Chef Sang Yoon makes his mark with beer and burgers

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Food critics, beware. One of the hottest young chefs and entrepreneurs around also is a terror on the ice. Sang Yoon, a South Korea-born chef whose beer-and-burger joint, Father's Office, has helped launched a casual-food craze in the fine-dining industry, is a fast-skating forward in an amateur hockey league here.

During one recent game, Yoon — who briefly played goalie in college — sped across the rink and slammed his short, muscular frame into a 6-foot-5 enforcer on another team. The stunned enforcer banged hard into the boards, and Yoon got his respect.

"Sang is pretty competitive and aggressive," says Martin Sweeney, a teammate and screenwriter. "But he's also calm under fire. When there's chaos in the kitchen, you need to stay in control."

The 38-year-old Yoon isn't gun-shy, reaching the top of his competitive profession while in his 20s.

He's worked and trained in Europe and the USA with a bevy of world-class chefs, including Michael McCarty and master French chef Joel Robuchon. He's also former executive chef at Michael's in Los Angeles and has cooked for the Academy Awards Governors Ball and Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Yoon seemed to be following the career paths of other chefs who opened pricey, high-class restaurants around the world. But he shocked friends and family in 2000 when he bought a dingy former bikers' bar here and started serving craft brews and, by many accounts, the best gourmet burger in the USA.

From Europe to the USA

Yoon loved Europe's bar culture, where people drank and enjoyed small dishes all night. He imported the idea to Los Angeles, serving world-class beers and fine appetizers in casual, unpretentious setting.

"People thought I was crazy — it didn't make any sense, and that's why I decided to do it," Yoon says. "I was tired of the fine restaurant scene. I wanted a cool, comfortable place to hang out and have a beer and good food."

At first, foodies sniffed at Yoon's experiment. LA Weekly recently called Father's Office "easily the most controversial restaurant in town," either a "mecca of cuisine" or a "hop-scented mosh pit."