 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.480 But I could still do that one hundred percent. But 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:47.320 I could still be on the ground one hundred percent. 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:50.320 You know, this doesn't take away from that, so that 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:51.920 that's partly probably why. 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:53.160 But that's authenticity. 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.280 Yeah, you know, that's authenticity speaking at the loudest form. 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.760 H you know, in the speaking of authenticity, I wanted 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:00.640 to pay it because. 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.400 It's so important. It's very hard. 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:08.760 To publish a book, Yes, it's very hard. And you 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:16.480 have absolutely immortalized, you know, your legacy in this cookbook, right, 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.720 and you have a lot of really great dishes here 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:22.280 and I wanted to give you. I don't know if 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.600 you knew this, but our two producers Leo and and 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:31.119 and Social Death Sophie, they took up on themselves to 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.159 pay a little tribute to you, and they took this 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.400 and they cooked something or they made something from this cookbook. Leo, 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:39.639 do you mind? Do you want to explain what you 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:41.240 guys did here? 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:53.160 Good? Yeah, that's a great recipe. Let's see if Leo, yes, 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:55.600 let's see if my recipes work. 0:17:58.560 --> 0:17:59.720 Before we do the test. 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:01.520 Looking forward to the test, tell us a little bit 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.160 about this book and how this came about. 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.200 So it's called The Choy of Cooking. It's a play 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.840 on the joy of cooking. If any of you had 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:14.040 ever grown up with that book, I was made my 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.080 name rhymes Roy Troy, so as a kid, you can 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.679 imagine all the shit I had to deal with. But 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:23.840 I finally took that and put power into it. And 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.000 the first cookbook that entered my family life was The 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.439 Joy of Cooking. And as I was, as me and 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.359 my team were writing this book trying to find the title, 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:37.880 like I did a deep dive into who I am 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:40.680 and what legacy I want to leave on this planet, 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:44.080 Like I don't think it's the end of my physical life, 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.679 right now. But I thought of, like, what if this 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:51.040 book was still around one hundred years from now, two 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:53.879 hundred years from now, and someone found it, like at 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.439 the Pasadena flea market or something, and they found it 0:18:56.440 --> 0:19:00.800 digging in a bin, Like I want to have this 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:05.040 like long life, and it could mark like a timestamp 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:06.280 of who this person was. 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:08.280 Impression. 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.520 Yeah, and I think that person who I am is 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.480 I just want to bring joy to people's lives. Man. 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.960 You know, I've I've been around on this planet enough 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.560 to where I've lived through so many different life cycles. 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:22.560 You know, I had my you know, I was you know, 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:27.000 I've been angry. You know I've been mad, I've been uh, 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:32.160 down and out. You know, I've been a piece of shit. 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:34.520 You know, I've been all the things that you go 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.359 through in life. And and I think where I finally 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.320 have landed is uh you know, I just want to 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:43.200 bring happiness. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:43.760 You know. 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:45.800 That's that's like where I want to do. And that's 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.239 what this book's about. Man. It's this books about like 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:53.720 recipes and stories that bring happiness to someone's life, you know. 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:58.040 And yeah, you know, cookbooks hard to write, because any 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:03.480 books hard to write, because like there there's editors, man, 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:06.200 those editors, you. 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:08.359 Know, Construgress like this word better. 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:10.320 Yeah, I like freestyle man. 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:13.359 So but I'll tell you this though. You what you 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:15.840 did in the cover. I mean I see, I see 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.200 all the influences that we just talked about here, yeah 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.320 you so all the little pictures here, who's this right here? 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:22.399 That's me? 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:24.560 That's it's me, So that's you. 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.160 And then uh and then I see the palm trees 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:28.360 and is that is that an impollo? 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:28.720 Yeah? 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:30.840 Is that actually your Paula? 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.640 It wasn't mine, but you know, my friends have all 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:34.120