One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
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.
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.
Sponsored message
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.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
