Susan Choi - Mr. Susan Bar

What happens when you grow up in Germany, move to LA to a Mexican
neighborhood at the age of six together with your Korean parents
then replace California with NYC and finally end up in Berlin with
a Dutch husband? You love schnitzel, traditional German food and
traditions like Sunday afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and
cake); your mother’s Korean cooking becomes a safe home inside
yourself, a culinary bond to your roots; you develop a weak spot
for Mexican ice cream, and adapt to the culinary playfulness that
Americans master to perfection so easily. This is the culinary map
of Susan Choi, the owner of Berlin’s acclaimed Mr. Susan bar. Susan
embraces, no she celebrates all the colors and shapes, the flavors
and textures, the stories and people that this map keeps bringing
into her life. She dove deep into each of these cultures, they
became a part of who she is today. She welcomes them with respect,
curiosity, and infinite excitement and she finds in them endless
inspiration to feed her mantra: Life’s a feast! Susan is one of the
most positive and energetic people I know. The obstacles in her
life were tough, from brutal racism to having to learn to
assimilate to a new culture over and over again yet she never let
go of staying true to herself. She always knew, even at a very
young age, that she either learns to stand her ground or lose the
battle and drown. The headwind made her stronger, she’s a tough
woman but she managed to keep her soft side. And this combination
makes her so lovable, so irresistible, and charming. Her New York
life was quite glamorous. Working as a consultant, being a regular
in the city’s spectacular restaurants, she developed an even deeper
fascination for food in general but also for the people who create
it. She learned about the magic of a place, thriving from the
dishes, the guests, the location, the interior, and first and
foremost, she learned that you lose everything without keeping
quality on a constant high level. When you visit Mr. Susan bar
today, you can see that she soaked up every detail during her
journey. Susan truly understands what makes or breaks a bar, or a
restaurant. Be it her food or her drinks, there’s always something
unique and thrilling in Susan’s compositions. Visually and in
taste. Germany’s culinary traditions left a deep mark in her
memory. The food, the rituals, the smells, and taste, she finds
home in them and they paved her move to Berlin. During one of her
first nights in the city, she sat on a swing over the Spree river
sipping an Aperol Spritz on a warm summer’s eve and she knew, this
is my home. Catering pop-ups and events quickly opened the door to
another new city. Berlin welcomed this vivid woman with open arms,
thankful for the excitement she brought to the Berliners’
palates.  The recipe Susan shared with me is her playful
version of a Korean inspired Mexican drink: Kimchi Michelada! You
can find all the blog posts about the Meet in My Kitchen podcast
episodes including my guests' recipes on meikepeters.com under
'Meet in Your Kitchen'. INSTAGRAM:
https://www.instagram.com/meetinmykitchenpodcast/ GUEST:
https://www.mrsusan.com/ RECIPE:
https://www.meikepeters.com/meet-in-your-kitchen-mr-susans-kimchi-michelada
MUSIC: Martin Stumpf FRÜHSCHOPPEN SPONSOR: Ferrari Trento SOUND
MIX: Kraatz Studios https://kraatzstudios.com/ MEIKE PETERS:
Newsletter: https://www.meikepeters.com/subscribe-2/ Blog:
https://www.meikepeters.com/ Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/eatinmykitchen/ and
https://www.instagram.com/meetinmykitchenpodcast/ Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/eatinmykitchen/ Cookbooks:
https://www.meikepeters.com/cookbooks/