Rising Stars: Meet Andrew Do

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Do.

Hi Andrew, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I followed the path of graduating college and going into the corporate world. I found myself feeling unfulfilled and decided to follow my passion for food. I went to the New School of Cooking in Culver City, CA where I learned the basics. After the program, my wife and I started throwing pop-up events around LA. Most people are only familiar with Korean BBQ as Korean food and we wanted to show people a homestyle Korean eating experience. For one of our pop-ups, we did a dish with banchan (side dishes). At the time, we resided in West LA and there was no Korean markets or authentic restaurants around. We would have to drive to Koreatown or South Bay for prepared side dishes. I decided to start sending my friends around me weekly rotating side dishes and before we knew it, we were a weekly catering meal delivery service. I prepared Korean side dishes, soups, and entrees every week and delivered all around LA. Three years later, we stopped our service, as my dream was to always to open a brick and mortar. We decided to move back to the city we went to college in Fullerton, Ca and open Issé.

Issé translates in Korean to 2nd generation and is a term that some people refer Korean-Americans as. We grew up around here and wanted to give the people around us a dining experience that we grew up and love with an Issé twist.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Issé opened in 2019 and it was an exciting time. And then 2020 hit…. and you know the story.

As Covid-19 was becoming more of an issue in California, we saw the decline in sales. When we got locked down, we had to close and furlough our employees and was wondering how we were going to pay our bills. We had to go back into pop-up thinking mode. I did curbside take-out and I was cooking, packing and my wife was delivering to the cars. We were blessed to have support from many family and friends throughout the lockdown. They don’t know how grateful we are but we remember every single person.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Issé is a Korean restaurant that specializes in Korean-inspired food, natural wines, craft beer, and Korean spirits. I curated a menu of food that my wife and I would eat if we were cooking at home. Homestyle Korean flavors. I keep it simple. My motto is if you make it the way it is supposed to be made then it will taste good no matter what. Some of the most popular dishes here is kimchi pasta with bucatini noodles, beefy corn cheese with sourdough bread, grilled caesar salad, army stew hot pot (bu-dae-ji-gae), hot chick sandwich, chopped ribeye with chimichurri, pommes frites.

What sets us apart from others is our atmosphere and dining experience. Most patrons come here like they are coming to our house. We feed them delicious food and pair it with refreshing beverages and make sure they have a memorable night. Our goal is to make everyone feel welcome and leave full and happy. We encourage creativity for all our staff and customers as well. This is a place where everyone knows each other’s names. A second home for people.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love Fullerton. The roads are wider, there is free parking and the people are nice. This is where my wife and I both went to college (CSUF). We love meeting other Titans. It is pretty diverse community for a suburb and has a good food and music culture. It’s a great middle ground for people wanting to meet halfway from Irvine and Los Angeles.

Pricing:

• Kimchi Pasta $16
• KFC Wings $14
• Beefy Corn Cheese $14
• Hot Chick $12
• Army Stew $25

Contact Info:

• Email: issefullerton@gmail.com
• Website: issefullerton.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isse.fullerton/?hl=en
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/iss%C3%A9-fullerton

Image Credits:
Photos by Hayden Murphy