Judy Joo – Chef, entrepreneur and leading voice in modern Korean cuisine

Judy Joo is a classically trained chef, entrepreneur, and television personality whose unconventional journey spans engineering, Wall Street, and the world’s top kitchens. She is an Iron Chef, cookbook author, and dynamic force in the food world, celebrated for modernizing and globalizing Korean cuisine.

Judy is the founder of Seoul Bird, a Korean fast-casual fried chicken concept with locations in London, New York, Las Vegas, and beyond.Seoul Bird merges bold Korean street food flavors with the speed and scale of modern dining, combining Judy’s culinary heritage and operational expertise.

Before launching her restaurant empire, Judy trained at the French Culinary Institute, worked in Michelin-starred restaurants like The French Laundry and Gordon Ramsay’s empire, and became a recognizable face on Food Network. 

Seoul Bird is expanding through a strategic mix of franchising and licensing, including high-traffic venues like Citi Field and Edinburgh Airport.

Judy left Wall Street to pursue her passion for food, trading finance for the kitchen with zero expectations—just love for cooking.

Her engineering and banking backgrounds continue to shape how she designs restaurants and runs operations at scale.

As a Korean-American woman in male-dominated fields—finance, engineering, and restaurants—Judy forged ahead with “fearlessness or I just don’t care” confidence.

She believes “today’s invention is tomorrow’s tradition,” especially in defining authenticity in global cuisines like Korean fried chicken.

Seoul Bird thrives in arenas and airports, offering high-volume, high-flavor experiences with a focus on simplicity, quality, and cultural storytelling.

She emphasizes the power of brand building—through books, TV, and food—as key to her business success.

Judy finds inspiration everywhere, from grocery store aisles to international travel, always absorbing and evolving her culinary creativity.

She’s proud to see Korean food embraced globally, transforming from a source of school-lunch embarrassment into a pop-culture phenomenon.

QUOTES

“I love creating experiences. I love creating meals. I love food. I love the language of food. It is a language of love for me.” (Judy)

“I’m going to downgrade my life in every way possible and work weekends and evenings and much longer hours and get paid a fraction of what I was getting paid.” (Judy)

“I remember hesitating. Like, which one do I want to do? I was like, oh, math and science is easy for me. I’ll go to engineering school.” (Judy)

“If I want to be in these industries where I am the one and only minority, the one and only female, I don’t care. I’m going to do it.” (Judy)

“A restaurant is a business at the end of the day. You have to know cost control, maximize profits, and understand finance.” (Judy)

“I know so many chefs who can’t even get their way around an Excel spreadsheet.” (Judy)

“Koreans are obsessed with fried chicken. Obsessed. Obsessed.” (Judy)

“Today’s invention is tomorrow’s tradition. Korean fried chicken came from war and evolved. Is it authentic? I think so.” (Judy)

“I’ve gone from being embarrassed about my lunchbox to everybody spamming me, asking, ‘What are they eating? What are they drinking?'” (Judy)

“As long as the DNA is there—that makes it Korean.” (Judy)

“Television cheffing is much easier. You’re in a nice air-conditioned studio versus burning yourself and dealing with employees.” (Judy)