What To Eat At Weekend Two Of Coachella, Where The Food Is The Culture, Too
Chimmelier serves Korean fried chicken sandwiches.
Chimmelier
A beautiful thing happened at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival late Saturday night. After Blackpink – the first Korean act to ever headline Coachella – triumphantly closed out their jubilant K-pop set, a lot of people were hungry from singing and dancing along to Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa for nearly two hours. And many of them decided to go find some Korean food.
The night before, Chimmelier, an on-the-rise Korean fried chicken slinger from Los Angeles, was slammed at Coachella’s Indio Central Market from 4 p.m. until things started to calm down around 10 p.m. On Saturday, there was a big line at Chimmelier’s Indio Central Market stand well past 11 p.m.
Not incidentally, Chimmelier’s chicken sandwiches, tenders and ramen bowls were just one stand away from the Kogi stand, where indefatigable food truck pioneer Roy Choi (who also had his Best Friend bar at Coachella) had galbi-topped loaded Korean barbecue fries on the menu. Kogi was also going strong after Blackpink’s set. Coachella mainstay Choi has become a celebrity in his own right and is one of many reminders that food is the culture at this festival, too.
Earlier that day, Choi was standing in a long line for hand rolls at KazuNori. He says he does that every year at the festival, which is fitting because KazuNori itself is proof of how Coachella can help restaurant operators create a new trajectory. KazuNori debuted at Coachella in 2014 before it opened its first restaurant. That was the prototype for a first-of-its-kind hand-roll bar (the sister restaurant of Kazunori Nozawa’s Sugarfish) that now has seven locations in Los Angeles and two in New York, with plans for more.
KazuNori hand rolls are a Coachella sensation.
Eddie Sanchez/Hungry in LA
Also in 2014: Wildly ambitious chef Phillip Frankland Lee got Coachella to build him a 50-seat restaurant with a secret chef’s counter in the kitchen. Now Lee has two Southern California restaurants with Michelin stars (Montecito’s Sushi by Scratch Restaurants and Encino’s Pasta | Bar). His Sushi concept (which popped up this year at Coachella in a hidden speakeasy-like space where happy patrons ate creatively conceived nigiri and drank generous pours of HeavenSake at an omakase counter) alone now has locations in Southern California, Austin, Seattle, Chicago, Miami and Montreal, with plans for more.
It’s obviously too early to to know how Chimmelier chef Kyungbin “Justin” Min and co-founders Dustin Lee, Kevin Son and Jeff Jun will benefit from the Coachella exposure, but the paths that restaurants have taken after being at the festival and the steadfast desire of these restaurants to return to Coachella says a lot. Tacos 1986 first came to Coachella in 2019, after its street-food setup had been shut down in LA and before it opened its first brick-and-mortar location. This year, Tacos 1986 (fresh off opening a Santa Monica location, its seventh restaurant, with plans for more) had its adobada trompos in both general-admission and VIP sections of Coachella. The hustle never stops.
So if you’re going to weekend two of Coachella and want to feel the energy of the Los Angeles food scene and taste some of its best bites while you’re in the desert, you would do well starting at all the spots just mentioned.
Broad Street Oyster Co. has tins of caviar in the 12 Peaks VIP section if you’re feeling extra … [+] fancy.
Broad Street Oyster Co.
Other great dishes you can get this weekend include the spicy hand-pulled noodles from Bang Bang Noodles, a street sensation that just opened its first brick-and-mortar location at Citizen Public Market in Culver City. (Citizen Public Market, notably, is also home to Ilé Bistro, from Nigerian chef Tolu Eros, who was at Coachella on Saturday to showcase his jollof rice and other West African dishes at a celebratory Outstanding in the Field dinner.) If you’re still giddy from the vibes Blackpink created or if you just want some of the best sticky-and-sweet wings anywhere, Yangban Society is telling its compelling Korean-American story. If you’re looking for some luxury during Coachella, you can add caviar or extra lobster to your already generously portioned Broad Street Oyster Co. lobster roll. Or you can go to Michelin-starred Camphor’s pop-up (a sleek and elaborate temporary restaurant with two kitchens and a bar) for a tasting menu or a steakhouse-style burger. Bang Bang, Yangban, Broad Street and Camphor are all at the 12 Peaks Vip section near the main Coachella stage.
No VIP access? No problem. Chimmelier and Choi’s Coachella spots don’t require a VIP wristband. And they’ll stay open really late if the crowds keep coming.
