Roll + Roll: A Love Letter to Korean Street Food in Jersey City

With eating places offering increasing customizability and on the web ordering, a broad variety of cultural delicacies are made available to a larger sized inhabitants than at any time right before. Then, it stands to motive that 1 these cafe, Roll + Roll in Jersey Town, could stand out earlier mentioned the relaxation, presenting very little short of a enjoy letter to Korean road food stuff and the means to make one’s buy to their own tastes. The end result? Magic. Go through to master a lot more about Roll + Roll found at 512 Jersey Avenue in Jersey City.

The Tale

Photo credit history: @rollrolljc

Roll + Roll was hardly proprietor Jeoung K. Park’s initial foray into the cafe business enterprise. Soon after attending college or university in Seoul, Korea, Park moved to the United States. Park achieved her partner and commenced a household, having two little ones, all whilst building a career and lifestyle for herself – a commendable feat. 

At age 29, Park commenced controlling Semonemo, a West Village restaurant, all the whilst dreaming of proudly owning her personal place. Minor did Park know, she’d inevitably have a few. 

“[I’m] passionate about [my] corporations,” explained Park, “working 16 hrs a day each individual day to serve reliable Korean foodstuff.”

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Photograph credit score: @rollrolljc

Prior to opening Roll + Roll, Park had by now opened two Korean dining places. The very first, Seoulites, serving property-style Korean food stuff in Berkeley Heights, and the 2nd, Ahri’s Kitchen, which serves up Korean comfort and ease food items in Jersey Town. But however, her trifecta of Korean restaurants could not be full without having an homage to 1 of Park’s favorites: street foods.

“Jersey City is a pretty walkable metropolis,” claimed Park, “and [I] desired to offer Korean food which a passerby could select up while on a stroll, or cease by for a quick chunk to take in.”

Situated on Jersey Avenue between Christopher Columbus Push and Wayne Street, Roll + Roll opened for small business in November 2020. 

The Menu

Photograph credit: @rollrolljc

Seeking to carry her love of the Korean avenue food stuff of her youth, Park set about generating a menu that would attribute the pretty cuisine that outlined so a great deal of her childhood.

“Roll + Roll is exemplary for its simplicity and effectiveness,” claimed Park. “Roll + Roll also makes it possible for patrons to customise their buy in the scenario of dishes like Cup Bap, or rice bowls.”

The eatery provides two styles of Korean street foods staples. The very first, Kimbap, is a roll made with steamed rice, dried seaweed, alternative of meat or fish, and vegetables. A great on-the-go foodstuff, Kimbap correctly in shape Park’s picture of a avenue meals perfect for Jersey City.

Photo credit: @rollrolljc

The other avenue food mainstay is the Cup Bap, a absolutely customizable rice bowl with meat, two sides such as shrimp tempura or vegetable dumplings, and a sauce this kind of as spicy mayo or eel sauce. The end result is an unquestionably tasty and comforting, nevertheless transportable road foods.

Patrons can assume a fantastic quite a few regular Korean road foodstuff and culinary delights, but Park is often wanting to branch out beyond the regular fare. 

“While customers can rely on restaurant staples this sort of as rice rolls,” mentioned Park, “dumplings, shumai, and Cup-Bap to often be readily available, [I] seem ahead to growing [my] menu to include other forms of road food items in the potential.” 

The Pandemic

Picture credit: @rollrolljc

By the time Park signed the papers for Roll & Roll’s place in September 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was previously effectively underway. A tricky time to open a restaurant, certainly, but Park knew what she was getting herself into, and she considered in her vision. 

“At the time,” said Park, “[I] recognized that there would be problems to commencing a new business for the duration of an financial economic downturn, but [I] regarded a demand from customers for Korean road food items in Jersey Metropolis, so [I] made a decision to consider the likelihood.”

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Wanting to hold issues simple and manageable, Park has a modest employees of around six element-time workforce and opens her company from 11:30AM. to 8PM, Mondays by means of Saturdays.

Upon opening in November 2020, Park begun taking Grubhub orders as nicely as developing her possess online purchasing program by way of Roll + Roll’s web page. 

Image credit rating: @rollrolljc

In January, Park partnered with Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, a non-financial gain firm providing surplus restaurant foods to food-insecure households.

“Despite some challenges,” mentioned Park, “[I’m] optimistic and believe that [my] business enterprise has excellent advancement potential.”

Stick to Roll + Roll on Instagram for updates and foods inspo.

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