Meet Christina Ko | Founder & Owner

Personally, the only things I consider actual risks are life and death (or health-related) situations. What remains are just decisions having to be made that are either 1) scary & exciting (fear of the unknown, but something new) or 2) easy & comfortable (familiar, and confident of the outcome). I’ve always been up for a challenge as a kid, which helped build my self-esteem but I actually got a little too addicted to “the thrill.” As a young adult, I was obsessed with personal growth so wanted to push myself every chance I could (moved across the country without knowing anyone, moved yearly to different areas within LA to maximize “cultural exposure,” attended school nights and weekends after my 9 to 5 to learn a new skill, etc). That addiction definitely changed the trajectory of my life and I wouldn’t have started GANCHIC without it, but I was highly susceptible to the “burn out.” Now, I’ve found that having a balance of the two is the most productive for me — I still seek out new opportunities to improve personally and professionally on a macro level, but prefer to keep my day-to-day decisions pretty predictable.

Moving to Los Angeles from Virginia was my scariest decision to date (at the time) and single-handedly changed the course of my life. I was in my mid-20s and feeling the pressures of society’s predetermined next step for me: marriage and kids. After my move, I felt my peers in LA weren’t holding themselves to the same social constructs as much and were pursuing their passions freely. Also, the West Coast forced me to slow down and relax in the best way (I was very tightly wound when I first arrived). Instead of stressing and trying to force my life to go “as planned”, I loosened up and became open to new opportunities, people, and experiences. Every one of those moments has helped me become who I am today, and I’m excited to see how I continue to evolve.

I started my career in financial consulting and eventually shifted into the fashion industry. I still yearned for a more fulfilling profession and embarked on a solo trip to Korea in 2016 to gain greater clarity. I was amazed at the variety of Korean grab-and-go food options that were available and wanted to create a version of kimbap for active Angelenos. Besides a few salad spots, there weren’t many places at the time for people who ate like me. I had adopted a lifestyle of using clean, whole ingredients (as much as possible) such as using quinoa as a substitute for rice and maple syrup or raw honey being my sweeteners of choice. Although I consumed mostly vegetables and fish at the time, it was extremely important to me to provide options for all dietary preferences (meat lovers, vegans, gluten sensitivities, etc) and make “eating healthy” fun and enjoyable for anyone while sharing my favorite Asian flavors.

It took some time to conceptualize and develop all of my recipes, but I finally pulled the trigger and soft launched in 2019. The name GANCHIC is a combination of two Korean words: 1) 간단한 (gandanhan) meaning “simple” and 2) 음식 (eumshik) meaning “food” — representing my back-to-basics approach in the ingredients I wanted to cook with. Also, the second syllable was intentionally spelled “chic” vs. “shik” to capture the hint of elegance I hoped to bring to the brand.

At the beginning, I was so afraid of doing / saying “the wrong thing” since I was completely new to the industry, so I ended up saying pretty much nothing. The things I would post on social media and my responses to customers were very…generic. Inoffensive, but lacked any flavor. I’ve found that the more I insert my personal voice and personality (as weird as I may be) into my interactions, the more I attract the “right” people who end up becoming my core supporters. I also try to focus on quality over quantity. Whether it’s a content piece or a catering job with multiple floral kimbap boards, I want people to be confident in what they’re going to get from GANCHIC. I want them to know that I may not be perfect, but I will always try my hardest — therefore, they will always be receiving my best at any given moment.

Starting and running a business was (and continues to be) such an emotional roller coaster, but I knew this was the path for me after interacting with people in the food & beverage industry. I feel extremely fortunate to be surrounded by these newfound friends who I have so much respect for. Also, GANCHIC is the only profession where I’ve been able to utilize both my left and right brain equally and it keeps me challenged and fulfilled. I haven’t even begun to accomplish everything I envisioned for GANCHIC when I started, but I’m really enjoying figuring things out and embracing all the lessons along the way.

I’m sort of a grandma, so I prefer to avoid crowds and be in nature whenever I can. For activities, I would usually suggest hiking, having a picnic in the park, or going to the beach (preferably anything south of Venice Beach) and reading or riding bikes. It’s also fun to see a random concert at smaller venues like The Fonda or El Rey.

I can’t drink coffee, so Steep LA in Chinatown is a must for tea and tasty bites. Then would go through my list of some other restaurants in my (“no reservations needed”) rotation: Destroyer, goop Kitchen, Mendocino Farms, The Rooster, HiHo, Pizzeria Sei, The Butcher’s Daughter, Sonoratown, Courage Bagels, Go Greek, Dune, Botanica, Great White, and Saikai Ramen Bar.