How an NYU Stern alum bought a booth at the Union Square Holiday Market

If you’ve seen New Yorkers walking around Union Square with coffee cups decorated with Korean finger hearts, you may not realize that they’re infused with beef bone broth.

These innovative drinks are created by NYU graduate Edlyn Choi, who recently found a space at the Union Square Holiday Market for her bone broth company. Recovery Products. The company, formerly known as Heart & Seoul Food Co., strives to honor Choi’s Korean heritage while reducing food waste.

“The Foods ad is an attempt to bring back the cultural wisdom of using the whole animal,” Choi told WSN. “In this way, we regain health, joy and creative freedom in the kitchen.”

In addition to Reclamation Foods’ Matcha Turmeric Bone Broth Latte, the Choi’s Holiday Market booth is offering a holiday exclusive, Tis the Season, a salted honey peppermint hot chocolate infused with beef bone broth. While it may be an unconventional addition, the broth adds richness to the drink, balancing out the sweetness of the honey and chocolate. Choi’s Holiday Market stall also serves sweet potato brulee with a caramelized texture that melts in your mouth.

After Choi graduated from New York University in 2010, he began working for a corporation but remained interested in a career in the food industry. Nine years later, he left his job in technology to begin an internship at a regenerative farm in Georgia, where he was inspired to use every part of the animal.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, about 30% weight of pigs and more than 40% of the weight of cattle is considered inedible and is often discarded. When Choi founded his company in 2023, he sought to challenge both these production practices and the cultural taboos associated with consuming non-traditional cuts of meat.

Choi initially started by renting out space in a commercial, licensed kitchen and working 16 to 20 hours a day making bone broths for farmers markets and temporary events. Since broths are unseasoned, they can replace anything that requires water. Choi uses it to cook rice and thicken pasta sauce, but says it can even be added to smoothies.

Although Reclamation Foods is still in the early stages of its development, the company has gained momentum over the past year – winning an award at the 2024 Good Food Awards and being a finalist in the 2024 Shelfies Awards, both of which highlight growing brands. This year, Choi also began developing a shelf-stable broth for online ordersusing animal parts from local farmers to promote a more sustainable food system. Moving forward, Choi hopes to open a brick-and-mortar location—a bone broth bar.

“I was made fun of as a kid for being Korean, so that’s definitely a formative memory and maybe part of why I do this personally,” Choi said. “The overarching theme of Restoration is also partly about reclaiming my pride in my heritage.”

Contact Yasmine Minos by phone (email protected).