Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Park.
Alex, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Long story short, I was in culinary school when I got my first restaurant job circa 2006. I had worked my way up to sous chef in about a year, this was in a fine dining steak house. I kept working and learning as much as I could.
After about five years at this restaurant, I felt like it was time to move on, to learn more from another chef, so I kept grinding and learning as much as I could. I started off in fine dining and worked a lot of other jobs from sushi to QSR.
Fast forward to now, I do pop-ups for both ramen and tacos until I leave CA, I am moving to Portland to work with my friend who just opened up a ramen shop there called Menya Hokusei, not being bias, probably the best shop out there as of now.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There is no such thing as a “smooth road” in any walk of life, def not this one… When I was starting out it was still a very militant like profession, never took care of my body and just kept overworking myself, burn out is real people, take care of your body, 9 out of 10 times your employer can give 2 shits about you, always remember that.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As of right now before I move to PDX (Portland) by the end of the year, I specialize in craft ramen and craft tacos, which means no shortcuts, everything from scratch, as much as I can handle since I do all the prep and shopping by myself.
I’m so proud of all of the hard work I’ve done and everything I have achieved through everything, this is a hard field, especially nowadays. People always forget that when you got out to eat, you’re not just paying for the food, you’re paying for everything, and on top of that all of the current inflations…Remember what you are paying for when you go out.
My integrity and quality is what sets me apart from everyone else, while some people use canned tomatillos for their salas, I buy fresh and make mine from scratch, people can tell when you use shit product.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Family is always #1, no matter what you are going through, your family will be the one having open arms when you are struggling..and remember…you don’t have to be blood to be family.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Darth.Gastrameny @ramentayosei @taco.tayosei
