If you’re a fan of competition cooking shows, the Los Angeles street food scene or contemporary Korean food, you probably know the name Chris Oh.
Now you can meet him, at the two-day Cinco de Mayo celebration — dubbed “CincOH de MayOH” — next week at RumFire in the Sheraton Waikiki.
Oh will take over the RumFire menu from 5 to 9 p.m. May 5, serving his kim chee rice ball, kalbi poutine, Da KFC (Korean fried chicken with pickled daikon), scallop ceviche tostada and pork belly tacos. RumFire chef John Salcedo will add some of his Mexican dishes to the menu.
On May 6, from noon to 5 p.m., Oh will be set up poolside preparing his dishes.
RumFire mixologists also are pouring drink specials to mark the holiday.
Oh is the founder of Seoul Sausage Co. and owner of Hanjip Korean BBQ and Escala restaurants, all in the Los Angeles area, although he started with the Seoul Sausage food truck. He won Season 3 of the Food Network’s “Great Food Truck Race” in 2012 and has come out on top of a number of TV cooking shows, including “Cutthroat Kitchen.”
The chef, his truck, restaurants and individual dishes have made best-of lists in the Zagat guide, Forbes Magazine, the Food Network, LA Weekly and more.
Reservations are recommended for parties of 10 or more for dinner May 5; food and beverage minimum is $30 per person. Call 921-4600. For VIP packages or bottle service email Bryan.Simpson@sheraton.com.
Brunch indulgences follow Scratch to Ward
Sometimes you have to take one for the team, and so it was that I ended up with a lovely slab of Strawberries ‘n’ Cream Stuffed French Toast at Scratch Kitchen and Meatery, rather than the more nutritionally responsible cauliflower and carrot salad.
Poor me, but I was on a mission to sample a dish unique to this new Scratch in Ward Village, something not on the menu at the original Scratch Kitchen and Bakeshop downtown. The French toast is filled with honey-mascarpone, topped with a bit of fruit, a vanilla-infused maple syrup and a light and crunchy granola. It was great, but if you want some, the menu changes in May, so get there quick.
The new Scratch opened without fanfare April 10 but is already drawing crowds. The focus is on the same brunch/lunch fare as the downtown location, but owner Brian Chan says dinner service, starting in May, will be “very meat-centric.”
He plans a Southern-inspired menu of aged steaks, smoked items and charcuterie. Why take this direction? “I love meat,” Chan said.
Scratch — open 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends — is in the South Shore Market, the same building as T.J. Maxx. Call 589-1669.
