October 13, 2020 • 50 mins
Before BTS or Gangnam Style, there was Lee Ji Yeon, the original K-pop icon.
Esther talks to Jiyeon Lee, who, at the age of 17, rocketed to pop stardom in Korea, only to give it all up a few years later due to the pressures of the lifestyle: physical exhaustion, anxiety and trolling by "anti-fans".
Jiyeon left Korea to find greater anonymity and freedom in the United States, only to go to culinary school and open Heirloom Market BBQ, one of the most popular and unique fusion barbecue restaurants in the country, with her husband Cody Taylor. Esther and Jiyeon talk about societal expectations around famous people, being an immigrant in America, and how magic happens again and again during one eventful career.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Alena is a very sudden, very conservative. But some reason,
especially the barbecue society, is they're strong on their pride.
But we became like number one barbecue in Atlanta. We
shocked everybody, like, oh my god. I was shocked to like,
oh my god. Really, people really embrace that different. I
(00:26):
think that's the great things about American culture. They embrace
Welcome to get down with kay Town. I'm your host
esther Choi. As I was doing research on today's guest,
I literally got sidetracked it for hours just digging into
her history. I cannot believe it, but I have Tian
Lee or in Korean Egon, a Korean pop singer from
(00:49):
the eighties, and I had her music playing on the
background all night, and I still have your songs like
stuck in my head. And I have like a real
deep connection with like K pop music from the eighties
and nineties, probably because like I grew up listening to it.
My favorite K pop singer of all time is and
(01:09):
for some reason, I really appreciate cree music from this era.
It's a little different than obviously the K pop that
you listen to now. So guys, if you haven't listened
to like eighties and nineties cream music like you have
to Tianne, thank you so much for being here, thank
you for having me. I was so excited. I mean
to nice to meet you too. I mean, if you
can hear her voice is just angelic and and that's
(01:33):
what you were like known for the your angelic face,
your angelic voice are I mean it still needs to
be so. I have so much respect for you because well,
your story is crazy. And while I was doing research
last night, I literally ended up spending like hours just
like listening to your music, you know, watching your concerts
(01:55):
from the eighties. I don't know if you know this,
but you can find it all on YouTube, really watching
and I was like, people are something. I mean, it's
so cute. Um, I mean some of your songs are
like illustrious. It's like so celebrated even now. And I remember,
even if it's even though it was one generation before me,
(02:17):
I remember like listening to your songs when I was
like five years old. Some of those songs, it's not
that Steve was one of very popular The movie too
was it? Which movie? Was it again? Audience chimboo, Oh, yeah,
that's how I know. Ride with so people think is
(02:38):
the younger generation thing is the singer. But no, it's
from you, right, it was your original song that they
recreated and put it into the movie. I mean, that's
it's it's wild. So I started to interview with this
because I just needed to stress the shock when I
(02:59):
heard when I actually started digging deep into who you were.
Of course, like I heard about you know, kee pop
singer who decided to leave her career to become a chef,
um and she's in Atlanta. I heard about who you were.
I just didn't know like who I was. Like okay, okay,
sure um. But like guys, she was like the K
(03:19):
pop star in the eighties, Like it's equivalent to like
Tongue Ha or like Tayan or like Boa Hdi, these
types of K pop singers. But she was like the
equivalent of that in the eighties. Let's say it's for
American pop artists to compare, like maybe Britney Spears or
Taylor Swift or like now Ariana Grande. That was like
(03:40):
you in the eighties. That's what people say. But I
didn't really feel like that though back then, Why why
do you not feel like that? Is it? Because it
was just so long ago. Um I had a lot
of anti fan too. I had a lot of friends
and Putty much equally anti fans too. Why I think
(04:01):
my character was like, oh, innocent, high squak girl. All
the boys loves me, so that like that was like
your girl's image. Yeah, girls was jealous and so I
always feel like I have a lot of haters, you know.
So I didn't really feel like, oh I'm so fat.
I felt I was famous, but I didn't feel like
(04:24):
I'm popular. You know. It's a different thing. It's a
different thing. But now now I feel it now, like
a lot of people, like old friends and even like
when I go Korean grocery store and somebody like almost
my age or a little younger age, and they're like,
oh my god, she recognized you, and then can I
(04:46):
take a photo? And okay I was okay, I was popular.
You're like, okay, I guess I was popular. No. So
like when you were growing up as this, I keep
up idle. You were the first one of your kind
in Korea write me and uh Kim one you were
kind of rivers, rivals. I was honored to be her
(05:08):
driver though, because she was so big she was I
was in middle school when she was her her first
album came out. Okay, so she was she came out first,
and then you came out, and then you came like
two years later, okay, and then you guys were kind
of at that point where it was just you versus Kim.
One song she's obviously she's like, she's just amazing. We're
(05:29):
really close friends. And she's only one year older than me. Um,
she's amazing person. And I'm still a big fan of her.
Her her dancing and her music is amazing. But the
media always they want some some sort of like drama, right,
they create their rival kind of situation. Maybe that's why
(05:50):
I got a lot of haters too because of that.
And I was like high school girl. Just overnight, I
become like a Cinderella and and you were how old?
I was, Uh yeah, and you how did that even happen?
Like they found you at a talent show something like that. Actually,
(06:13):
I started the modeling for teen magazine first, and then
I had and I was also um the vocal in
a high school band and my my my band visited
one of the professional musicians the practice studio, and the
(06:38):
producer asked me like, oh, so what do you do
in the in your band? So I said, I'm a
vocal and he asked me to sing, so I I sang,
and then he asked me later like do you want
to be a singer? I was like, um, I don't know.
You know, when I was a little I was I
(07:00):
always wanted to be a uh tipital TV personality or
model or something like that, and never thought I could
be a singer. Because singer Kim One's son, I guess
from her create change audio to video, so they need
(07:21):
a visual entertainers. They need a face to the face
to match the voice. So but before there was all
the singers like Joan pier Um, I mean say, of
course I'm a big fan of her, such a huge fan,
and uh, female chefs like um like e'san he and
(07:43):
it's all like really like amazing vocalist. And I was
this high school girl just you know, have this innocent voice.
I wasn't really like great, like I don't, I don't.
I still think it. I'm not that great. I never
thought like I could be a singer. So when I
get that offer, like, um, I don't know, and I
(08:06):
go to h I talked to my mom and my parents,
and that was freaked out and they're like, oh my god.
They think, is I'm going some like how do you get?
Oh wow, that's a hard word. What do you get?
I mean it's like kind of service industry, you know,
because back then it's like this is the entertainer they
(08:28):
call like okay, you know, they didn't get much in
respect because hoop stars didn't really exist. We didn't have that,
not yet, not yet. We were kind of beginning of
that right now if their kids so talented and actually
parents pushing them to be go to an audition or something.
(08:49):
But my generation is totally a different story. So they
freaked out because they thought you were going to sing
in front of like these old men maybe something like Yeah.
They were so so worried about it. So but they
visited the company and the recording company, meet with the
CEO and and they okay, maybe um just give. And
(09:14):
I was very shy. I want I'm very introverted person.
So my parents didn't think like do you you always
so shy? They know I have a good voice, but
they never thought I can perform in front of a
lot of people, and so they didn't believe in me. Yeah,
(09:36):
well did you believe in yourself. I was so young
and I was just like, oh my god, you know
it sounds excitingly I'm going to be famous, you know,
and I want because I wanted to be. I wanted
to be famous. I mean that back then is maybe
I was a little crazy one consider because other my
my friends, classmates, they like, oh, what do you want
(10:00):
to be? And when you when you get ordered? Everybody like,
I want to go to good housewife. That's the most
uh answer back then? Or teachers some maybe like doctor,
but especially the female mostly like oh you you created
high school, maybe go to college, but immediate you getting
(10:21):
married and be a good housewife. That's the that's a
society wanted the career woman, you know back then. But
I always like, I want to be something, but I
don't know, I'm not. I didn't. I wasn't sure why
what I'm capable, but um I always dream. I'm still
(10:41):
still I have that, still have a lot of imaginations
visionary and I vision a lot. And it was like that,
so I was like, okay, this maybe you know, like oh,
because I started morrowing and I really enjoyed it. Maybe singing,
you know, whatever they gave me the song, and I
just practiced and saying, but I didn't really enjoy it.
(11:13):
So you went for it, and he became this icon,
Korean sensation, Korean pop star, probably more than you even expected, right,
but you didn't like it. I did like like it,
probably for I loved I love to being on a stage,
(11:36):
and I love recording the new songs. I love that creativity.
You like the music because I love I grew up
with order cousins and listening pop songs and early age,
so the music was so important to me. So creating
(11:59):
some music is this amazing thing. But the the other thing,
the behind scene of performing, sometime you have to you know,
it sounds ridiculous, but like, okay, if if some like
(12:19):
some powerful, powerful producer and I should go their kid's
birthday party to sing, you know, that kind of thing
was kind of common. It was expected of you like
that back then. So it's kind of like, well, you
(12:40):
have to like always kind of like serve the upper
executives and then have to I don't know why. I
don't even know why the reason, but I have to
always kind of like kind of ask something. You know,
I'm a performer and it's not you know what do
you mean by ask like, what what kind of stuff
did you have to for? I mean that this is
(13:01):
a society that the industry just like there's a powerful
group of people on top there and then and then
people the news beginning, you start people whatever they ask, lay, hey,
my my kid's birthday, and you can just singing. I
have to there's no no. So it's like always always
(13:25):
kind of like feel like I'm an artist, but I
don't feel like artists. You're like a puppet exactly. That's
how you felt. Whatever the companies say, oh you do this,
and you gotta be on this show or sometimes um
singing at the club, and you know you still have
(13:46):
hate it, you know, hate it. Even though I was
so popular, it don't matter. I'm glad I quit a
long time ago. And young, like you didn't get to
dictate your career at all. It was dictated by the executives,
producer and I was, I mean, and you were young.
It's too young to raise my voice, first of all.
(14:09):
And the society always always asks like, gotta be humble.
I mean humble, and a raising voice is different thing, right,
but people like when you raise voice, people think, oh
this girl kind of like snobby or arrogant or oh
she talked too much and to work with exactly, you know,
(14:30):
but that's not my personality, even though I was young.
But I have a gut, you know, I have a
fight for I grew up poor family and I got
this opportunity and I was fighting too to get something.
But for me important thing is I mean, right now
I'm cooking, it's the same thing to me. It's like
(14:52):
all about I love doing singing or I love cooking.
It's it's got to be all of out. This is.
This is what I like to do, and this is
what I put my all, my passion and effort. But
there are other stuff doesn't it's not really necessary. But
(15:13):
it's judging by attitude or judging by how I look
or you know. This all kinds of like noise. To
me is it's a noisy, so it bothers me a lot. Though,
So you had a lot of pressure to do all
these other things, and you had a lot of societal
(15:36):
pressures from whether it be like anti hate fans or
whatever made you quit this whole industry. It was because
of not the actual actual act of saying, because that
you loved and performing. You love that, but it was
everything else that made you like push you to the edge.
(15:57):
So those accumulated stress. I couldn't enjoy singing, I couldn't
enjoy being on a stage because you're so stressed out.
It's very stressed out. When did this stress start happening?
Like how long were you into your career? There was
kind of like you know, and people think it's like, okay,
the famous person, Oh you have to deal with this.
(16:19):
I mean, you get you famous, you make money, and
you know, all other gossips or whatever, you need to
deal with it. That's what people think. But we're human beings,
you know, we're not puppets, right, I'm not at all
um exactly, And but I have that constantly. The emotionally
feels like attacked by something that not me actually, like
(16:44):
the image people created and they want me to be
that character. The image. It for a long time. But
can you imagine like my age back then, I was
a teenager, there's a lot of and you're emotional, like
(17:05):
emotionally you you don't even know. It's actually, what do
you really really want? That age? You know, there's a
lot of confusions and the body changes, especially women and
all the Horman's and all the teenager you know, a teenager,
but I gotta be e g on g n lee.
That company created that is perfect perfect, But if not,
(17:30):
if I don't act or something not, people think it's
not perfect. And then I'm kind of like, oh, you know,
I got judged so much. You got judged and you
probably felt like deep down by that constantly, constantly as
a teenage girl. Yeah, and there as a lot of
rumors that like it really hurt my you know, hurt
(17:54):
my feeling. If something I something I did, then I
would apologize, like, hey, I'm sorry, I made a mistake,
but it's something that people create, you know, like a
fake in inspect that yeah, um tabloids, And I want
to just how do I prove this? You know. The
fact of the matter is you can't. It can't. Yeah,
(18:17):
no way, because people try to, you know, like oh,
do the interviews or you know whatever, try hard, but
people believe whatever they want to believe, and it's it's rumors.
It becomes the fact, you know. But I have tato
shim like shim, what is English pride? Maybe I'm too
(18:40):
strong for that. Just like, um, no, I think it's
not like it's it's pride, pride, but it's like, yeah,
a strong sense of pride yourself, right, Yeah, so that's um,
it keeps keep hutting my pride, Like I'm not that person,
(19:01):
you know, Um, I'm not perfect, but I'm a good
person and I work hard and I practiced a lot.
I go to school. I had had to finish the
school too, and uh do the work too. And that
judge mentor all the time constant just judged by people.
Was it made me it? I think I got really
(19:23):
sick mentally and physically too. I was like back then,
I was like eighty seven pounds. It's crazy, and you
were you were beat down emotionally and mentally, and it
drove you to the edge and eventually you completely left.
That was like the only way I feel like I
(19:45):
did run away. Didn't you have to like sign a
very long contract or did that not exist? Back then?
There was a contract, but this was a very unfair contract.
So's there's no reason the law protected contract kind of contract,
you know what I mean? Yeah, it's the contract is
(20:06):
about the company, about you. So that's why I quit.
And I met somebody. I fell in love like crazy
because I needed something like some sort of like umbrella
I wanted to hide. So then my my decision made
I mean, I don't want to say like my decision
was wrong, because there's no wrong answer. Now, it was
(20:29):
like I don't know. I mean, I divorced with him,
but you know that was in Korea that we moved
to Atlena together to you, Okay, eighteen years married with him,
so my third of my life with him. So there's
a lot of good memories, there's some lot of not
a bad memories, but it's just just difference, very different.
(20:51):
But back then I didn't have that because mentally I
wasn't capable to make a right decision or see people
right because that you felt like they were probably looking
at you like some sort of like prize or they
wanted something from you, right. It was it was probably
(21:15):
constantly like that because you were also very young, very young,
so I wasn't freshman in college and I just drop everything.
I just run away. Okay. So before we get into
the second part of your life, which obviously is the
most fascinating part, I do want to ask you this
one question about what you think about the K pop
(21:38):
scene now, because I feel like the similar things that
you went through. These kids, these K pop stars even
now are probably going through the same thing. It's that's
that's the industry of K pop in Korea, right, broke
my heart every time I hear the news, and because
I filled them so deeply, how they that was in pain? Right,
(22:03):
the pain. Maybe I was like to prove myself, proved
me like, I'm not that gm N. You know, guys,
I'm um, I'm just you're human. Yeah, I'm human. So
when I see I mean, I mean, the industry is
totally change, but has it really? That's my question. I
think the society, it's not about this music industry society,
(22:27):
very judgmental society. The mentality is it's still there. I mean,
I really admire the new generations. They are so much
open minded, very creative, but all the generations always they're
judging so much. That create that chaos. And all the
(22:48):
young kids. Can you imagine that those K pop stars
raise as a performer exactly, they're children. Yeah, they're treadren
and their their mind is stuck. I was same thing.
I'm getting I'm azing from from my teenage time too.
I'm aging to like college girl, but I'm still there.
(23:14):
You know, I'm just just stuck there. So these kids
are I can imagine how they deal with all those pressures,
and of course, I mean they make love of money now,
but but you know it, you see all those things,
not just some the music industry, some like rich people
(23:37):
or when we see like oh my god, there they
probably have everything, but some people quit their life why,
you know, because we're all human beings. People don't think.
People just see that image of all rich people or
the famous singer or famous actor or whatever. They just
(24:01):
say them as just when they open the laptop and
they can see these people like the shining the armor.
They see the positive side of all things. But of
course there's always a negative side to the positive, and
that's like that hidden darkness that most people cannot see.
(24:23):
And I always tell people like, hey, like entertainers, the artist,
I don't know what it's in English, but they are psychos.
They have that. That's why they are artists. They are different,
(24:43):
but society expect them to be a perfect person. You
can't get a ticket or d UI or whatever it happens.
It's like these major scans is they try to kill them,
you know, not just everye just just normal people. If
(25:04):
something happened is what happened, has happened. But for this
idol's society expecting them to be perfect. I mean, that's
why they're called idols, right, I mean, how funny is that?
But still when I when I say something and people say, oh,
you know, but they make so much money and they're
so popular they have to deal with it. But that's
(25:25):
not right, that's not human. So you left all of
that and you came to Atlanta with your husband at
the time, Why Atlanta? Like what brought you here? Because
of him? Okay? So he had family here, And I
guess people migrate to the US from Korea because of
(25:48):
some sort of like family member, and that's where you
end up being. Was this in the nineties first first time?
I call that run away like I like a runaway,
right I run away? Um was? And then and I
(26:12):
stayed a little bit and back to Korea. I had homesick,
of course, and I wanted to sing so bad and
I was so naive. I thought this everything is going
to be there, but it wasn't because I didn't have
life experience, you know, So I thought it was like,
oh I was popular, you know, I had a lot
of fans, so they may be welcoming me, but it wasn't.
(26:37):
It was very hard, and I always I feel like
that's the the asque part actually fit in here, Like
I have to ask to be on a show, I
have to ask before always they call me, you know,
they want me to be every single show, even like
children's show too, you know, because you were at the
(26:58):
peak of your face, but when you try to back
to it, no one was accepting anyone. So I had
to like, O, can can you hi? Can you hire
me for this show? And you know, and then as
so himaning you know, like talking me and your pride
was hurt. It hurt so bad, but it was also
like a learning lesson for you exactly. It was a
(27:20):
growing pain, a turn like from twenties, dirties and forties
and I'm I'm heading to fifty now, and every this
decade you change. If you don't feel changed, there's something wrong. Change.
It's gonna be changed in a good way though, So
it was a growing pain for me. My my teenage
(27:42):
to my twenties were the most painful time. But I
feel I don't I don't regret anything. Be honest with
you, you you can't. I mean, I feel like you can't
really live life with regrets because it's all experiences exactly right.
And look at you now. You left all of that,
(28:14):
came back to Atlanta and decided to become a chef.
That's insane because you're going from like A to Z,
especially like chef life at that point when you first started,
I'm sure it was very difficult, especially for a female,
because I know this, it's like almost agonizing pain. Why
did you decide a cook? What made you be? Like? Okay?
(28:36):
I think the biggest was I needed to stand my foot,
you know, I have to I have to leave pretty
much almost the same time when I decided to divorce,
at the same time I decided for new career because
I didn't want to go back to singing because I
(28:58):
already taste that bitterness and I wasn't pushed myself to
fight for that because I already I guess my wound
didn't heal enough. Still, how do I survive? At the
time I divorce at the bankruptcy bankrupt too, so I
(29:19):
had no money, broken car, and like, oh shoot, what
should I do? You know, you know, and I can't work.
I mean my English was very very poor. Back then,
everybody recognized me Korean's Korean community and I can't get
a job there, and what am I supposed to do?
But I know what I like to do. It was
(29:42):
my my grandmother and my mom was amazing people, an
amazing cook. And I always when I was a little
I always help them, help them in the kitchen. My
when they're cooking, I always in the kitchen, pilled potatoes
or training kong namur the ben sprout and always there.
And then like when I was like in middle school,
I could I could cook home home cooking family recipe
(30:07):
or whatever, or tongue. And but I never thought getting
a job as a cook because I'm an older generation,
and the older generation in Korea back then cooks. It
doesn't even feel like there's a job. It's kind of
like surviving, kinda kind of just just a job. You know.
It's not like it's not a career, it's not a career,
(30:30):
it's a job. It's just just a job. And and
my mom my parents were kind of shocked, like I
was like, I want to go to culinary school. They
were like, what do you mean so I want to
be a cook, And they said like, what do you
mean you want to be a cook? Understand? They didn't understand,
but they know how I'm very stubborn, So okay, it's
(30:51):
your life. And I didn't even tell them I'm going
to divorce. And you know, they find out a newspaper.
Oh my gosh, that's how stob But I am, you know,
I don't. I'm very quiet, and I keep all the
pain as long as I can until like that's to open.
(31:14):
That's almost like very Korean to do, right. Yeah, So
for you, cooking was almost like a survival game, not
only in the sense of like your life, but also
to save yourself. Two. I didn't have any like plan
for like, oh I want to be a market steward
or not anything like that. I gotta have a I
need a job, you know, I need a job to
(31:35):
pay my bill. So I went to Connery School because
they gave me a school loan. So I started, and
as soon as I started, I just I just find out,
like I'm good at this. You fell in love. And
I think as a cook, as as soon as you
(31:55):
step into that first role, you either know or you
don't if it's for you. It's like that like when
we start class with the thirty two people and only
six graduated. You know, like most of the people just
just caught they that oh this is not good for me.
They just all gone and maybe to my class Mr.
(32:16):
Cooking and everybody else you know, doing something else. You know. Statistically,
culinary school is still that way where more than eighty
five never end up actually using their culinary degree. They
either go back to their old career or change careers.
But like not many people, I actually stick to it.
And that's the reality of this industry obviously, you know.
(32:39):
I think people see those on the like personality chefs,
and but um I was different. I was like, I
have to win this game. And I started school. I
was like thirties, sixty six and a half, you know old.
My classmates like twenty years old. And I was like,
oh my god, what how do I survive competing with
(33:03):
these kids after graduate and maybe not going to get
a job, you know. But what I did, that's my personality.
I put two percent, not D percent. I put two
d try to be a best student, do whatever the
school offered, like volunteers, opportunity or workshops, and almost nine
(33:29):
I attended, even being on a competition team because I
was like, I don't have much time. These kids have
a plenty of time to experience stars or whatever, but
I don't have much time. So I gotta accelerated myself,
you know, so I work as much as you can do.
But I really enjoyed it. I loved it. I was like,
(33:50):
oh my gold, this is the best. Culinary school was
like the best, like so much fun because it's it's
like you almost feel alive, and it's not really for
money or for fame. It's just literally you're just learning
a craft. And then you went and worked at like
several high end restaurants, and then that's where you met
your now husband, and then you opened a restaurant and
(34:15):
together it was a mesical so airline barbecue. It has
won countless awards, has a line at the door every day.
How did this happen? When you guys decided we're gonna
do this American barbecue joint with like Korean flavors, I
never have like, oh, I want to do the like
particular plan, especially for the loom because back then I
(34:41):
was I worked on at the hotel Struci's and I
love my job and I got a lot of reword
and just just you know, like, okay, these people you
know like me as a cook. You know, I was
so happy. And back then my boyfriend Cody Taylor right
now my partner partners, he's um. He was burned out.
(35:07):
He started cooking like fifteen, and he's tall and atlas,
and you know, they always put him on a saute
line and the grill line. And he was burnt out.
And he said, you know what, I would have quit.
And if I have my my own restaurant and I
designed my kitchen and my menu, then I do it.
(35:29):
But if not, I'm not gonna do it. So okay,
what are you gonna do? And I was I was
enjoying with the life and hotel as hotel cook. And
and back then we wasn't we weren't really um like
serious relationship. I always wanted to get out of Atlanta.
I wanna my goal was transferred to other hotel, mean
(35:55):
the same same umbrella and go to other countries and
learning kurch her and because I was just just out
of my my marriage and and I wanted to be
just free, like free woman, and I want to do
whatever I want to do. I want to learn more
and things at the beginning. My brother he always asked me, like,
(36:18):
why don't you come back to Korea, you know, and
I said, no, I want to survive here and I
love to live here. So I'm gonna find I'm going
to figure it out, and I'm I'm sure I'm going
to be success and not turn into street and so
you don't have to worry about me. But he he
gave me a dollar for um alone or did you
(36:40):
know just just like you just give me like oh,
you just just divorce, and you know, I just want
to give you this to help you something. So if
you can do something with this money, you know, but
you know, you can make one decent bathroom in restaurant.
That's twenty right, So opening restaurant is with it's not
(37:03):
is it's not realistic number, but it was such a
such a huge money for us. Though Cody was broke,
I was broke, you know, we were completely financially not good.
But so at this point, like you knew that you
guys wanted to open a restaurant together. Though Cody wanted
a restaurant, but I never wanted a restaurant because I
(37:25):
didn't like to stuck in something someone concept work. So
I think I have very like a free spiriture young
and Korean. That's another hard Arns today. I want to
travel all the time, like change environment all the time.
You're you're like a free spirit. Yeah. So I didn't
(37:47):
want the want the restaurant business, but he wanted, Okay,
I can invest you, you know, if you can do something.
So we found this spot was abandoned, used to be
Mexican restaurants. There was everything there, equaintments and even even
(38:08):
like leftover food for two years ago the place. So
we actually hired just one carpenter and so it's like
changing some panels and me and Cody we did a
paintings and all that. You built it from your bare
hands and it just just by the by two smokers.
(38:31):
And so we opened just like that. And I was like,
okay you do because it's such a small restaurant. That's
a seven hundred six discord for the restaurant. I thought,
a Cody here, you get taking care of this business,
it will bit better than all you work for somebody else.
So just so it was it was Cody Stream and
(38:51):
you supported him, but you still wanted to stay in
the hotel, but ended up leaving probably because you know,
the mexical thing has happened. There's one of very popular
bloggers back then, Jennifer Diamond. She now she's a writer
for the Atlanta magazine, and she had a blog, her
her blog a long time ago, and she wrote about
(39:14):
us that little small check, and all of a sudden,
we have we have people lying, so, oh my god,
what happened? And then a J. C. The top writer
back then, John Castler, he came. I didn't even I
don't even recognize anybody, but they come, and then they
(39:35):
send a photographer and all of a sudden, like we
have line out the door, and Cody s os me like, hey,
you need to quit your job. Literally he was like okay.
So he was alone, like doing that by himself, and
then all of a sudden there was three staff. And
then he got shopping and you know, shopping and cooking
(39:57):
and everything and whenever I finished my task and then
go to the restaurant and help him. But it didn't
last long. It was like two months later we opened
and he's like, Jane, I mean, I'm really begging you
you You've got to help me. So we started like
pretty much very traditional barbecue and then once I joined,
(40:18):
and it started like Korean style, because as Koreans, you
want to make everyone around right. It's like it's like
a disease almost like we're so Korean and we make
something and it tastes something like, oh, this is something missing,
and then John, oh this is perfect. Right. Yeah, it's
(40:42):
like the spirit of Koreans wanting to koreanify everything inside.
I'm I'm the same way. But the great great thing
about Atlanta. Atlanta is a very sudden, very conservative but
some reason, especially the barbecue societies, they have very like
(41:04):
their own. They're they're strong on their pride, like strict exactly.
They have their certain things. But we became like number
one barbecue in Atlanta. We shocked everybody, like, oh my god.
I was shocked to like, oh my god. Really people
really embrace that different. I think that's the great things
(41:26):
about um American culture. They embrace and appreciate as a
as a female old and as immigrant with the English
a barrier. But that's what made you so authentic. But
I had I had every time I had a chance.
(41:46):
I mean, they gave me an opportunity with all those
obstacles and when they like it, like they gave me opportunity.
That's amazing. That's that's really great thing. It makes America
really great. Not Trump way, that's a whole another thing. Yeah,
that's what happened. It's the American dream and you're living
(42:08):
in exactly. I always call this magic. Magic happened makes
me feel so humble because I know there's so many
people out there, so talented, working so hard. Not everybody
gets something right. Sounds a little unfair, But I think before,
you know, I was like, oh, I really hated that
(42:30):
I was famous. If I'm not famous, I can do
a lot more things in America. And I was more
like complaining and blaming and for what what Actually I
created those chaos, But I didn't really grateful for that.
But now you know, like people, especially media, they give
(42:55):
so much attention for heirloom, like because it's such a
unique story about this this restaurant. It's also okay a
puff star and feel Willie and you know, make some unique,
unique barbecue. It's a beautiful story. So that's why I get.
I feel so grateful that I have that painful experience,
(43:18):
painful experience turning to amazing experience, a beautiful story that's
authentic to you and your husband. It seems like, oh
I'm meant to be you know. Thank you so much,
Jeanne for sharing the story. That's it, not it. This
is maybe the best part for you because I made
(43:39):
you something, your favorite dish, So I made you Oh
my god, Oh my god, it's hot too. Yeah, it's hot.
So I made this doughe this morning, and then I
hand tore it into the broth, and then I took
out the dumplings or the b so that it doesn't
put all, so it doesn't like exactly. Yeah, So to
(44:01):
keep the integrity of the noodles hand torn noodles, I
separated it and then right now just heating it up together.
It's a very smart way. Smart people actually cook really well.
That's that's a huge difference, very much. Oh my god.
So this is perfect. That then then this when I
make it sometimes like okay, I want to make it quick,
(44:25):
but you know, step it is my favorite. It's always
remind me my grandmother. Mm hmm. Oh my god. Where
did you get the skin chick to make a big difference?
(44:46):
Oh my god. And every time I eating like really
like harty food, like soul food, Korean food, somebody like
like young, like you bring that flavor is amazed me
because cooking food is is all about experience memories. To me,
(45:08):
it's memories like the pallia right, what you remember what
it tastes like. That's the so much, that's the young young,
that's the essent. You know, so man, So what do
you think authentic? I know you don't have much time
and you make perfect it's amazing, so much, thank you.
(45:30):
The noodle is the texture is perfect. It's gotta be
thin like this. My grandmother was so picky about it.
She even she's slicing it, it's meanings you pull handful, nod.
But she made perfect though. And then she slices thin
and she's very particular and make it so pretty, even
(45:51):
like it's supposed to be like very comfort like an
almost patant food. She makes it so pretty. So that
inspired me a lot as a cook. Visuals are everything right,
and to me, the texture is really important. The size
of the the all this cut is so important. The
(46:15):
thinness so important because it's different. Example like when you
go to sushi sushi restaurant you order some sashimi, you
have very skilled sushi chef, such a beautifully thinly evenly
slice the fish you put in your mouth or the
chunks of fish you put in your mind. It's exactly
(46:35):
same quality and same fish. It tastes completely different, so
on how you shape it. So your your knife skill
or your hand skills are so important, and I think
the Korean food is really represent all the skill and
that the heart. Yeah, like it's Korean food is a
(46:56):
labor of love, and you really can't take any short.
So you make this though in the morning and cooking separated,
but you're so chewy, still very chey good. That's what
I was trying to achieve. I was thinking about tib
and I was like, Okay, well I'm gonna have to
make it a few hours in Evans because for all
my guests, I all the food has to be reheated
(47:16):
because we're in a studio and like I literally have
a microwave, right, So of course it's important. Sujib is
the most important part of su b is the texture.
I achieved that yeah, she wanted means like refreshing horbor,
like it's coming up from your deep inside. It's like,
(47:42):
you know what, There's so many Korean food words that
you just can't translate and she want it means like
refreshing almost, but it's that's not exactly how you describe this.
I tried to explain to my husband many times. He
didn't like she wanted like she wanted, she wanted, I mean,
what refresh Yeah, it's it's a it's a word freaking hat.
(48:06):
It's hard to explain. But this texture is amazing. Oh
my god. I used a lot of radish for the broth,
so that that gives it. That also found bunji at
the supermarket, and that's what I added because if I
add regular kimchi, usually what you buy at the supermarket
is not fermented, so it's not going to create the
(48:26):
same type of broth. But I was able to find bunji,
and I was like, okay, let me add the bunji. Wow,
it's amazing. Thank you. Does it remind you of grandma
and home and and also my childhood? You know, nineteen seventies.
I was born in nineteen seventy, so seventies career was
(48:47):
very poor. We were poor, but everybody was poor. For you,
it wasn't really a big deal. You know, that's a lifestyle.
So back then, we we ate a lot of stepies.
Back then yeah, it's like a poor means dish. That's
why you know this flavor when we never get sick
(49:08):
of it, you never tired of it. This is like
you want it, especially when you feel a little sick
or kind of gloomy day, rainy day. You want this.
Do you make a lot of cub at home? I do?
I do? I do? I like the texture, so I
like c B, I like cook you like you like
(49:29):
a texture. This is amazing. Thank you. I'm so glad
you look happy. I'm so happy because I'm watching you
eat and that just makes mind. It's like I'm pogim
the paper. That just means just watching makes me feel full.
That's why we could so hard. Is full you satisfied
(49:50):
through other people's eating the happiness exactly. I can't stop.
Please keep eating. Chef Chian, thank you so much for
being here. Should I call you Chefchion or k pop starch?
Where can our listeners find you? And find your restaurant
el Market barve q and Atlanta el Market barve Q
(50:14):
a t l as the handle that's the Instagram and
myself chef chef t on me thank you so much
for being here. And that's our show. Thanks for listening.
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a five star review. Get Down with Kaytown is
a production of I Heart Radio and was created by
our executive producer, Christopher Hasiotis and me as to Troy.
(50:38):
Follow me on all social media at toy bites, and
I'd also like to thank our producer, editor and mixer
Marci to Peana. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Alena is a very sudden, very conservative. But some reason,
especially the barbecue society, is they're strong on their pride.
But we became like number one barbecue in Atlanta. We
shocked everybody, like, oh my god. I was shocked to like,
oh my god. Really, people really embrace that different. I
(00:26):
think that's the great things about American culture. They embrace
Welcome to get down with kay Town. I'm your host
esther Choi. As I was doing research on today's guest,
I literally got sidetracked it for hours just digging into
her history. I cannot believe it, but I have Tian
Lee or in Korean Egon, a Korean pop singer from
(00:49):
the eighties, and I had her music playing on the
background all night, and I still have your songs like
stuck in my head. And I have like a real
deep connection with like K pop music from the eighties
and nineties, probably because like I grew up listening to it.
My favorite K pop singer of all time is and
(01:09):
for some reason, I really appreciate cree music from this era.
It's a little different than obviously the K pop that
you listen to now. So guys, if you haven't listened
to like eighties and nineties cream music like you have
to Tianne, thank you so much for being here, thank
you for having me. I was so excited. I mean
to nice to meet you too. I mean, if you
can hear her voice is just angelic and and that's
(01:33):
what you were like known for the your angelic face,
your angelic voice are I mean it still needs to
be so. I have so much respect for you because well,
your story is crazy. And while I was doing research
last night, I literally ended up spending like hours just
like listening to your music, you know, watching your concerts
(01:55):
from the eighties. I don't know if you know this,
but you can find it all on YouTube, really watching
and I was like, people are something. I mean, it's
so cute. Um, I mean some of your songs are
like illustrious. It's like so celebrated even now. And I remember,
even if it's even though it was one generation before me,
(02:17):
I remember like listening to your songs when I was
like five years old. Some of those songs, it's not
that Steve was one of very popular The movie too
was it? Which movie? Was it again? Audience chimboo, Oh, yeah,
that's how I know. Ride with so people think is
(02:38):
the younger generation thing is the singer. But no, it's
from you, right, it was your original song that they
recreated and put it into the movie. I mean, that's
it's it's wild. So I started to interview with this
because I just needed to stress the shock when I
(02:59):
heard when I actually started digging deep into who you were.
Of course, like I heard about you know, kee pop
singer who decided to leave her career to become a chef,
um and she's in Atlanta. I heard about who you were.
I just didn't know like who I was. Like okay, okay,
sure um. But like guys, she was like the K
(03:19):
pop star in the eighties, Like it's equivalent to like
Tongue Ha or like Tayan or like Boa Hdi, these
types of K pop singers. But she was like the
equivalent of that in the eighties. Let's say it's for
American pop artists to compare, like maybe Britney Spears or
Taylor Swift or like now Ariana Grande. That was like
(03:40):
you in the eighties. That's what people say. But I
didn't really feel like that though back then, Why why
do you not feel like that? Is it? Because it
was just so long ago. Um I had a lot
of anti fan too. I had a lot of friends
and Putty much equally anti fans too. Why I think
(04:01):
my character was like, oh, innocent, high squak girl. All
the boys loves me, so that like that was like
your girl's image. Yeah, girls was jealous and so I
always feel like I have a lot of haters, you know.
So I didn't really feel like, oh I'm so fat.
I felt I was famous, but I didn't feel like
(04:24):
I'm popular. You know. It's a different thing. It's a
different thing. But now now I feel it now, like
a lot of people, like old friends and even like
when I go Korean grocery store and somebody like almost
my age or a little younger age, and they're like,
oh my god, she recognized you, and then can I
(04:46):
take a photo? And okay I was okay, I was popular.
You're like, okay, I guess I was popular. No. So
like when you were growing up as this, I keep
up idle. You were the first one of your kind
in Korea write me and uh Kim one you were
kind of rivers, rivals. I was honored to be her
(05:08):
driver though, because she was so big she was I
was in middle school when she was her her first
album came out. Okay, so she was she came out first,
and then you came out, and then you came like
two years later, okay, and then you guys were kind
of at that point where it was just you versus Kim.
One song she's obviously she's like, she's just amazing. We're
(05:29):
really close friends. And she's only one year older than me. Um,
she's amazing person. And I'm still a big fan of her.
Her her dancing and her music is amazing. But the
media always they want some some sort of like drama, right,
they create their rival kind of situation. Maybe that's why
(05:50):
I got a lot of haters too because of that.
And I was like high school girl. Just overnight, I
become like a Cinderella and and you were how old?
I was, Uh yeah, and you how did that even happen?
Like they found you at a talent show something like that. Actually,
(06:13):
I started the modeling for teen magazine first, and then
I had and I was also um the vocal in
a high school band and my my my band visited
one of the professional musicians the practice studio, and the
(06:38):
producer asked me like, oh, so what do you do
in the in your band? So I said, I'm a
vocal and he asked me to sing, so I I sang,
and then he asked me later like do you want
to be a singer? I was like, um, I don't know.
You know, when I was a little I was I
(07:00):
always wanted to be a uh tipital TV personality or
model or something like that, and never thought I could
be a singer. Because singer Kim One's son, I guess
from her create change audio to video, so they need
(07:21):
a visual entertainers. They need a face to the face
to match the voice. So but before there was all
the singers like Joan pier Um, I mean say, of
course I'm a big fan of her, such a huge fan,
and uh, female chefs like um like e'san he and
(07:43):
it's all like really like amazing vocalist. And I was
this high school girl just you know, have this innocent voice.
I wasn't really like great, like I don't, I don't.
I still think it. I'm not that great. I never
thought like I could be a singer. So when I
get that offer, like, um, I don't know, and I
(08:06):
go to h I talked to my mom and my parents,
and that was freaked out and they're like, oh my god.
They think, is I'm going some like how do you get?
Oh wow, that's a hard word. What do you get?
I mean it's like kind of service industry, you know,
because back then it's like this is the entertainer they
(08:28):
call like okay, you know, they didn't get much in
respect because hoop stars didn't really exist. We didn't have that,
not yet, not yet. We were kind of beginning of
that right now if their kids so talented and actually
parents pushing them to be go to an audition or something.
(08:49):
But my generation is totally a different story. So they
freaked out because they thought you were going to sing
in front of like these old men maybe something like Yeah.
They were so so worried about it. So but they
visited the company and the recording company, meet with the
CEO and and they okay, maybe um just give. And
(09:14):
I was very shy. I want I'm very introverted person.
So my parents didn't think like do you you always
so shy? They know I have a good voice, but
they never thought I can perform in front of a
lot of people, and so they didn't believe in me. Yeah,
(09:36):
well did you believe in yourself. I was so young
and I was just like, oh my god, you know
it sounds excitingly I'm going to be famous, you know,
and I want because I wanted to be. I wanted
to be famous. I mean that back then is maybe
I was a little crazy one consider because other my
my friends, classmates, they like, oh, what do you want
(10:00):
to be? And when you when you get ordered? Everybody like,
I want to go to good housewife. That's the most
uh answer back then? Or teachers some maybe like doctor,
but especially the female mostly like oh you you created
high school, maybe go to college, but immediate you getting
(10:21):
married and be a good housewife. That's the that's a
society wanted the career woman, you know back then. But
I always like, I want to be something, but I
don't know, I'm not. I didn't. I wasn't sure why
what I'm capable, but um I always dream. I'm still
(10:41):
still I have that, still have a lot of imaginations
visionary and I vision a lot. And it was like that,
so I was like, okay, this maybe you know, like oh,
because I started morrowing and I really enjoyed it. Maybe singing,
you know, whatever they gave me the song, and I
just practiced and saying, but I didn't really enjoy it.
(11:13):
So you went for it, and he became this icon,
Korean sensation, Korean pop star, probably more than you even expected, right,
but you didn't like it. I did like like it,
probably for I loved I love to being on a stage,
(11:36):
and I love recording the new songs. I love that creativity.
You like the music because I love I grew up
with order cousins and listening pop songs and early age,
so the music was so important to me. So creating
(11:59):
some music is this amazing thing. But the the other thing,
the behind scene of performing, sometime you have to you know,
it sounds ridiculous, but like, okay, if if some like
(12:19):
some powerful, powerful producer and I should go their kid's
birthday party to sing, you know, that kind of thing
was kind of common. It was expected of you like
that back then. So it's kind of like, well, you
(12:40):
have to like always kind of like serve the upper
executives and then have to I don't know why. I
don't even know why the reason, but I have to
always kind of like kind of ask something. You know,
I'm a performer and it's not you know what do
you mean by ask like, what what kind of stuff
did you have to for? I mean that this is
(13:01):
a society that the industry just like there's a powerful
group of people on top there and then and then
people the news beginning, you start people whatever they ask, lay, hey,
my my kid's birthday, and you can just singing. I
have to there's no no. So it's like always always
(13:25):
kind of like feel like I'm an artist, but I
don't feel like artists. You're like a puppet exactly. That's
how you felt. Whatever the companies say, oh you do this,
and you gotta be on this show or sometimes um
singing at the club, and you know you still have
(13:46):
hate it, you know, hate it. Even though I was
so popular, it don't matter. I'm glad I quit a
long time ago. And young, like you didn't get to
dictate your career at all. It was dictated by the executives,
producer and I was, I mean, and you were young.
It's too young to raise my voice, first of all.
(14:09):
And the society always always asks like, gotta be humble.
I mean humble, and a raising voice is different thing, right,
but people like when you raise voice, people think, oh
this girl kind of like snobby or arrogant or oh
she talked too much and to work with exactly, you know,
(14:30):
but that's not my personality, even though I was young.
But I have a gut, you know, I have a
fight for I grew up poor family and I got
this opportunity and I was fighting too to get something.
But for me important thing is I mean, right now
I'm cooking, it's the same thing to me. It's like
(14:52):
all about I love doing singing or I love cooking.
It's it's got to be all of out. This is.
This is what I like to do, and this is
what I put my all, my passion and effort. But
there are other stuff doesn't it's not really necessary. But
(15:13):
it's judging by attitude or judging by how I look
or you know. This all kinds of like noise. To
me is it's a noisy, so it bothers me a lot. Though,
So you had a lot of pressure to do all
these other things, and you had a lot of societal
(15:36):
pressures from whether it be like anti hate fans or
whatever made you quit this whole industry. It was because
of not the actual actual act of saying, because that
you loved and performing. You love that, but it was
everything else that made you like push you to the edge.
(15:57):
So those accumulated stress. I couldn't enjoy singing, I couldn't
enjoy being on a stage because you're so stressed out.
It's very stressed out. When did this stress start happening?
Like how long were you into your career? There was
kind of like you know, and people think it's like, okay,
the famous person, Oh you have to deal with this.
(16:19):
I mean, you get you famous, you make money, and
you know, all other gossips or whatever, you need to
deal with it. That's what people think. But we're human beings,
you know, we're not puppets, right, I'm not at all
um exactly, And but I have that constantly. The emotionally
feels like attacked by something that not me actually, like
(16:44):
the image people created and they want me to be
that character. The image. It for a long time. But
can you imagine like my age back then, I was
a teenager, there's a lot of and you're emotional, like
(17:05):
emotionally you you don't even know. It's actually, what do
you really really want? That age? You know, there's a
lot of confusions and the body changes, especially women and
all the Horman's and all the teenager you know, a teenager,
but I gotta be e g on g n lee.
That company created that is perfect perfect, But if not,
(17:30):
if I don't act or something not, people think it's
not perfect. And then I'm kind of like, oh, you know,
I got judged so much. You got judged and you
probably felt like deep down by that constantly, constantly as
a teenage girl. Yeah, and there as a lot of
rumors that like it really hurt my you know, hurt
(17:54):
my feeling. If something I something I did, then I
would apologize, like, hey, I'm sorry, I made a mistake,
but it's something that people create, you know, like a
fake in inspect that yeah, um tabloids, And I want
to just how do I prove this? You know. The
fact of the matter is you can't. It can't. Yeah,
(18:17):
no way, because people try to, you know, like oh,
do the interviews or you know whatever, try hard, but
people believe whatever they want to believe, and it's it's rumors.
It becomes the fact, you know. But I have tato
shim like shim, what is English pride? Maybe I'm too
(18:40):
strong for that. Just like, um, no, I think it's
not like it's it's pride, pride, but it's like, yeah,
a strong sense of pride yourself, right, Yeah, so that's um,
it keeps keep hutting my pride, Like I'm not that person,
(19:01):
you know, Um, I'm not perfect, but I'm a good
person and I work hard and I practiced a lot.
I go to school. I had had to finish the
school too, and uh do the work too. And that
judge mentor all the time constant just judged by people.
Was it made me it? I think I got really
(19:23):
sick mentally and physically too. I was like back then,
I was like eighty seven pounds. It's crazy, and you
were you were beat down emotionally and mentally, and it
drove you to the edge and eventually you completely left.
That was like the only way I feel like I
(19:45):
did run away. Didn't you have to like sign a
very long contract or did that not exist? Back then?
There was a contract, but this was a very unfair contract.
So's there's no reason the law protected contract kind of contract,
you know what I mean? Yeah, it's the contract is
(20:06):
about the company, about you. So that's why I quit.
And I met somebody. I fell in love like crazy
because I needed something like some sort of like umbrella
I wanted to hide. So then my my decision made
I mean, I don't want to say like my decision
was wrong, because there's no wrong answer. Now, it was
(20:29):
like I don't know. I mean, I divorced with him,
but you know that was in Korea that we moved
to Atlena together to you, Okay, eighteen years married with him,
so my third of my life with him. So there's
a lot of good memories, there's some lot of not
a bad memories, but it's just just difference, very different.
(20:51):
But back then I didn't have that because mentally I
wasn't capable to make a right decision or see people
right because that you felt like they were probably looking
at you like some sort of like prize or they
wanted something from you, right. It was it was probably
(21:15):
constantly like that because you were also very young, very young,
so I wasn't freshman in college and I just drop everything.
I just run away. Okay. So before we get into
the second part of your life, which obviously is the
most fascinating part, I do want to ask you this
one question about what you think about the K pop
(21:38):
scene now, because I feel like the similar things that
you went through. These kids, these K pop stars even
now are probably going through the same thing. It's that's
that's the industry of K pop in Korea, right, broke
my heart every time I hear the news, and because
I filled them so deeply, how they that was in pain? Right,
(22:03):
the pain. Maybe I was like to prove myself, proved
me like, I'm not that gm N. You know, guys,
I'm um, I'm just you're human. Yeah, I'm human. So
when I see I mean, I mean, the industry is
totally change, but has it really? That's my question. I
think the society, it's not about this music industry society,
(22:27):
very judgmental society. The mentality is it's still there. I mean,
I really admire the new generations. They are so much
open minded, very creative, but all the generations always they're
judging so much. That create that chaos. And all the
(22:48):
young kids. Can you imagine that those K pop stars
raise as a performer exactly, they're children. Yeah, they're treadren
and their their mind is stuck. I was same thing.
I'm getting I'm azing from from my teenage time too.
I'm aging to like college girl, but I'm still there.
(23:14):
You know, I'm just just stuck there. So these kids
are I can imagine how they deal with all those pressures,
and of course, I mean they make love of money now,
but but you know it, you see all those things,
not just some the music industry, some like rich people
(23:37):
or when we see like oh my god, there they
probably have everything, but some people quit their life why,
you know, because we're all human beings. People don't think.
People just see that image of all rich people or
the famous singer or famous actor or whatever. They just
(24:01):
say them as just when they open the laptop and
they can see these people like the shining the armor.
They see the positive side of all things. But of
course there's always a negative side to the positive, and
that's like that hidden darkness that most people cannot see.
(24:23):
And I always tell people like, hey, like entertainers, the artist,
I don't know what it's in English, but they are psychos.
They have that. That's why they are artists. They are different,
(24:43):
but society expect them to be a perfect person. You
can't get a ticket or d UI or whatever it happens.
It's like these major scans is they try to kill them,
you know, not just everye just just normal people. If
(25:04):
something happened is what happened, has happened. But for this
idol's society expecting them to be perfect. I mean, that's
why they're called idols, right, I mean, how funny is that?
But still when I when I say something and people say, oh,
you know, but they make so much money and they're
so popular they have to deal with it. But that's
(25:25):
not right, that's not human. So you left all of
that and you came to Atlanta with your husband at
the time, Why Atlanta? Like what brought you here? Because
of him? Okay? So he had family here, And I
guess people migrate to the US from Korea because of
(25:48):
some sort of like family member, and that's where you
end up being. Was this in the nineties first first time?
I call that run away like I like a runaway,
right I run away? Um was? And then and I
(26:12):
stayed a little bit and back to Korea. I had homesick,
of course, and I wanted to sing so bad and
I was so naive. I thought this everything is going
to be there, but it wasn't because I didn't have
life experience, you know, So I thought it was like,
oh I was popular, you know, I had a lot
of fans, so they may be welcoming me, but it wasn't.
(26:37):
It was very hard, and I always I feel like
that's the the asque part actually fit in here, Like
I have to ask to be on a show, I
have to ask before always they call me, you know,
they want me to be every single show, even like
children's show too, you know, because you were at the
(26:58):
peak of your face, but when you try to back
to it, no one was accepting anyone. So I had
to like, O, can can you hi? Can you hire
me for this show? And you know, and then as
so himaning you know, like talking me and your pride
was hurt. It hurt so bad, but it was also
like a learning lesson for you exactly. It was a
(27:20):
growing pain, a turn like from twenties, dirties and forties
and I'm I'm heading to fifty now, and every this
decade you change. If you don't feel changed, there's something wrong. Change.
It's gonna be changed in a good way though, So
it was a growing pain for me. My my teenage
(27:42):
to my twenties were the most painful time. But I
feel I don't I don't regret anything. Be honest with
you, you you can't. I mean, I feel like you can't
really live life with regrets because it's all experiences exactly right.
And look at you now. You left all of that,
(28:14):
came back to Atlanta and decided to become a chef.
That's insane because you're going from like A to Z,
especially like chef life at that point when you first started,
I'm sure it was very difficult, especially for a female,
because I know this, it's like almost agonizing pain. Why
did you decide a cook? What made you be? Like? Okay?
(28:36):
I think the biggest was I needed to stand my foot,
you know, I have to I have to leave pretty
much almost the same time when I decided to divorce,
at the same time I decided for new career because
I didn't want to go back to singing because I
(28:58):
already taste that bitterness and I wasn't pushed myself to
fight for that because I already I guess my wound
didn't heal enough. Still, how do I survive? At the
time I divorce at the bankruptcy bankrupt too, so I
(29:19):
had no money, broken car, and like, oh shoot, what
should I do? You know, you know, and I can't work.
I mean my English was very very poor. Back then,
everybody recognized me Korean's Korean community and I can't get
a job there, and what am I supposed to do?
But I know what I like to do. It was
(29:42):
my my grandmother and my mom was amazing people, an
amazing cook. And I always when I was a little
I always help them, help them in the kitchen. My
when they're cooking, I always in the kitchen, pilled potatoes
or training kong namur the ben sprout and always there.
And then like when I was like in middle school,
I could I could cook home home cooking family recipe
(30:07):
or whatever, or tongue. And but I never thought getting
a job as a cook because I'm an older generation,
and the older generation in Korea back then cooks. It
doesn't even feel like there's a job. It's kind of
like surviving, kinda kind of just just a job. You know.
It's not like it's not a career, it's not a career,
(30:30):
it's a job. It's just just a job. And and
my mom my parents were kind of shocked, like I
was like, I want to go to culinary school. They
were like, what do you mean so I want to
be a cook, And they said like, what do you
mean you want to be a cook? Understand? They didn't understand,
but they know how I'm very stubborn, So okay, it's
(30:51):
your life. And I didn't even tell them I'm going
to divorce. And you know, they find out a newspaper.
Oh my gosh, that's how stob But I am, you know,
I don't. I'm very quiet, and I keep all the
pain as long as I can until like that's to open.
(31:14):
That's almost like very Korean to do, right. Yeah, So
for you, cooking was almost like a survival game, not
only in the sense of like your life, but also
to save yourself. Two. I didn't have any like plan
for like, oh I want to be a market steward
or not anything like that. I gotta have a I
need a job, you know, I need a job to
(31:35):
pay my bill. So I went to Connery School because
they gave me a school loan. So I started, and
as soon as I started, I just I just find out,
like I'm good at this. You fell in love. And
I think as a cook, as as soon as you
(31:55):
step into that first role, you either know or you
don't if it's for you. It's like that like when
we start class with the thirty two people and only
six graduated. You know, like most of the people just
just caught they that oh this is not good for me.
They just all gone and maybe to my class Mr.
(32:16):
Cooking and everybody else you know, doing something else. You know. Statistically,
culinary school is still that way where more than eighty
five never end up actually using their culinary degree. They
either go back to their old career or change careers.
But like not many people, I actually stick to it.
And that's the reality of this industry obviously, you know.
(32:39):
I think people see those on the like personality chefs,
and but um I was different. I was like, I
have to win this game. And I started school. I
was like thirties, sixty six and a half, you know old.
My classmates like twenty years old. And I was like,
oh my god, what how do I survive competing with
(33:03):
these kids after graduate and maybe not going to get
a job, you know. But what I did, that's my personality.
I put two percent, not D percent. I put two
d try to be a best student, do whatever the
school offered, like volunteers, opportunity or workshops, and almost nine
(33:29):
I attended, even being on a competition team because I
was like, I don't have much time. These kids have
a plenty of time to experience stars or whatever, but
I don't have much time. So I gotta accelerated myself,
you know, so I work as much as you can do.
But I really enjoyed it. I loved it. I was like,
(33:50):
oh my gold, this is the best. Culinary school was
like the best, like so much fun because it's it's
like you almost feel alive, and it's not really for
money or for fame. It's just literally you're just learning
a craft. And then you went and worked at like
several high end restaurants, and then that's where you met
your now husband, and then you opened a restaurant and
(34:15):
together it was a mesical so airline barbecue. It has
won countless awards, has a line at the door every day.
How did this happen? When you guys decided we're gonna
do this American barbecue joint with like Korean flavors, I
never have like, oh, I want to do the like
particular plan, especially for the loom because back then I
(34:41):
was I worked on at the hotel Struci's and I
love my job and I got a lot of reword
and just just you know, like, okay, these people you
know like me as a cook. You know, I was
so happy. And back then my boyfriend Cody Taylor right
now my partner partners, he's um. He was burned out.
(35:07):
He started cooking like fifteen, and he's tall and atlas,
and you know, they always put him on a saute
line and the grill line. And he was burnt out.
And he said, you know what, I would have quit.
And if I have my my own restaurant and I
designed my kitchen and my menu, then I do it.
(35:29):
But if not, I'm not gonna do it. So okay,
what are you gonna do? And I was I was
enjoying with the life and hotel as hotel cook. And
and back then we wasn't we weren't really um like
serious relationship. I always wanted to get out of Atlanta.
I wanna my goal was transferred to other hotel, mean
(35:55):
the same same umbrella and go to other countries and
learning kurch her and because I was just just out
of my my marriage and and I wanted to be
just free, like free woman, and I want to do
whatever I want to do. I want to learn more
and things at the beginning. My brother he always asked me, like,
(36:18):
why don't you come back to Korea, you know, and
I said, no, I want to survive here and I
love to live here. So I'm gonna find I'm going
to figure it out, and I'm I'm sure I'm going
to be success and not turn into street and so
you don't have to worry about me. But he he
gave me a dollar for um alone or did you
(36:40):
know just just like you just give me like oh,
you just just divorce, and you know, I just want
to give you this to help you something. So if
you can do something with this money, you know, but
you know, you can make one decent bathroom in restaurant.
That's twenty right, So opening restaurant is with it's not
(37:03):
is it's not realistic number, but it was such a
such a huge money for us. Though Cody was broke,
I was broke, you know, we were completely financially not good.
But so at this point, like you knew that you
guys wanted to open a restaurant together. Though Cody wanted
a restaurant, but I never wanted a restaurant because I
(37:25):
didn't like to stuck in something someone concept work. So
I think I have very like a free spiriture young
and Korean. That's another hard Arns today. I want to
travel all the time, like change environment all the time.
You're you're like a free spirit. Yeah. So I didn't
(37:47):
want the want the restaurant business, but he wanted, Okay,
I can invest you, you know, if you can do something.
So we found this spot was abandoned, used to be
Mexican restaurants. There was everything there, equaintments and even even
(38:08):
like leftover food for two years ago the place. So
we actually hired just one carpenter and so it's like
changing some panels and me and Cody we did a
paintings and all that. You built it from your bare
hands and it just just by the by two smokers.
(38:31):
And so we opened just like that. And I was like,
okay you do because it's such a small restaurant. That's
a seven hundred six discord for the restaurant. I thought,
a Cody here, you get taking care of this business,
it will bit better than all you work for somebody else.
So just so it was it was Cody Stream and
(38:51):
you supported him, but you still wanted to stay in
the hotel, but ended up leaving probably because you know,
the mexical thing has happened. There's one of very popular
bloggers back then, Jennifer Diamond. She now she's a writer
for the Atlanta magazine, and she had a blog, her
her blog a long time ago, and she wrote about
(39:14):
us that little small check, and all of a sudden,
we have we have people lying, so, oh my god,
what happened? And then a J. C. The top writer
back then, John Castler, he came. I didn't even I
don't even recognize anybody, but they come, and then they
(39:35):
send a photographer and all of a sudden, like we
have line out the door, and Cody s os me like, hey,
you need to quit your job. Literally he was like okay.
So he was alone, like doing that by himself, and
then all of a sudden there was three staff. And
then he got shopping and you know, shopping and cooking
(39:57):
and everything and whenever I finished my task and then
go to the restaurant and help him. But it didn't
last long. It was like two months later we opened
and he's like, Jane, I mean, I'm really begging you
you You've got to help me. So we started like
pretty much very traditional barbecue and then once I joined,
(40:18):
and it started like Korean style, because as Koreans, you
want to make everyone around right. It's like it's like
a disease almost like we're so Korean and we make
something and it tastes something like, oh, this is something missing,
and then John, oh this is perfect. Right. Yeah, it's
(40:42):
like the spirit of Koreans wanting to koreanify everything inside.
I'm I'm the same way. But the great great thing
about Atlanta. Atlanta is a very sudden, very conservative but
some reason, especially the barbecue societies, they have very like
(41:04):
their own. They're they're strong on their pride, like strict exactly.
They have their certain things. But we became like number
one barbecue in Atlanta. We shocked everybody, like, oh my god.
I was shocked to like, oh my god. Really people
really embrace that different. I think that's the great things
(41:26):
about um American culture. They embrace and appreciate as a
as a female old and as immigrant with the English
a barrier. But that's what made you so authentic. But
I had I had every time I had a chance.
(41:46):
I mean, they gave me an opportunity with all those
obstacles and when they like it, like they gave me opportunity.
That's amazing. That's that's really great thing. It makes America
really great. Not Trump way, that's a whole another thing. Yeah,
that's what happened. It's the American dream and you're living
(42:08):
in exactly. I always call this magic. Magic happened makes
me feel so humble because I know there's so many
people out there, so talented, working so hard. Not everybody
gets something right. Sounds a little unfair, But I think before,
you know, I was like, oh, I really hated that
(42:30):
I was famous. If I'm not famous, I can do
a lot more things in America. And I was more
like complaining and blaming and for what what Actually I
created those chaos, But I didn't really grateful for that.
But now you know, like people, especially media, they give
(42:55):
so much attention for heirloom, like because it's such a
unique story about this this restaurant. It's also okay a
puff star and feel Willie and you know, make some unique,
unique barbecue. It's a beautiful story. So that's why I get.
I feel so grateful that I have that painful experience,
(43:18):
painful experience turning to amazing experience, a beautiful story that's
authentic to you and your husband. It seems like, oh
I'm meant to be you know. Thank you so much,
Jeanne for sharing the story. That's it, not it. This
is maybe the best part for you because I made
(43:39):
you something, your favorite dish, So I made you Oh
my god, Oh my god, it's hot too. Yeah, it's hot.
So I made this doughe this morning, and then I
hand tore it into the broth, and then I took
out the dumplings or the b so that it doesn't
put all, so it doesn't like exactly. Yeah, So to
(44:01):
keep the integrity of the noodles hand torn noodles, I
separated it and then right now just heating it up together.
It's a very smart way. Smart people actually cook really well.
That's that's a huge difference, very much. Oh my god.
So this is perfect. That then then this when I
make it sometimes like okay, I want to make it quick,
(44:25):
but you know, step it is my favorite. It's always
remind me my grandmother. Mm hmm. Oh my god. Where
did you get the skin chick to make a big difference?
(44:46):
Oh my god. And every time I eating like really
like harty food, like soul food, Korean food, somebody like
like young, like you bring that flavor is amazed me
because cooking food is is all about experience memories. To me,
(45:08):
it's memories like the pallia right, what you remember what
it tastes like. That's the so much, that's the young young,
that's the essent. You know, so man, So what do
you think authentic? I know you don't have much time
and you make perfect it's amazing, so much, thank you.
(45:30):
The noodle is the texture is perfect. It's gotta be
thin like this. My grandmother was so picky about it.
She even she's slicing it, it's meanings you pull handful, nod.
But she made perfect though. And then she slices thin
and she's very particular and make it so pretty, even
(45:51):
like it's supposed to be like very comfort like an
almost patant food. She makes it so pretty. So that
inspired me a lot as a cook. Visuals are everything right,
and to me, the texture is really important. The size
of the the all this cut is so important. The
(46:15):
thinness so important because it's different. Example like when you
go to sushi sushi restaurant you order some sashimi, you
have very skilled sushi chef, such a beautifully thinly evenly
slice the fish you put in your mouth or the
chunks of fish you put in your mind. It's exactly
(46:35):
same quality and same fish. It tastes completely different, so
on how you shape it. So your your knife skill
or your hand skills are so important, and I think
the Korean food is really represent all the skill and
that the heart. Yeah, like it's Korean food is a
(46:56):
labor of love, and you really can't take any short.
So you make this though in the morning and cooking separated,
but you're so chewy, still very chey good. That's what
I was trying to achieve. I was thinking about tib
and I was like, Okay, well I'm gonna have to
make it a few hours in Evans because for all
my guests, I all the food has to be reheated
(47:16):
because we're in a studio and like I literally have
a microwave, right, So of course it's important. Sujib is
the most important part of su b is the texture.
I achieved that yeah, she wanted means like refreshing horbor,
like it's coming up from your deep inside. It's like,
(47:42):
you know what, There's so many Korean food words that
you just can't translate and she want it means like
refreshing almost, but it's that's not exactly how you describe this.
I tried to explain to my husband many times. He
didn't like she wanted like she wanted, she wanted, I mean,
what refresh Yeah, it's it's a it's a word freaking hat.
(48:06):
It's hard to explain. But this texture is amazing. Oh
my god. I used a lot of radish for the broth,
so that that gives it. That also found bunji at
the supermarket, and that's what I added because if I
add regular kimchi, usually what you buy at the supermarket
is not fermented, so it's not going to create the
(48:26):
same type of broth. But I was able to find bunji,
and I was like, okay, let me add the bunji. Wow,
it's amazing. Thank you. Does it remind you of grandma
and home and and also my childhood? You know, nineteen seventies.
I was born in nineteen seventy, so seventies career was
(48:47):
very poor. We were poor, but everybody was poor. For you,
it wasn't really a big deal. You know, that's a lifestyle.
So back then, we we ate a lot of stepies.
Back then yeah, it's like a poor means dish. That's
why you know this flavor when we never get sick
(49:08):
of it, you never tired of it. This is like
you want it, especially when you feel a little sick
or kind of gloomy day, rainy day. You want this.
Do you make a lot of cub at home? I do?
I do? I do? I like the texture, so I
like c B, I like cook you like you like
(49:29):
a texture. This is amazing. Thank you. I'm so glad
you look happy. I'm so happy because I'm watching you
eat and that just makes mind. It's like I'm pogim
the paper. That just means just watching makes me feel full.
That's why we could so hard. Is full you satisfied
(49:50):
through other people's eating the happiness exactly. I can't stop.
Please keep eating. Chef Chian, thank you so much for
being here. Should I call you Chefchion or k pop starch?
Where can our listeners find you? And find your restaurant
el Market barve q and Atlanta el Market barve Q
(50:14):
a t l as the handle that's the Instagram and
myself chef chef t on me thank you so much
for being here. And that's our show. Thanks for listening.
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a five star review. Get Down with Kaytown is
a production of I Heart Radio and was created by
our executive producer, Christopher Hasiotis and me as to Troy.
(50:38):
Follow me on all social media at toy bites, and
I'd also like to thank our producer, editor and mixer
Marci to Peana. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.