Eunjo Park is on a mission to get the world to respect the rice cake, the chewy Korean staple that has long been seen as the base for humble, everyday dishes. But at Kāwi, in New York City, alongside a menu of candied anchovy–stuffed kimbaps and bold, spicy raw seafood.
Though Korean food has now found a foothold in the American dining lexicon, it wasn’t always the case. “Growing up, I never thought Korean food could be anything more than home cooking.” Park was born in South Korea, and her family moved to Philadelphia when she was eleven years old. She went to the Culinary Institute of America and spent time working in prestigious French kitchens like Daniel and Per Se in New York City before being forced to take a year and a half off after a knife sliced her Achilles tendon. A friend eventually convinced her to take a job at Momofuku Ko. She then moved back to South Korea to cook at Gaon, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant owned by a friend’s parents. “It was Korean food like I’d never seen or eaten before.” Park says those two experiences changed her perception of Korean food forever. In 2019, Chang tapped her to run Kāwi, and today, the soft-spoken chef confidently helms the massive and spendy Korean-influenced restaurant, located inside one of the most ostentatious malls in the world, Hudson Yards.
Park, who everyone calls Jo, is determined to use her position to shift people’s perception of Korean food, just as it was shifted for her. Like Chang, she embraces gonzo Korean cooking, fearlessly breaking with tradition to embrace flavor.
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