HOT OFF THE PASS
Tradition and heritage as well as modern innovation drive Junghyun Park’s dynamic take on contemporary Korean cuisine in NYC
Tradition and heritage as well as modern innovation drive Junghyun Park’s Korean cuisine in NYC
When Junghyun and Ellia Park’s tiny, not yet two-year-old New York Korean Atomix won its second Michelin star in October, it joined an elite group of just six Korean restaurants outside Korea to hold Michelin stars (only Jungsik in New York equals Atomix’s two). Atomix and its casual older sibling, three-year-old Atoboy, are held up as lodestars of a ‘new Korean cuisine’. Chef Junghyun (aka JP) is leery of such definitions. “We don’t think of our restaurants as representative of Korean food or of well-known Korean cuisine or dishes,” he says. “But I do hope that my restaurants are spaces where guests, especially those who are not familiar with Korean dining culture, can begin to get comfortable with it.”
In his effusive three-star review, The New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells describes 14-cover Atomix as a restaurant “overflowing with ideas”. Here he’s referring not just to the 10-course ($205) deep dive
into Junghyun’s cuisine but also the interiors, the graphics, the ceramics, the uniforms, the aspects that bring contemporary Korea to New York. Concrete-clad Atoboy takes a more casual tack at $46 for three courses of banchan (side dishes) that with bap (rice) are the foundations of Korean cuisine. Junghyun wants to communicate “the outstanding diversity of Korean food, the endless combinations achievable by the harmony of banchan and bap”.
Junghyun grew up in Seoul watching his mother cook, helping out by pan-frying jeon (pancakes) and making ramen. He has happy memories of visiting hwe (Korean sashimi) restaurants and conveyor-belt sushi joints, but it wasn’t until he worked abroad after culinary school that he came to see his background as a strength. “While I was working in Australia, surrounded by talented peers, I began to consider what my strengths were that were different or unique. In foreign kitchens, I could work with passion, dedication and skill, and rise to sous chef or manager, but my peers had deeper roots in the tradition, in food memories, in references and culture. I realised that my strength was my own tradition, memories and culture.”
After working in London at The Ledbury (his first full-time kitchen job) then in Melbourne, he returned to Seoul for two years to be chef de cuisine at Jungsik before spending three years in the role at its New York outpost. By this point, the idea for Atomix was taking shape but Atoboy – more accessible, less risky – came first. Now, at ambitious Atomix, Junghyun and his restaurant manager wife Ellia can push their vision even harder.
“We approach fine dining as an art rather than just a meal,” he explains. “I always felt wistful that it was such a one-time experience. Compared to other art forms such as painting or music, it is ephemeral. It’s hard to retain the food memories that we would like to keep with us.” One way he and Ellia encourage such memories is with their collectable ‘flash card’ menus, designed to be keepsakes. Junghyun explains: “Someone may want to remember a specific herb that they had never tasted before, another may want to remember the inspiration or story behind a dish. Personally, I love to hear about the process of a dish coming to life, so we also tried to input storytelling aspects to each dish.” Guests also get to choose their own chopsticks from Junghyun and Ellia’s collection of vintage and handmade Korean chopsticks, many of which are one-offs.
Junghyun’s food has been described as a “luxurious interpretation of Korean royal court cuisine”. It looks modern, minimalist, but the techniques go back centuries.
“Balance is a key component in my cooking and one of my favourite Korean techniques to use is fermentation. We’re always experimenting with how to utilise it to achieve balance outside of the very stimulating flavours that fermentation is often known for. One dish that we featured at Atomix was inspired by cheonggukjang, which utilises fermented unmashed soya beans. The scent of cheonggukjang is often described even by native Koreans as pungent, due to its fermentation process. At the same time, many crave it for its deep umami funk. My dish, instead of using soya beans, uses chickpeas to elevate the sweetness while providing a lighter alternative to the more commonly used soya bean, allowing the depth to remain with the subtle yet present aromas of the cheonggukjang.”
Junghyun describes new Korean cuisine as a “process”. It is developing as he and his peers explore different regional ingredients and traditions. He and Ellia travel widely and you’ll often see his beaming smile and latest hair colour (sometimes copper, sometimes peroxide or blue) cropping up at pop-ups across the globe, such as at Lyle’s Guest Series in London and at The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa. For the moment, he has no plans to leave New York. “Being in New York, as compared to Korea, allows me to travel more freely to different cities and countries, such as those in Europe.
In the same way, I’m able to grow with my international peers.” Clearly Junghyun is a chef of great ambition. He may have already won two stars but it’s hard to see him leaving it at that. atomixnyc.com