Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Roy Choi Working On A Healthy Fast Food Chain To Compete With McDonald's
Photo courtesy via Kogi BBQ
()
For the past four years, chefs have gathered for the MAD Conference in Copenhagen to discuss the future of food. From progressive food to wild culinary concepts, there's always something shocking going on at the gathering designed by Noma's innovative chef Rene Redzepi. It sort of serves as a TED gathering for the world's top chefs and food industry professionals. This time around, chef Roy Choi announced that he'll be working on a fast food concept called Loco'l meant compete with the likes of Burger King and McDonald's, offering low-income communities nourishing, healthful food.
"We want to go toe to toe with fast-food chains and offer the community a choice," said Choi.
Choi will collaborate with Daniel Patterson, who owns Coi in San Francisco and has made some cameos on PBS's hit show "Mind of a Chef," for the project. Patterson will develop most of the healthy, seasonal recipes. And the buns for their burgers will be created by none other than Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery.
Loco'l is going to aim to keep prices competitive with other chains. All of the items on the menu will range from $2-$6, leaps and bounds more affordable than what the chefs serve at their higher-end establishments.
Support for LAist comes from
The first location will open in San Francisco in 2015, with the second outlet debuting in Los Angeles shortly thereafter. They are hoping to open "like a million" throughout the U.S. Says Eater:
The offerings will also include burgers made with a beef and grain/tofu mixture, salads, rice bowls, and "cross cultural" items like falafel and tacos. The first location will aim to open inside San Francisco's economically-depressed Tenderloin with spaces averaging around 1,500 square feet.
The seed for this concept was planed at last year's MAD Conference, where Choi talked about Los Angeles' hunger crisis and our arid food deserts. He urged chefs to get involved in solving the problem beyond lavish charity and fundraising events serving canapés to well-heeled foodies.
Since then, Choi and Patterson have walked the walk. Choi opened 3 Worlds Cafe in South Los Angeles serving fresh fruit and smoothies amid a sea of liquor stores. Patterson began working with Larkin Street Youth Clinic, according to the SF Chronicle, which provides services for homeless youth, a partnership that spawned the Cooking Project, a nonprofit initiative that teaches cooking skills to at-risk young people in the Tenderloin.
"It's not that chefs aren't making an effort. What I question is how our efforts are being used," Patterson told the Chronicle.
And this is certainly a step in the right direction.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist