[dropcap size=big]R[/dropcap]oy Choi is nervous. He’s wearing the all-white Air Force Ones, blue jeans, a plain white T-shirt, a white jacket, and black fingernail polish, and he’s about to do something he’s never done before. It’s Cinco de Mayo in K-Town and we’re sitting in the basement of the Wiltern under 4,000 people, taco trucks, and a big screen that’s about to premiere his new food justice TV docuseries Broken Bread.
“I’m f---ing nervous, man,” he tells me. “It's so hard to have a TV show. I don't know if there's another one in the books for me. I don't know if there's a season two, I do know that I have one, so this is the moment to tell the truth. This is the moment to make a show about the things you care about.”
[ Update: The show is now available on Hulu as well. ]
Choi’s food show premieres May 15 on KCET and Tastemade TV, but it’s not just your standard food porn or recipe show. It’s got a mission “to change the world” by changing the way people think about food and the people making and consuming it, according to the L.A. native and renowned chef. “I just don’t know if people are going to like it,” Choi starts to explain. “You just never know …” He’s interrupted by one of his close friends who tells him there’s a massive line wrapped around the block to get into the premiere.
This seems to steady him, and he jumps up and starts walking into one of the dark corners of this 88-year-old Art Deco L.A. landmark. His Air Force Ones are the last sounds I hear before I see him again up stairs on stage, shining under the spotlight and making the Wiltern fill with cheers and laughter.