The M.O. on BCD

(Flickr pic by Operadork.)

The L.A. Times weighed in this week on one of our favorite 24-hour eateries, BCD Tofu. We've hit the Wilshire location (yeah, the one recently hit with health code violations, but whatever) several times through the years.

Turns out there's a pretty big success story behind the rise of BCD. Owner Hee-sook Lee opened BCD in Koreatown (on Vermont) more than a decade ago, and now has 13 locations -- including several overseas. The paper writes:

With a "secret recipe" for the common Korean dish and an entrepreneurial side that family and friends had never seen in her, Lee within a few short years was exporting her brand of tofu stew to South Korea, building a small empire that has spawned numerous imitators.

Today, tourists from South Korea arrive by the busload at BCD Tofu House and snap photos. Visiting dignitaries, sports stars and actors frequently dine at the restaurant. Even though the restaurant is open around the clock, there is almost always a wait.

Since the Vermont Avenue restaurant opened in 1996, Lee has expanded it into a transpacific chain with more than a dozen branches in Los Angeles, Seattle, Tokyo and Seoul. And she is far from being done.

"It's not important whether there are 10 or 100 branches," Lee said, speaking in Korean. "I consider myself a diplomat of sorts, making Korean food known to the world."

The success of Lee's restaurants has catapulted the immaculately dressed 48-year-old chief executive into minor celebrity status in South Korea. People recognize her from numerous media reports and approach her on the streets of Seoul. The South Korean government invited her to speak at a convention for overseas Korean business owners. In 2006, the tale of her success was reenacted in a 12-part radio mini-series broadcast in South Korea.

According to the paper, BCD brings in $19 million annually and employs more than 300 people.