Matthew Kang

This week I sit down with the one and only Matthew Kang, Eater correspondent, host of K-Town, and the man behind Kangtown, the must-read newsletter for anyone who eats on the West Coast. Matthew has built an entire career out of dining out, and now he’s doing it with a two kids in tow. He shares his Five Rules for Balancing Dad Life and Dining Out, from taking your kids to restaurants as early as possible, to creating your family’s own dining culture, to why there’s absolutely no shame in having an exit strategy — go-home bag and all. Whether you’re a parent trying to keep your restaurant life alive or just someone who believes the table is where family happens, this one’s for you.This conversation hit especially close to home for me. Like Matthew, I grew up understanding that so much of life happens around the table, and it’s a tradition my wife and I have carried on with our own two kids. Watching our kids learn to order off a menu, talk about what they’re eating, and become regulars at our neighborhood spots — that’s the good stuff. Those are the core memories Matthew talks about, the ones that don’t just stay with you but define who you are. Here’s to early reservations, supporting the restaurants we love, and raising the next generation of great diners.IntroductionHello and welcome to Five Rules for the Good Life. I’m your host, Darin Bresnitz. Today, I’m joined by professional eater Matthew Kang, who is a correspondent for Eater and whose newsletter, Kang Town, is a must-read for anyone who wants to know where to eat in Los Angeles. He’s here to share his five rules for balancing dad life and dining out.We talk about the importance of dining out with your kids as young as possible, how to create your family’s own dining culture, and how there’s no shame in having an exit strategy for any meal out. It’s a great conversation for those who have young children or kids at all and who want to keep going out, eating at restaurants, and supporting the culinary community. So let’s get into the rules.Life as a Professional DinerMatthew, so good to see you. It’s nice to be sitting down with you for a chat instead of making small talk at one of LA’s numerous culinary events. Appreciate you making the time.Yeah, thanks for having me.You have made a career out of dining out. What do you remember about those early days when your only responsibility was going to restaurants?I had no limit. The goal was to go to as many restaurants as possible. And it was this game. Could I do two dinners? Could I do three dinners? How many meals could I do in an entire week? Now I’m constrained by age and family and responsibilities and just health. When the doctor goes, “I can’t believe the number I’m seeing for cholesterol for the fifth time,” you go, all right, I promise more than just the fish oil. I try to cut out the not good stuff as much as possible.Being a professional diner is obviously something that you love personally. When you had your first kid, do you remember some of the warnings that people gave you about dining out that just never proved out to be true?I feel like a lot of people that I know, a lot of parents, they just gave up. They were like, don’t even try. It’s too much work. For me, when I started out, I was trying to figure out how do I maximize my enjoyment and also manage the tolerance of everyone. My wife, the baby, other diners.Of course.It’s just such a game to consider everyone’s well-being. As you get more reps, we live to go and enjoy each other’s company, and I feel like that really works so well in a restaurant setting.Absolutely.Everything’s so digital, everything’s so virtual. If I can teach my family and my kids — we sit down here, we’re going to talk about the food, we’re going to talk about this restaurant, we’re going to talk about your day and how you’re doing — that is so grounding, the routine of a restaurant. Even if it’s a new restaurant, the act of sitting down, ordering from a menu, all that action really helps your family become a family. It decides what kind of unit it wants to be. And that’s how it was for me growing up. My family went to a lot of restaurants. My dad was a businessman and went to fancy places, steakhouses. I think it was really helpful for me. It really defined our family.Being able to get out there and actively practice in being a dad, having your kids out to eat is really the only way that you can learn how to find this way. Eating at restaurants, whether they be the fancy steakhouse or the local taco j