Comes Great Responsibility

If you take a cross-country 1）trek looking for the best barbecue in America and wind up in， I don’t know， Texas， North Carolina， Kansas City， our next contributor would say， you’ve taken a wrong turn. Consider Los Angeles—specifically Koreatown—where he thinks 2）Bulgogi Beef might just be the best. “But，” says Miles Bryan，“customers first need to know how to order.”

Miles Bryan： So I’m new to Los Angeles， and there are a lot of things that I still don’t get about the city. But something that’s really caught my attention is the shiny plastic button you find on the tables of practically every Korean barbecue joint around here. That called for some 3）field

research.

David Chang： So， when I press a bell， there’s a table number two， and number two will show up right there.

Bryan： David Chang is a waiter at 4）Park’s BBQ in Koreatown. They’ve been around for over 10 years and are a 5）mainstay in the neighborhood. Chang says those buttons are basically just a 6）paging system. You ding it to get your server’s attention. Sounds simple but...

Chang： No， a lot of people ask—they’re， like，“What does this do？” Or sometimes they press it， and I go there and they’re， like， “Oh， I didn’t know that was what it was for.” I was， like， “Oh， so you just pressed it？”

Bryan： They might have been tourists because the 7）Angelenos I talked to said these call buttons are just part of eating Korean barbecue. Still， nobody seemed to know where they came from or why they’re so popular. So I called David Kang， head of the Korean Studies Institute at 8）USC. I figured they must be a Korean thing—turns out， not really.

David Kang： These call buttons are relatively new. In Korea， it is still common that when you want something， you just yell “9）yogigo”， or “here”， “over here” and you wave your arm， right？ And then they come running over， and they’re， like， “what do you want？”

Bryan： Kang says these buttons are more of a phenomenon in Koreatown than in Korea. They only started showing up in the last few decades when nonKoreans started to venture into K-town restaurants. Kang says that they’re a way to bridge the gap between American and Korean dining cultures.

Kang： The American internal logic is your waiter comes over， they introduce themselves， they’re friendly， they keep checking up on you. The Korean logic is， you’re there to eat， and you—they don’t bother you until you call them over.

Jake Ayers： We’ll do the 10）Gal

bi ribs， and we’ll also probably get some 11）pork belly...

Bryan： Jake Ayers is a tourist. He’s down from Seattle. He hadn’t even noticed the call button on his table， but when I told him how it worked， he thought it was a good idea.

Ayers： I think it makes sense. Yeah. If you need to get someone’s attention， and you don’t necessarily want to flag them down like this， then， you know， you could be a little bit more elegant and just push a button.

Bryan： Ayers gave the call button a try for the first time during that meal， then he tried it again...

Ayers： I think I might just do it one more time while you’re here. Let’s see what happens.

Bryan： Maybe not. David Chang， the waiter at Park’s BBQ， has this advice for K-town 12）newbies. Definitely hit the call button when you need something， but then just wait. Don’t hit it again.

如果你橫跨全國、艱難跋涉地去尋求美國最好的烤肉，會在哪里找到呢，我不知道，德克薩斯州，或是北卡羅來納州，又或是堪薩斯城，我們的下一個知情人會說，你又白跑了一趟。想想洛杉磯——特別是韓國城——他認為那里的韓國烤牛肉也許才是最好的?！暗?，”邁爾斯·布萊恩說道，“顧客們首先需要知道怎么點餐?！边~爾斯·布萊恩： 因為我初到洛杉磯，對于這座城市，我還是有很多東西并不了解。但如果真的有什么東西吸引了我的注意力，那便是你可以在這里幾乎每家韓國烤肉店的桌子上發現的锃亮的塑料按鈕。那需要我們去實地調查一番。大衛·張：是這樣，當我按鈴的時候，那兒會顯示一個二號桌，而二號桌的信號就會在那里出現。

布萊恩：大衛·張是韓國城里樸記烤肉店的服務生。這家店已經開了十多年了，也是這個地方的臺柱子。張說那些按鈕從根本上來說只是一個傳呼系統。你“叮”地一下摁下它是為了引起服務生的注意。聽起來很簡單但是……

張：也不是，很多人都會問——他們會問像“這個東西是干嘛用的”之類的問題?；蛘哂袝r候他們會摁下按鈕，而我走過去，他們則會這樣說，“哦，我不知道那個按鈕是干嘛的?！蔽覄t會這樣回應，“哦，所以你只是摁了它？”

布萊恩：他們可能是游客，因為與我交談過的洛杉磯當地人都說那些呼叫按鈕只不過是吃韓國烤肉的一部分。盡管如此，似乎沒人知道那些按鈕的來歷又或是它們為何如此受歡迎。因此我電話聯系了大衛·康，他是南加州大學韓國研究所的負責人。