Description

Matthew Kang, Koreatown native and Editor of Eater LA, takes us deep into K-Town for a booming mix of food and culture.

Starting Location

3455 W 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90005

Duration

40 minutes

Description

LA's Koreatown is not only the largest concentration of Koreans outside of Korea, it's also a vibrant immigrant community that has carved out a distinctive cultural hub. Koreans and Korean-Americans have a very special relationship to food, and socializing around eating and drinking is key to the culture.

This Detour is narrated by Matthew Kang, a Koreatown local and Editor at Eater LA, a food and dining website. Kang will show us inside his Koreatown - the restaurants, shops and landmarks that make K-Town such an exciting destination and the true home for Korean-Americans. You'll visit some of Matt's favorite dining spots, from one of the most traditional Korean restaurants in LA, to a contemporary place that celebrates Korean flavors with a twist. Along the way, you'll learn about a Korean hangover cure that's also rumored to be a beauty treatment, and check out a shop that continues the centuries-old art of traditional Korean silk dress-making.

But this is much more than a restaurant guide. Throughout the Detour, Matt explores the rough history of the Koreans that pioneered Koreatown, to get a deeper sense of what shaped this place. First generation immigrants had seen Japanese occupation, WWII, and the Korean War firsthand, only to get caught up in the 1992 L.A. Riots.

It's a story of perseverance and growth, of the everyday needs (jobs, community, and of course, food) that brings people together, and what happens when a newer generation of Korean-Americans grow up in the cultural stew that is Los Angeles.

Tips & Hours

• This Detour can be taken any day, from 11am to 9pm.
• Late afternoon or early evening is a great time to start, with the goal of enjoying a delicious dinner at the end of the tour
• The Detour includes going inside the traditional Korean restaurant Dong Il Jang, which is open every day except for Monday.
• Bring an appetite, but don’t be so hungry that you can’t walk the full tour before eating; there will be an opportunity for coffee and a snack along the way

Credits

Detour Head of Content

Heather Schuster

Narrator

Matthew Kang

Executive Producer

Dan Arden

Producer-Writer

Tim Halbur

Associate Producer

Cameron Kell

Sound Designer-Music Supervisor

Mikael Sandgren

Research Supervisor

Bo Palinic

Production Assistant

Adriana Cargill

Image Credits

• Cover photo, Kat Bawden

• Photographs Courtesy of: David Butow / Corbis Historical / Getty Images Photograph of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Courtesy of Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Featured Voices

Roy Kim 

Eunjoo Kim 

Roy Choi