LOS ANGELES — It’s early on a Saturday evening, and Jason Ha is busy. He ducks into his restaurant, Zip Fusion, in the increasingly hip downtown Arts District, and is satisfied that every stool is occupied with customers eating sushi with a Korean spin. Then he dashes two doors down to oversee the finishing touches he’s putting on his newest concept, East Third, Los Angeles’ first Korean-flavored steakhouse, which presents inventive variations on galbi (beef spare ribs) and samgyeopsal (pork belly). In between, he calls his wife, Angela, to check on when she’s arriving with his parents. Since they sold their restaurants back home, his folks have been splitting their time between California and Korea. While he waits, the 37-year-old entrepreneur checks on the kitchen, stops to chat with friends, then bounces back up the street like a kid with a new toy.

 

 

You started off in fashion and you were quite successful. What made you give it up for the crazy world of restaurants?

I was always fascinated by food. My mom, Ok Chun, is a phenomenal cook. My dad, who was called Kawano Saburo as a boy, worked in restaurants, so I grew up in an eating environment.

The interior of Jason Ha’s latest restaurant, East Third steakhouse and lounge.

Isn’t Kawano Saburo a Japanese name?

It is. Dad was raised on a horse farm in Hokkaido, Japan, and his father made a show of honoring their “Japanese heritage.” During the last days of World War II, when my grandfather was dying, he told my father a family secret. In 1920, during the Japanese occupation of Korea, the authorities were sending off women to service the soldiers, and Japan needed laborers to replace their fighting men. To survive, they volunteered to work in Japan, hoping that they could soon return home. But years passed, and Japan slipped into World War II, so Grandfather kept silent. Now he asked my father to fulfill his dream of returning to Korea.

That must have been a shock.

Yes, my father (whose Korean name is Yoo Ha) was 15 years old when he became the head of the family, and they sailed for home. My grandmother passed away shortly after they arrived. Times were hard. The government did what it could to help, but the country was ravaged.

How did they survive?

They landed in Cheongmu, a port town famous for its fresh seafood. Dad found a job in a restaurant that was owned by a prominent family who had only one child, a daughter. Two other men were competing for her, but my dad won out. Her parents were pleased because, despite his dire circumstances, he was bright and ambitious, and they saw in him the son they never had. My parents also wanted a son, but by the time I was born, they had already produced four daughters. Mom thought I should have a playmate, but he turned out to be my sister Min.

What got you to America?