Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix
1 Hardcover/1 CD (see all formats)

Martin teams up with coauthor Lee and graffiti artist Man One to share Roy Choi’s journey. Choi learned about cooking from his parents, restaurateurs in Los Angeles. Calling his parents’ restaurant the “best good place,” Choi loved making food alongside them—and especially loved eating it surrounded by friends and family. He eventually attended cooking school and became a sought-after chef. But the kitchen grind wore him down, and he left it all behind to instead serve kogi (Korean short rib) tacos out of a food truck in L.A. With the success of his food truck, Choi opened a series of cafes in low-income neighborhoods to “feed good food, create worthy jobs, and bring smiles.” The bulk of the text is engagingly read by the illustrator Man One. It’s a refreshing change of pace for the illustrator to narrate, and in this case, it’s a natural choice because of his closeness to the subject as well as his background as a commercial and movie actor. Informative, interesting, and lengthy authors’ and illustrator’s notes are read on a separate track by the authors and illustrator. VERDICT This unconventional picture book biography with a talented cast of creators is an appealing audio offering.–

In this picture-book read-along, spoken-word poetry celebrating food is interspersed throughout a simple story of Chef Roy Choi’s life. Choi’s love of food starts with his family’s restaurant, takes him to chef school, and moves into sharing his passion for food in his own food trucks and restaurants. Man One, who also the illustrates the book, provides the main narration, with reverb adding resonance when he performs the poems. Lee narrates the explanatory background notes on Korean food and flavors in a clear, refreshing voice. Musical backdrops for descriptions of Korean food are quieter, while louder hip-hop- inspired street beats back the poems describing food preparation. An echoey background voice reads all the incidental street signs, graffiti, and neighborhood names that occur in the artwork. The musical beats and sound effects match the upbeat tempo of this story, which encourages children to find their own favorite flavors, celebrate diversity, and cook with love.

AudioFile Earphones Award Vibrant L.A. will leap into the minds of listeners in this audio homage to Korean-American chef Roy Choi's path to street food stardom. The accompanying picture book's illustrations are eye-popping, and Los Angeles-based graffiti artist Man One's narration has a style all his own, especially his rap delivery of the book's short cooking poems. Co-author and co-narrator June Jo Lee's bright voice delivers definitions for young listeners to bring helpful context to the story. Combine all these elements with various rhythmic beats, sounds of the city, and the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, and you could say this audiobook shares a certain awesomeness with Roy's Awesome Sauce. Listeners are guaranteed to finish with a hankering for some spicy food cooked with love, and sohn maash.