@ForkReporter- Chef Suyoung Park of Lefty Gelato

She is a Micheline Young Chef Award Winner in 2021 and has had a fascinating journey from Korea to LA, where she is crafting a unique version of Italian gelato. 
 Lefty Gelateria is a pop-up in the STILE DTLA. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, so we get to cleanse our palates a little
bit and enjoy something that's perfect for a day like this,
and that's gelatto. Just getting back from Italy. You know,
you get you have these flavors. You taste gelato and
it's creaminess and density and it's luxury. So I'm excited

(00:22):
and we'll get into tasting in a moment, but right
now I want to introduce you to our guests as
we talk about how long is this fairly new? Have
you guys been around for a little bit or no?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
We started probably back in August of last year.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, so fairly new. And the name of their place
is Lefty Gelato, and is it Sue Young Park? Soue
Young Park is the chef and Kevin is here as well.
And English is not your native language, so you know,
you as comfortable as you are to speak about something
you can otherwise. Kevin's here is well, Whye gelato?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Because I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
I love it too, but I can't make it what
you know, as a chef and one that is celebrated
to to shift from something and go very specific mhm,
what other than its flavor and the fact that you
love it. Drew you to want to make gelato.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Oh, sorry about it. I used to be a chef
at the restaurant. Uh huh at the time. I find
you gelato shop all the time, and then I fall
in love gelato, and then I decided, let's make the
gelatto let's and then I start to make yeah, yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
If you like something, being able to make it. How
many flavors at Lefties right now?

Speaker 3 (02:00):
How we serve sixth flavor with the one like special Sunday?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, totally. You have a total of seven items. But
every month the Sunday will also change, and then as
the season's changed, the flavors will also change too.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Well, of course that's what a chef does, like the
seasonal stuff. And let's see I want to see up
on the website and where are you guys located?

Speaker 2 (02:31):
So right now we're operating inside the Style Hotel used
to be the old Ace Hotel in downtown La uh huh.
We were fortunate enough to have an opportunity to operate
out of the hotel, so that's where we're at right now.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
That's awesome and you can find them on Instagram as well.
Lefty Underscore Gelatterrea Lefty Underscore Geelatterrea, maybe so, maybe so?
And right now we're talking to the folks from lefty
lefties gelato Rhea. Where does lefty come from? You both
have your hands, so we.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Are both left I'm a lefty.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Look at that? All right? That means we're creative and
we're smart and we right horribly. But all of that aside.
That's very very cool. And so you've got some you've
got all your flavors here, and there's one that you're
gonna brulay. So I said, oh no, no wait, and

(03:32):
so we can hear the torch. You can light it
right in front of the microphone right there, and we
can hear you torch that and brew lay it right
in front of us. Sure, please do look at that man,

(03:54):
fire fire only Shannon Farren was here, fire fire, Wow
one more time. Oh she's doing Look at this, Kayla,
Miss Kayla, look at this. She's she's torching things. It's
probably not even legal, but we're we run.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
We won't tell anybody.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, nobody's listening.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
We're good.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Look at that, okay, breulet obviously with a torch like
a crim breulet. You're putting sugar on top of the gelato.
In this case, and she's torching it and this will
melt the sugar which will then come together again as
it cools down in nice crispy crunchy topic exactly, And
what's the flavor underneath there?

Speaker 2 (04:41):
So underneath the sun? So does this our sweet Potato Sunday.
So underneath is a base of vanilla gelato that we
also make in house. And then we have several layers
of topping, one of them being a pecan crumble that
we also make it a house. And then there is
a sweet potato puree, which is also made in house,
and then on top of it is a layer of

(05:03):
custard and then we sprinkle sugar on top. And then
as you.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Saw, smells so good, right, all right, can you can
you make me just a little bit of that a
little taste, so like to taste that one that looks delicious?

Speaker 2 (05:18):
So for the Sunday, Yeah yeah, So we recommend that
you crack the lay portion of it and then you
dig deep to get all the layers.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Oh yeah, okay, and then go from the bottom.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah yeah, to get all the layers and then.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
Oh my god, oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Not too bad, right, So we have serving cups for everybody.
So if you just want to take your portion.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
How lovely is that? Wow? So so decadent, But man,
those flavors so nicely in that crunch. Oh but I
will make note of something I've worked with my producer

(06:12):
Kayla for some time. The first time I've ever seen
skip in the studio towards the food. Yeah, okay, we're
up against the clock here, So what other flavors can
we try?

Speaker 2 (06:26):
So our signature flavor is the date gelatto. So social
pretended to on top okay, and that's a date puree
on top, No, so is date flavored gelato. And then
on top of the topping is a pecan problem. So
basically what it is, it's just candied pecan grinded into

(06:49):
a smooth texture. So we recommend that you eat it together.
But that's that's our signature flavor.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, so we use Korean dates to produce the gelato.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Wow. Yeah, holy heck, that is really really good. I
thought the first one was so great. I'm like, I
hope it doesn't set, you know, disappointment, but wow, trying
that one? Wow? Wow. All right, let's see one more here.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
So if you want something more, I guess refreshing. Sure,
we recommend and the background.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
Okay, let's take this last one before we take our break.
This is a sorbet.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, so what you're eating right now is a mandarin sorbet.
So we use California grown mandarins. We juice it every
day at the kitchen, and you know, and then she
she makes a sorbet out of it, and the same
thing with the rat is.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
Now the top of my list best sorbet I've ever had.
This is a fantastic sorbet.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
That is perfect. It is perfect, The flavor, the sweetness,
everything is perfect. Wow.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
You know that he all the time.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
The juice, Yeah for me, need some juice? Yeah, done
and dumb that you should be very proud. This is delicious,
very very special. All right. Lefty Geelataia, I cannot recommend
them enough. This is fantastic. Did you try that? Right?

(08:38):
And then insane? A little crunchiness, that sweetness. Lefty Gelataia.
You can find them on Instagram Lefty Underscore Gelataia, Lefty
Underscore Galatarea, and you find out everything about their you know,
lefty Gelataia dot com, Lefty Gelataia dot com. They're lefties,
so they're extra special. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate

(09:01):
that this is really really delicious. How exciting is that?
Very very fun