Conversations with Sam Oum

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Oum

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started cooking Cambodian dishes in 2017 when I moved from Long Beach to Culver City. Cambodian food wasn’t readily at my finger tips any longer so I started to make the dishes that I craved so often. It started with simple dishes like rice porridge and I moved on to more advanced dishes like curries, noodle soups, stir frys, and many more. As the years went on, my cooking got better and my partner, Christina would always encourage me to share my food and see if we could get people interested in Cambodian food since there wasn’t any on this side of town. She mentioned this numerous times throughout the years but I had a lot of self doubt since I didn’t have any industry experience. I didn’t think I could pull it off. Over the years, I would jokingly share with my mom that I couldn’t believe that as large as LA is, there is maybe 2 Cambodian restaurants in LA and that I was going to change that. My mom recently passed away late November 2023. And one of the last things she told me was to “Stop talking about what I want to do and just do it!” Since her passing, those words have stuck with me. On my late mother’s birthday, January 1st, we delivered our first order which was to cater a few items for a New Year’s gathering. We did our first pop-up at Three Weavers Brewing on January 13th, 2024 and we started to get dates at other breweries and establishments. Currently, this is a full time pop-up. We do as many as 5 pop-ups in a week at various breweries. We have to residencies in Culver City. Hi-Lo liquor on Wednesday from 5-8pm and Bar & Garden on Friday from 5-7:30pm. Both shops have tastings on those days.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has and it hasn’t been a smooth road. It has been because our food has been a hit everywhere we’ve been so it has made getting bookings easier with favorable days and allowed us to gain a decent following of customers that check for us weekly. But it also hasn’t been because my partner and I don’t come from a food background. So we’re learning by trial and error of how to run a food business. How to stay profitable in a high inflationary environment has it’s challenges. Couple that with having a family and trying to find the balance of having family time and time for the business has been challenging as well. When we’re not working at a pop-up, we’re shopping or prepping for one. So free time for friends and family lately has been slim, unfortunately.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Right now, Kreung Kitchen is our professional life… it pretty much consumes our life at the moment lol. But we specialize in Cambodian BBQ.

What I’m most proud of since starting Kreung Kitchen is taking an area like West LA where there is zero Cambodian food options and now having a regular following of customers who look for us at our weekly locations.

What sets us apart? The sheer fact that we are making and serving Cambodian food in LA. You can look high and low but you won’t be able to find anyone offering Cambodian food that actually lives out here with multiple weekly pop-ups in LA.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We’re always open to partnerships where it’s a win-win! You can slide in our DM’s on Insta at Kreung_kitchen. Or you can send us an email at [email protected].

How you can support us is giving us a follow on IG, come out to a pop-up, share our post, and tell your friends and family. We’re a small business with a very unique concept for this part of LA. Our mission has always been to get more people to know about Cambodian flavors. And with every meal, post shared, and referrals to your loved ones helps us get that word out and sheds light on our culture.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kreungkitchen.com
• Instagram: kreung_kitchen
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kreung-kitchen-culver-city