Roy Choi's Loco'L crowdfunding campaign hits $100,000 goal

Fast food concept is Indiegogo's most successful food campaign of all time.



Boom. They did it. Late last night, with just two days to the deadline, restaurateurs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson reached the ambitious $100,000 crowdfunding goal for their "revolutionary" fast food concept Loco'L, making it the most successful Indiegogo food campaign of all time.

Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson's Loco'L Campaign Gets Fully Funded

Choi and Patterson have their sights set on the fast food industry. They believe that a meal that's easy and affordable can also be delicious and wholesome. The idea behind Loco'L, according to the Indiegogo campaign, is "revolutionary fast food made with real ingredients to nourish the body, soul, and community."

It's a daunting task, but they've already their first two locations set for Los Angeles' Watts and San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhoods, with more locations on the way. And now that they're fully funded, there's no stopping them. Hopefully, this is the start of a fast food revolution.

Here's some more information about what they're trying to do:

Watch Roy Choi's 'Street Food' online now

CNN digital documentary series explores the lives of cultural influencers, trendsetters and tastemakers.



Check it, Roy Choi fans. The renegade Los Angeles chef/restaurateur/author just dropped his new digital documentary series Street Food on CNN. We follow one of the food world's hottest tastemakers as he explores the unique worlds of influencers and trendsetters in style, food, entertainment and more.

Street Food features conversations with the likes of musicians Dumbfoundead and TOKiMONSTA, makeup star Michelle Phan, fellow CNN traveler Anthony Bourdain, filmmaker Jon Favreau, photographer Estevan Oriol, painter Sage Vaughn and Mike D of the Beastie Boys. Basically, some of the coolest players ever.

You can watch all of the episodes online now. Great stuff. Check it out:

Roy Choi is opening a healthy fast food chain

Hopes Loco'l will compete with the likes of McDonald's and Burger King



You cannot stop this guy. The Roy Choi empire continues to grow, and now he's taking aim at fast food. The chef/restaurateur who jumpstarted the food truck movement recently announced that he's working on a fast food chain concept aimed at offering low-income communities nourishing, healthy food.

Roy Choi, SF's Daniel Patterson Opening Fast Food Spot

This week at Copenhagen's MAD Symposium, Choi announced that he's partnering with Bay Area chef Daniel Patterson to create a new fast food concept called loco'l, meant to go toe-to-toe with the likes of McDonald's and Burger King, offering communities healthy choices while keeping prices competitive.

Chef Roy Choi is getting his own TV show

Los Angeles chef/restaurateur filming 'Street Food' for CNN



It was only a matter of time. Cool news for fans of Roy Choi. The chef/restaurateur/author, who is credited with jumpstarting Los Angeles' food truck craze, recently announced that he's getting his own TV show on CNN.

Chef Roy Choi Is Getting His Own Show on CNN

Details are a little scarce -- the network might not have been quite ready for the news to break -- but based on Roy's social media message, the show will apparently be called Street Food. That seems pretty appropriate.

Roy announced the show over the weekend on Twitter:

L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food by Roy Choi

Part cookbook, part memoir, and a streetwise love letter to Los Angeles.



By now, you know that I am a big fan of renegade restaurateur/chef/food truck revolutionary Roy Choi, who makes great food, talks a good game, and is an all-around cool dude. And now he's an author.

His debut book, L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food, is on shelves now. Co-written with Tien Nguyen and Natasha Phan, L.A. Son is part cookbook -- featuring over 85 recipes -- part autobiography, and a streetwise love letter to the titular city that made Roy who he is and gave birth to a street food movement.

Korean fried chicken, tempura potato pancakes, homemade chorizo, kimchi and pork belly stuffed pupusas. There's a tradition and a story behind every recipe -- the unlikely story of how a Korean American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming a bonafide culinary rock star.

Or as Roy simply puts it, "Everything I am comes from kimchi." I hear that. Here's more about the book:

Roy Choi's L.A. SON Book Tour 2013

Live & Direct! Catch chef/restaurateur/author Roy Choi on tour.



Renegade chef, restaurateur, food truck pioneer and now author Roy Choi's debut book L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food hits shelves on November 5. Part cookbook and part memoir, it tells the unlikely story of how a Korean American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming an acclaimed chef.

To celebrate the release of L.A. Son, Roy is heading off on a book tour throughout the month of November. If you happen to be in New York, you can join Roy in conversation with Anthony Bourdain for the official book launch, Tuesday, November 5 at The Powerhouse Arena. $85 gets you signed copy of L.A. Son, wine, and food from Momofuku and Momofuku Milk Bar. That sounds like a pretty fun night.

Here's some more information about the rest of the tour:

Angry Thoughts

Guest Post by Roy Choi



Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Roy Choi with a list of things that make him angry.

Phil asked me to write a post.
I said yes.
Here you go.

All the things I'm angry about and sometimes wonder about: