F&W Exclusive Preview: Roy Choi’s Sunny Spot

What can possibly beat a sweet trip to the Caribbean? Well, this: chef Roy Choi’s version of the Caribbean. The creator of L.A.’s life-changing Kogi Korean BBQ taco trucks (and F&W Best New Chef 2010) is opening Sunny Spot on November 18 in Venice, California. “At Sunny Spot, you’re going to feel like you just washed up on your beach," says Choi. “If I was on my beach in Jamaica, this is what I’d be making.” Five more reasons to get psyched, direct from Choi:
 
1.     Sweet and salty plantain addictions. “As soon as this dish hits the table, I want everyone to grab it and eat it and then it's gone. And then say, 'Get me two more plates, these are freaking delicious.' I'm tossing overripe plantain spears with cane and pulverized palm sugars, then fry them until they’re almost black. Before you eat them, I’m going to toss them again, with sugar, salt and lime.”
2.     Fish bone stew. “The fishmonger is giving us everything that everyone else is throwing away. We use halibut bones, collars, different heads, from salmon to mackerels and snappers, rock cods. Fish bone stew—it's like a white cioppino.”
3.     Sugarcane fried pig’s feet. “I’m cooking with a lot of pig’s feet, also with a lot of jowls. It's not just head to tail, I’m using whole animals. I’ve got whole goats going on here.”
4.     Gold plates and goblets. “It’s not trying to be Pirates of the Caribbean, but everything is gold. And all the cups are goblets.”
5.     Great music going on. “If I was going to a house party right now in Kingston, what would I hear? That’s what we’re listening to at this restaurant.”