Roy Choi is best known as the father of the Korean fusion taco. His food truck Kogi went viral in 2008, making him one of the first food influencers on social media. 

But in his new book The Choi of Cooking, Roy offers a look into a different part of his life: His journey to eat healthier while still having the comfort foods he loves. 

Tan interviewed Roy in front of a sold-out audience at Freemont Abbey in Seattle during his book tour. Special thanks to Book Larder for organizing the event. 

More information on The Choi of Cooking: https://booklarder.com/products/the-choi-of-cooking-flavor-packed-rule-breaking-recipes-for-a-delicious-life 

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

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Mexican Seoul is making waves among Seattle foodies. But instead of traditional carne asada or cheesy quesadillas, the food truck in Roosevelt is serving up a meld of Korean and Mexican flavors. Their menu features bulgogi-style pork cooked al pastor, kimchi pico de gallo and steak marinated in spices from Korean kalbi.

Tan tastes two of Mexican Seoul’s most popular tacos with local Korean food aficionados Ellen Acuario and Jane Park, co-hosts of the podcast Reply Yeochin. Plus, the trio debates the best spot for Korean food in the area and proper etiquette when cooking Korean BBQ. 

Read Tan’s full review of Mexican Seoul in The Seattle Times.

Recommendations in this episode:

• Mexican Seoul, Roosevelt
• So Moon Nan Jib, Federal Way
• Yummy Banchan, Federal Way
• Yi's Traditional Korean Beef Soup, Federal Way
• JangAn Sullungtang, Lynwood
• Woobling Korean BBQ, Bellevue
• Southgate Mart, Bellevue
• Paju, South Lake Union
• Made in House, Fremont

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

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Seattle has some truly stellar food that draws on cultures from around the world, but not all cuisines get equal time in the limelight. 

At a recent live event at Town Hall Seattle for the Splendid Table podcast, Tan and Seattle chef Melissa Miranda joined Splendid Table host Francis Lam to put a spotlight on fine dining in Vietnamese and Filipino cuisines. 

Recommendations in this episode:

• Musang, Beacon Hill (Filipino)
• Ramie, Capitol Hill 
• Pho Hein Trang, Renton
• Café La Vie, Tacoma
• Ba Bar, various locations

 

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

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Two big-name Washington breweries are expanding with new locations in Seattle, complete with food offerings from local chefs. Tan explains how the news points to two trends shaping the city’s brewery scene.

Plus, Seattle Times editor Trevor Lenzmeier tells the story of an acclaimed sushi restaurant that shut down this month, and not for reasons you would expect. 

Tell us about your favorite neighborhood hang out spot! Email us at [email protected] 

Read Tan’s coverage of brewery expansions and follow the saga of Sushi by Scratch in The Seattle Times.

Family-friendly beer tasting rooms with great food:

• Aslan Brewing with seafood by Ethan Stowell (Tangletown, not yet open)
• Ruben’s Brews with fish and chips (Downtown, not yet open)
• Project 9 Brewing with food from Mexican Seoul (Roosevelt)
• Figurehead Brewing with food from Midnite Ramen and Nanking Ramen (Fremont)
• Fair Isle Brewing with Tacos Extranjeros (Ballard)
• Holy Mountain Brewing with a pasta pop-up (Phinney Ridge)

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

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There are plenty of good hot sandwiches in any town. But making a great hot sandwich is something of an art form. There are too many ways for things to go wrong: Sharp crusts that scratch the roof of the mouth; one-note fillings; sad lettuce; etc. Seattle Times journalist and restaurant critic Bethany Jean Clement joins Tan to discuss her criteria for a stellar hot sandwich, and they taste three from her top-10 list. 

Read Bethany’s list of the 10 best hot sandwiches in the city in The Seattle Times.

Sandwiches we tasted in this episode:

• Croque monsieur — $15, Bar Bayonne, Central District
• Pho-rench dip panini — $19-200, Ba Bar, various locations
• Vegetarian Pabellón arepa — Arepa Venezuelan Kitchen, University District

 

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Like many cities, Seattle has a long history of turning pre-made cacao into chocolate confections. But there’s a new kind of chocolate maker in town: Small, artisanal makers that are crafting “bean to bar” chocolates that retail for as much as $13 a bar. 

Seattle Times food writer Jackie Varriano dug into this shift, and the kind of chocolate these new operations are churning out. She joins Tan for a taste test of three Seattle-area brands and they ask the question: Is this fancy treat worth the high price tag?

Read all of Jackie’s reporting on Seattle’s chocolate scene in The Seattle Times.

Recommendations in this episode:

• Maeve Chocolate, Tukwila — Jcoco milk chocolate with toffee and Himalayan salt
• Cocoa Legato, Greenwood — Colombian dark chocolate
• Spinnaker Chocolate, Bryant/Wallingford  — 70% Vanuatu dark chocolate, Haiti dark with oat milk and maple sugar

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

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Tahini is a simple ingredient — toasted sesame seeds, ground into an oily paste. It had a moment in the food fad cycle in 2016, but has since faded into the background. Local writer and cookbook author Rachel Belle thinks that is a mistake. In her new book Open Sesame!, she argues that tahini deserves a spot in the center of every kitchen. 

In this episode, Tan visits Rachel for a blind taste test of four tahinis, and learns the role the ingredient plays in Rachel’s homemade hummus recipe. 

Rachel’s book Open Sesame! is out now. She also hosts local food show The Nosh on Cascade PBS and the podcast Your Last Meal. 

Recommendations in this episode:

• Haddar by Baracke tahini 
• 365 Whole Foods Market tahini 
• Soom tahini
• Aviv Hummus Bar, Capitol Hill — try the classic hummus bowl and pita bread

 

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This month, Seattle lost three iconic restaurants, including one in the heart of Chinatown. At the same time, the two hottest new restaurants in the region are Chinese spots in cities outside Seattle. On this episode, Tan and dining partner and writer Chris Solomon share some of their favorite bites at these new restaurants and discuss what this shift says about the region. 

Read more about the hottest new restaurants in The Seattle Times. 

Recommendations in this episode:

• Jiang Nan, Downtown Bellevue — Soup dumplings and Peking duck
• Triumph Valley, Renton and Shoreline — Prawn roll and salted egg yolk mochi 

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

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Eating out is getting pricier. But if you’re looking for a great deal at Seattle-area restaurants, all you have to do is adventure out on a quieter day. Many local eateries run deals during their slowest hours, like Monday evenings or mid-week lunch times. In this episode, Tan explains his list of the 5 best meal deals in the region.

Read more about Tan’s meal deal picks in The Seattle Times. 

Recommendations in this episode:

• Itadaki Yakiniku, Bellevue — $9.99 Wagyu cheeseburger (lunch only, M-F)
• STK Steakhouse, Bellevue — $9.99 Wagyu cheeseburger (lunch only, M-F
• Rupee Bar, Ballard — $20 dinner deal (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday)
• Cafe Lago, Montlake — $15 pizza (Mondays)
• Jack’s BBQ, various locations — $29 steak and sides (until the end of March)

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

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There is a new trend popping up all over the Seattle Pizza Scene:

Fusion pizzas. And we’re not talking about controversial toppings like pineapple or olives. Instead, think pizza topped with ingredients for a Seattle Dog, or a crust slathered in mac and cheese.

Tan is joined by Seattle Times Food Editor Trevor Lenzmeier for a breakdown of the best and wildest fusion pies in the city. 

Read Tan’s reporting on fusion pizzas in The Seattle Times.

Recommendations in this episode:

• Bar Flohr & Pizza Pies, Fremont — Mac and Cheese pizza
• Capitale Pizzeria, Capitol Hill — The Madrid, a tortilla española pie
• Dude’z, Portage Bay – The Seattle Dog
• KODE Pizza, Bellevue – Bulgogi kimchi pizza
• MOTO, various locations – Mr. Pig
• Pizza Rasoi, various pop-up locations  — The Achari Chicken Pizza
• Pizza by Ruffin, South Lake Union – A Fun Guy, mushroom and Jamaican curry
• Serious Pie, various locations – Spaghetti and Meatballs pizza (available on Sundays)
• Smoking Monkey Pizza, Magnolia – The Buffalo Soldier

Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR Network. You can support Seattle Eats by investing in the local newsrooms and the specialized beats that make this sort of storytelling possible. Please consider joining and subscribing at kuow.org/eats and seattletimes.com.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.