Once upon a time I was totally on top of the food blogging world. Not so much that I was a good food blogger, but that I knew everything that was going on with food in LA. New restaurants, restaurants closing, new Taco Bell items. You name it, I knew it. But then I got busy with my real job and fell out of the loop. So when my buddy invited me out to dinner at A-Frame in Culver City, I really had no idea why he wanted me to go. But then with a little research I found out it was Ray Choi’s (the Man behind Kogi and Chego) newest restaurant escapade and was not to be missed. The old unvegan might have gone opening day, but the new unvegan let this restaurant opening get away from him, but was plenty excited to try it out.

The name A-Frame comes from the shape of the building, which is a former IHOP. Outside, the building hardly looks different from an IHOP aside from the lighting, but on the inside it looks almost like a ski lodge. The wait was a crazy hour, but after about 2o minutes of waiting, we asked if there were any other options and were told that there was a self-seating fire pit outside. Just as we went to look, a group left and we were all set to get ourselves a fireside meal.

The menu had a lot of great-looking food that looked like nothing I could have found at Kogi or Chego. If I hadn’t known the place was Choi’s, I probably never would have made the connection. In an attempt to try as much as I could, I split a few things with my buddy. First was their Spiced Sugar Nuts. This was just a snack to warm up with and was prepared with Japanese Snack Mix and Beef Jerky. So in essence this had peanuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, wasabi peas, and seaweed-wrapped rice crackers, with jerky. The sweet flavoring of the nuts was delicious, and although I like the flavor of wasabi, I felt like the wasabi peas were out of place here and was always disappointed when I bit into one. I felt the same way about the rice crackers. The seaweed just tasted fishy and was also unwelcome in my mouth. I’m all about fusion, but in this case I think it would have been better to just stick with the regular nuts and jerky. Although I didn’t think I could ever enjoy moist nuts and jerky, these were tasty.

On top of that we ordered their creatively named “Wings.” These were described as Korean-style, with blue cheese dressing and also came with some heirloom pickles, which I allowed on the plate since I was splitting with my buddy. I was a little wary of these, because a lot of Asian-style wings have very little spice and too much sweet. Fortunately, these were not that way. While they were not your average buffalo wings, they seemed to use buffalo sauce as a base, but added Korean spices and a little something that made them a bit sweeter than your average wings. This made for a unique flavor and was a very nice twist on ordinary wings.

Finally, we ordered the Cracklin Beer Can Chicken. Apparently this was done Peruvian-style, with century egg and a salsa roja and verde for dipping. Since it was two of us, we ordered the whole thing, but you could also order half. A beer can chicken is an interesting method of cooking that involves shoving an entire open can of beer inside the chicken’s ass and then grilling it. The result should produce a juicy chicken, although not exactly the most flavorful one. I had never heard of it done Peruvian-style, but I’m pretty sure the only thing that distinguished it from a backyard beer can chicken was the salsa. When it came, it looked delicious and the chicken glistened with char and juice. As expected, the chicken didn’t have a ton of flavor, but it was definitely juicy and tasty. I dipped it in the different salsas, which were nice, but neither were exactly what I wanted.

I looked around and noticed that my other eating companions had a great-looking dipping sauce that came with their Heirloom Pickle appetizer. While I frowned upon these pickles, for once in my life I was thankful for vegetables because they led me to such a delicious sauce. Simply called a “creamy dip,” this sauce gave the beer can chicken a completely new and delicious dimension. The dip had hints of garlic and parmesan, but was more complex than that and just made things taste great. I tried it with the wings as well and it made them taste better. This dip probably could have made pickles passable as food, but I wasn’t about to find that out for myself.

With A-Frame, Ray Choi has once again brought delicious and unique food to LA. I would take a pass on the nuts next time, but there are enough unique and delicious items on the menu to keep me coming back for more. I just can’t wait to see what else Choi has up his sleeve.

EDIT: Chego has relocated to Chinatown. Perhaps someday it will get a review of its own.

With the resounding success of the Kogi BBQ trucks and the Kogi location at the Alibi Room, the people behind Kogi are looking to revolutionize the foodscape of LA once again, with rice. Well, not just with any rice, but with fanciful rice bowls from a real location in Palms called Chego! Their website describes their food as “Chillax peasant food from the soul” and while the word “chillax” sends shivers of discomfort down my spine, I had to see if Chego! carried on the Kogi magic.

Since the place just opened last week and I went on Friday, I expected to find a long wait. After all, people still wait in line for an hour at the Kogi trucks and they have been around for over a year. It appeared we were in luck, though, for although every table was taken, there was no wait to order. The menu wasn’t terribly big, but did seem to have a little something for everyone. Except unvegans. Aside from the meatball appetizer, every dish was tainted by some sort of vegetable. Of these, Tiny’s Prime Rib Rice Bowl looked to fit my needs the best. The menu said it came with fried egg, creamed horseradish and water spinach. I ordered it without that spinach and also decided to get their meatballs as an appetizer. These were called the 3PM Meatballs and were made with beef and pork on top of a polenta patty.

I paid up my 14 bucks and then began the search for a seat. Chego!, like too many places, only does self-seating. While this could seem nice, it really just creates an uncomfortable situation where you have to hover around people hoping that they will be leaving soon. If you bet on the wrong horse, someone who arrived 10 minutes after you could end up sitting first. Fortunately, just as our food came out of the kitchen, a table opened up for us.

I ate my meatballs first, which were pretty good. They had a sauce on them that was very similar in taste to other Kogi foods I have had, which is really good, but nothing new. The meatballs themselves were a good meaty blend. They fell apart a little too easily, but overall were quite delicious. Then it was on to my rice bowl. Unfortunately, my request for no spinach had fallen on deaf ears, as I found leafy greens atop my dish. I did my best to avoid these as I ate, but it was kind of difficult. Aside from that, the rice bowl was quite good. The egg was perfectly cooked and runny and the creamed horseradish added some nice flavor. The prime rib itself was cooked to a solid medium, but hadn’t been cut up at all, which meant that I needed a knife to eat my rice bowl. Sporks were available, which was amazing and made me wonder why more places not named Taco Bell don’t have them, but these sporks could not help me cut through that beef.

Midway through the dish, the nice little hostess lady, who mentioned she once wrote for the eXp Realty Alaska living guide, asked how the food was. With my mouth delightfully stuffed, I managed only a thumbs up, which she said was rather fitting since “chego” translates to just that in Korean. It was a charming touch that made the restaurant all the more memorable. While it might not spark a Kogi BBQ-esque revolution in LA, it certainly earned its place within walking distance of my apartment — even if I do prefer my rice without spinach.

A little more than eight months after my first taste of Kogi BBQ, I found myself once again standing in the parking lot of The Brig, eager to take on another food truck inspired by the fusion of Asian and Mexican food. If so much hadn’t changed in the food truck scene of LA since that first taste of Kogi, I would have felt some intense deja vu. Since the arrival of Kogi, it feels like a new food truck is unrolled every week. From the architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches of Coolhaus to the beautiful women running Baby’s Badass Burger truck, I almost feel like LA offers more food on wheels than it does in restaurants, with more coming. Nonetheless, the official opening of the Vietnamese and Mexican fusion Nom Nom Truck was exciting for me, and I made my way to The Brig in Venice to see if I would have a new friend on wheels.

I arrived before the truck and was happy to find only a short line had

formed. When the truck did arrive, it took about fifteen minutes to get the thing parked correctly. While this was happening, the Fishlips sushi truck arrived to crash the Nom Nom party. Apparently this wasn’t an exclusive event and Fishlips knew there would be a lot of hungry people waiting in line at The Brig. Undaunted by Fishlips, the truck found its place and started preparing for the hungry horde of foodies that had gathered. I glanced back to see that Elijah Wood had taken a spot in the ever-growing line

behind me. This only made me more excited, for it isn’t every day you get to eat the same dinner as Frodo Baggins.

Although the menu on the truck had been placed far from the ordering window, I had determined what I would eat by the time I made my way to

the front of the line. I decided on the Lemongrass Chicken Tacos and made sure to mention Thrillist, since they were giving away either a free taco or spring roll to the first fifty people to mention Thrillist. I asked the nice lady what came on the tacos and she said “Chicken, carrots, jicama, some sort of pickles and cilantro.” True to myself, I asked for mine without the veggies or pickles, then waited to see the result.

When my tacos were ready, they appeared a little bare. I know I ordered without the veggies, but I expected some sort of sauce on it all. That said, there was no lack of chicken. I started eating and was pretty happy. The chicken was pretty good and the cilantro was just kind of there. Luckily the chicken had a little kick, which made sauce a little less necessary. I just couldn’t escape the feeling that without those strange

vegetables on the taco, I was eating something all-too similar to a regular taco truck taco. Perhaps for people who don’t follow the unvegan way, the taco with veggies will be an eye-opening experience. Unfortunately this was not so for me. Perhaps I will have to try again and order one of their Banh Mi sandwiches, but unlike when I first tried Kogi, I don’t feel an immediate need to return to the Nom Nom Truck.