Chef Esther Choi's Childhood Dreams Came True... and Then Some
To celebrate 50 years of ICE, we’re honoring 50 distinguished alumni. Meet Esther Choi, an accomplished restaurant owner, TV personality, and chef.
Though Esther Choi graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in psychology, she quickly set her sights on a culinary career. Specifically, she wanted the reach and influence of some of her earliest chef role models.
Iron Chef… Almost
“Do I want to work with the Iron Chef? No, I want to be the Iron Chef,” she told Athleisure Magazine earlier this year. In 2022, she competed on Netflix’s version of the original series, “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend” — finishing one point short of winning.
“That was a big inspiration for me,” she explained, “[and] why I set forth in doing the work, opening my own business; to ultimately inspire other people.”
Finding Success in Food TV
Today, Choi is the host of First We Feast’s “Heat Eaters,” and a regular on The Food Network, most recently as a co-host of “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing.”
At first, she was interested in the behind-the-scenes aspects of food TV — things like food styling and production. Attending the Institute of Culinary Education changed all of that. When she stepped into the classes comprising ICE’s Culinary Arts program, Choi fell in love with the intensity of the professional kitchen.
It Started with Culinary School
“The moment that I put on that jacket, I felt like something was different about my attitude, and fear just went away,” she said in an interview with Women Across Frontiers. At her first externship, she recalled “working on the line amongst real professional chefs — it was amazing. I felt like it was my home.”
Deciding to attend culinary school at ICE set Choi up for success. Not only was it a seamless pivot into New York’s culinary world, but it equipped her with the tools to find her way in the industry.
“It was a fast track to figuring out what I wanted to do. There are so many different food careers and culinary school gives you that perspective and teaches you about what is out there,” she told Athleisure Magazine.
For Choi, that meant establishing herself in restaurants first.
“Restaurants brought me freedom, and that’s why I think I fell in love with them,” she said in a Q&A with Rutgers University.
An Entrepreneurial Spirit
Today, Choi is known for her delicious Korean cuisine, which she attributes to her grandmother’s cooking. She operates three outlets of a successful fast-casual Korean ramen bar called mŏkbar (with an additional location forthcoming in New Jersey). She is also the chef partner at Ms. Yoo, a Korean wine bar on New York’s Lower East Side.
“I obviously really love being a chef, but I also really love the business side of things. I am actually very good at it, too,” she said to Women Across Frontiers.
Luckily, being a chef often overlaps with being a businessperson. Case in point, in addition to managing her restaurants and a busy TV schedule (not to mention mom duties after the recent birth of her son), Choi created Sessy, a THC-infused sesame oil brand, and has plans to launch her own line of packaged goods.
“I have wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was a kid,” she said.
And to think, it all started with learning the kitchen basics at ICE. Because, as Choi said in her Rutgers Q&A, “in this business, you have to pay your dues. Without basic techniques and skills, you can’t become a great chef.”
* Experience varies by student, with outcomes contingent on factors including graduate aptitude, job market, place of residence and work history, among others.
