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Two former colleagues who shared a love for Korean food launched a pop up fusion taco stand along the Asbury Park boardwalk five years ago.

Today that pop up summer business has grown into a year round eatery and will be expanding further by the launch of the 2017 summer season.

Asbury Park resident Jason Devino was an accountant who shared an office with North Jersey transplant and engineer Sam Chung at a Lake Como based firm. They soon set out to share homemade Korean marinated meats, fish and tofu recipes with the public.

“When I moved here eight years ago I had no intention of opening up a restaurant,” Chung said “Our unifying connection was Korean food. We would talk about how we missed those flavors down here. We opened up in 2012 with just an idea of spreading Korean flavors to the local public.”

MOGO, the Korean translation for EAT, quickly took hold. By the end of their second summer on the boardwalk Devino and Chung were making plans to open the Cookman Avenue restaurant. They opened the downtown venue at the end of December 2013 with an expanded menu that features burritos, rice bowls, salads, Korean fried chicken, and a Korean fusion take on the traditional burger and cheese steak.

“I can still remember the first weekend we opened the doors,” Chung said. “There was a line waiting for us. We just really picked a great location for innovative cuisine and obviously the city has grown and a lot has changed.”

The duo continue to meet that growth and, for that matter, the larger Jersey Shore area’s trend. This summer MOGO will take over Manasquan’s only boardwalk food truck lease. In the off season, the food truck will be available for private rentals and will most likely be featured at various festivals and community events.  

“We are still learning everyday and trying to prove ourselves every day,” Chung said.

And while much of their business model was done via trial by fire, the once hospitality industry novices have fostered a formula that they will now share through the region’s first full service hub for the ever popular food truck culture.

The curated collective will give mobile food entrepreneurs an opportunity to grow and expand their businesses in Asbury Park, Chung said. Members will benefit will from 24/7 access to an FDA registered facility, secure on ­premise parking, prep kitchen access, refrigerated and dry storage, waste removal and recycling, fresh water fill and waste water discharge, warewashing, a vendor delivery address, and workspace.

“We intend to provide food entrepreneurs with the same critical resources that we’ve been chasing since our inception,” Devino said. “The food business is hard [trust us we know] but just like preparing any other recipe, having the right ingredients on hand makes it a whole lot easier.”

The Asbury Park Food Collective [APFC] will be located at 906 Sewall Ave, the former Trinity Seafood distribution warehouse. The commissary features 5,000 square feet of refrigerated and dry storage, 1,000 square feet of shared office space, and and 25,000 square feet of parking.

“We don’t have all the answers but together we can create a community that does,” Chung said.

Monthly membership plans will offer varying tiers of services catered to the changing needs of businesses as they evolve through the different stages of their life cycle. Currently MOGO, The SandBox and Freezy Freeze food trucks from Madison Marquette’s North Eats food court will be based at the new facility.

To learn more about the Asbury Park Food Collective, click here.

To learn more about MOGO, visit their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

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The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

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