Meet Alex Park | Chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Park and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
The one thing that non-industry people are unaware of is how much time is spent at work, it’s very similar to hospitals…you work on your feet all day, with little to no breaks, but the thing that differs between the 2 fields, is when you work in a restaurant or any back of house gig, there are no windows, you are squeezed so tightly in such a confined space and are constantly being rubbed up against because of it. There’s a lot of yelling and loud noises, everything must be “in it’s place” I put that into quotes, because that’s’ the next part of my answer, Mise en place. Mise en place literally translate to “everything in it’s place” in French. It means to have everything ready for service so you don’t fall behind and have everything organized because if you are cooking in a messy and unorganized station, you will either or all…be yelled at by Chef, or again, fall behind on orders. That’s the biggest thing between a home cook and a professional, everything is ready to go neatly and well organized.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think what sets me apart is my creative intuition and doing things differently than others without forcing it. I am most proud of how far i’ve come in the ramen industry, this is what I specialize in and have been doing so since around 2013, with popups and specials at places where I was working at the time. When covid hit is when I really started pushing myself to strive to be very creative and doing Ramen kits, where everything is ready, except for the noodles that I make from scratch…they come raw with directions for every step so the consumer can build the bowls easily. I got to where I am today professionally by working my ass off and learning as much as I could as a young cook, grinding every day, no breaks, no vacations. I gave myself to the industry and it has been good back, for the most part…which ties into the challenges…with all of the grinding and not taking breaks or vacations comes deterioration of the body and mental health. It’s been a serious problem in the industry for since as long as I can remember. Remember that you only have 1 body and you NEED to take care of it. I am happy to see that there are modern restaurants that make sure their staff are taken care of both psychically and mentally.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So this will definitely be a food heavy trip, seeing as how that is what I do as a career. Let’s start off with my favorite ramen shops…Kashiwa Ramen in Costa Mesa, Ca…Chef Hiromitsu Yamanouchi and staff crank out amazing bowls of ramen, tsukemen, and appetizers. His partner for the shop is a well known juggernaut in the ramen world with over 28 ramen shops all over the world. Yamanouchi-San has become a good friend of mine over the past few years of be going there, literally everything is delicious. Next would be Ramen & Tsukemen Tao located in Buena Park, Ca. Where Chef Toshimasa Sano cranks out exquisite miso based bowls, all styles are thick and rich with insane flavor. 3rd will be Super Juicy Dumplings in Brea, Ca. This spot is very comparable to Michelin rated, Din Tai Fung minus the prices…They are very affordable and just as good, I think. For drinks, i’m usually a dive bar kinda guy, and there’s this really great place by my house called Duffy’s, it’s been there forever, and is the mere definition of a dive bar. If I want to get some REAL craft cocktails, where everything except the liquors are made in house, from the bitters, to amaros, liqueurs, etc etc…It is such an amazing place where I have not had a bad drink. Honestly, as far as most fun and interesting places, it will always be food oriented, Obviously, there are landmarks in LA and OC, but I always find my friends always want to know where to eat.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Let’s start off by giving a huge shout out to Mr. Anthony Bourdin, R.I.P…He’s probably the reason why I went so hard on this industry, I’ve always wanted to be a chef from a very young age, but when I saw what he was about, the total badassery, and edge, it really drove me to push harder, which includes “Kitchen Confidential”. 2nd, would be Chef David Slay, Chef/Owner of Park Ave Restaurant in Stanton, CA, he was the first Chef I had worked for right before I finished the Culinary program at Cerritos College with Chef Michael Pierini, which also had a huge part in my career. So thank you to all of the ones who helped mold my career to what it is today.

Instagram: @Darth.Gastrameny @ramentayosei