From the time he was 19 years old, Joon Chang has been steadily climbing the culinary ladder — from grinding through kitchens and culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu to working under Michelin-starred chefs. Embracing hard work early on, he recalls skipping lunch breaks to perfect the art of rolling sushi.
His ultimate dream? To open a fine dining restaurant in Arizona, where he now calls home. But every great success story has a detour — and for Chang, that detour is FishPop.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Chang was living in Los Angeles, where he’d spent nearly two decades after moving from Korea. With the city’s fine dining scene devastated by lockdowns and restrictions, securing or keeping a position in a high-end kitchen became nearly impossible. So he pivoted…