Roy Choi uses Google Glass to make St. Patrick’s Day East Los Leprechaun Burrito
Roy Choi has donned Google Glass to record a video for his latest Kogi BBQ special -- the East Los Leprechaun Burrito -- and promote the head-mounted computer as an early adopter.
In a video shot by commercial and music video director Jason Goldwatch, Choi wore the voice-activated Glass and used its Allthecooks app to look up a burrito-inducing recipe: “OK, Glass, find a recipe for Irish food.” He found “Irish hearty stew -- potatoes, braised beef and cabbage.” So Choi took those components and tried “to make them feel and taste like L.A. but still feel like St. Patrick’s Day.”
“OK, Glass, record a recipe. East Los Leprechaun Burrito.” Which is carne asada, Choi’s Potatoes Anna Banana (a play on pommes Anna) and kimchi. In the middle of recording the recipe, he was interrupted by a phone call from his mom. “Mom, I’m busy right now ... “ Aww.
He didn’t forget the salsa verde -- er, leprechaun sauce. “This is what happens when you puree leprechauns. They have no bones, heh-heh.”
The burrito will be available on the trucks starting Tuesday. (St. Patrick’s Day is Monday, but the Kogi trucks don’t run on Mondays.)
In a phone interview, Choi said, “I started thinking about Kogi and L.A. and the first thing I started thinking about was House of Pain, DJ Muggs, Cypress Hill, L.A. hip-hop in the ‘90s era ... East Los Angeles, Latino culture, immigration, English as a second language, our ancestors, L.A. hip-hop, California, freedom, Kogi, eating on the streets. All these things and the technology. From there we can make a burrito.”
Choi said he has grand plans to integrate Google Glass technology into food experiences, whether using it to create videos or communicate with his team. “Kogi kulture,” after all, was born of technology.
Also, “you might have a dilemma. If you have a sweet chili chicken quesadilla in one hand and a burrito in your other hand, how are you going to also turn on -- what’s everybody watching on TV now? -- ‘True Detective’ -- on your HBO Go? Now you can do that.”
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