I still remember standing in line for my first Kogi taco. It was windy, cold, and although I was more than 10 minutes early, there were already people milling about the sidewalk outside of the Golden Gopher. In just two minutes, the line was snaking around the corner. Now, with four trucks on hand and too many knockoffs to count, Kogi's lines aren't so insanely hyped anymore, but that doesn't mean the demand isn't there.Enter Chego. Kogi's chef de cuisine Roy Choi has decided to jump off the truck route for a bit to helm a brick-and-mortar institute and get back to his roots, Korean- and kitchen-wise, and the foodies have come running. A lot has been riding on Chego, based off Kogi's reputation alone, but it's also running off the steam from Choi's recent Food & Wine Best New Chef nomination.
And Choi isn't backing down from the pressure. This time he's taking over rice bowls, and it isn't your simple chicken and rice. Think rice of the stickier variety (sticky but not sweet), completely engulfed in large chunks of meat and an explosion of strong, fragrant spices, usually topped off by a fried egg. It's fun, ambitious food, challenging you to really engage in the meal rather than boringly set it aside. It's obvious that Choi is obsessed with flavors, flavor combinations and seeing how food works, and it's an fascinating ride.
