Tony Yoo

Executive Chef, POGU, Owner and Chef, DOOREYOO (Union City)

Tony Yoo is the executive chef of POGU in Daly City, California, and the owner and chef of DOOREYOO in Seoul. In 2016, he became one of the first Korean chefs to earn a Michelin star in the very first Michelin Guide Seoul. He learned Korean cooking from his grandmother, and he still keeps her ssi-ganjang, a family soy sauce she started in the 1930s, adding new soy sauce to it every year. He trained under master cooks across Korea and spent a year living with Buddhist monks, learning temple cuisine and its philosophy of wasting nothing. A former special professor of food service at Jeonghwa Arts College, Chef Yoo has appeared on Korean television and spoke at the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025. He serves as a chef advocate for the UN World Food Programme. His cooking connects Korean tradition with local ingredients, guided by deep respect for food. (Instagram: @cheftonyyoo)