I have been doing a lot of work with YouTube in LA these days. I’ve been there twice this year and will go once more in February 2014. Whenever I travel, I’m always interested in meeting my readers, listening to their stories, getting to know them, and if possible, taste their food!
The best way to do this is a potluck party, but organizing any kind of event takes time, and I’m very busy with my videos, website, and upcoming cookbook. So I was super-lucky that just before going to LA, my longtime reader Ashley emailed me: “Maangchi, I know you come to LA for your work, is there any event to have a meetup? I’d like to meet you!”
So I asked: “Ashley, can you organize the meetup for me?”
She said, “sure, I can!”
I arrived at her house at about 5 pm on Nov 9, one hour before the meetup would start. Mr. George Higgins and his son were already there, helping Ashley’s husband Jeff set up. What nice guys!
Soon people started arriving. They all came from different areas and they said traffic was bad, so it took some time for them to trickle in. Ashley set up beautiful white round tables with a candle light on each. Her husband was helping her all day. As the beautiful moon reflected on their pool, my readers arrived one by one to meet me and the other Korean food lovers.
We all got along really well, because of our common interest in Korean food. There was always something to talk about!
The food they brought was fantastic, every single dish was made with 100 percent TLC (Tender Loving Care). All of them are so full of passion for cooking!
A huge stainless steel pot filled with still-hot soup and wrapped in a cotton cloth to keep it from spilling. Spinach, mungbean sprouts, mapa tofu, japchae, kimchi, oijangajji muchim, kimchi fried rice, samgyeopsal gui (grilled pork belly), dessert, green poblano spaghetti, soup, salad, gimbap, galbijjim (braised beef short ribs and vegetables), what else?! I can’t remember all the dishes, but all I can say is that you can’t find this kind of best of best dishes anywhere else! Each dish was made with love and carried to the meetup with care.
Interesting people, best dishes, the most comfortable place, awesome hosts, and nice weather, what more do we need to make us happy?
Everyone had a great time, and I have to give a big thanks to our hosts Ashley and Jeff, who invited us into their lovely home. Without them, it would have been impossible to hold such a successful event. Thanks Ashley and Jeff!
Oh my its looks like so, much fun!! Feel terrible because of how late I am. Lol, but, I’m glad you had fun!! Your cooking looks amazing Maangchi! It inspires me to branch out into trying to cook Korean food so, thank you!
Hello Maangchi!
Happy Holidays! Thank you for coming out to meet us! We all had a great time and made new friends thanks to you! Thank you.
I am embarrassed to leave a reply after all this time …
I was hoping to start a Korean food group so that we may keep in touch with all the new
friends we met at your meet up! I told George, ( Thank you George!) who has probably been to every Korean restaurant in town, thought it would be nice too! May we start a “Maangchi Korean Food L.A.” group on your blog? It will give us a place to meet up and hangout!
Thank you Maangchi! Happy Holidays Everyone! Ashley. :)
Hi Ashley!
Yes, I had a wonderful time, too. It was so great to meet all of you, it gave me some beautiful memories I will keep forever.
I started a Los Angeles Korean Food Lovers group on my website, and made you the moderator! This is for anyone who lives in LA, or is interested in visiting LA, and who loves Korean food and cooking
https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/los-angeles
I’m so happy to have a passionate moderator like you.
Let’s make it happening and fun! See you there!
Thank you Maangchi for coming out to LA to meetup with your fans. I was so thankful and very happy to be there. It was so much fun to meet you and all the other fans. I just received my 2 cookbooks from amazon in the mail, and I cant wait to try some of your other recipes. Hope to see you again at another meetup.
Priscilla Udave
Your preparation of grilled pork belly was perfect!
You brought a huge ice box on wheels with all the ingredients and tools you needed. It was an amazing preparation. You were serving cooked meat to everyone until the meat ran out. I hope you weren’t hungry that night. Your passion for cooking and sharing will be remembered forever.
Thank you Maangchi for a great video and creating this event. All my co-workers now are motivated to try Korean cooking using your cookbooks and video. You attracted such a wonderful and diverse group for this inspiring meetup. See you soon when you return!
감사합니다, George Higgins
I’m glad you had a great time at the meetup! Thank you for coming early and helping Ashley! Your galbijjim (braised beef short ribs and vegetables) was awesome! Cheers!
great party. i wish i could have been there, i live on oahu.
maangchi, you are such a positive person. has there been an occasion where a reader has made food which was tasting bad?
All of my readers’ food looks great and tastes fantastic. I’m always impressed whenever I taste their dish. : )