Korean cuisine

Our recent (wonderful) meal at Naro got me to thinking about the rise of Korean fine dining in US (or at least in NY).
Up till 10-15 years ago my Korean experience was limited to the (fun) diner type places in Koreatown (scallion pancakes and spicy monkfish stew were my go-tos) or the table grill places.
But now it seems like Korean is exploding at high end places. I think in NY Michelin stars the Korean places challenge French and Japanese. Joomak Banjum, Jungsik, Atomix, Cote, Jeju, Mari, Kochi, Jua, Oiji Mi, Bom. Some traditonal, some fusion. And of course the Korean/Japanese places like the Momofuko empire.
And of course lots of Korean more casual places (and food trucks).
And then there's the rise of HMart.
I noticed in a recent NYT 25 most popular recipes multiple things with gochujang or gachugaru,
I confess, I love it. I'm curious if folks in other parts of the country has seen this swell of Korean cuisine.

(edited to correct where I posted dinner instead of diner)

[David M. Bueker]

Haven't seen it around me yet, but I would welcome it!

I love it. I'm curious if folks in other parts of the country has seen this swell of Korean cuisine.

High-end/modern Korean is obviously going gangbusters in Nyc for many years now, I think similar things in Los Angeles. And it's only getting more creative with different variants and inspiration. Would be curious to learn about that diffusion, as it was probably less about a rise in immigrants and more about specific chefs getting success.

[Jenise]

Agree with Rahsaan about certain chefs creating the interest. Also, hasn't hurt at all that the influential NYT put at least one Korean chef on staff.

My impression is that most of the interest is coming out of New York, though Los Angeles has always had a good sized K-town (complete with official city-provided signage) where many Korean restaurants thrived. There was also a tiny Korean neighborhood in Orange County where I lived but we never went there. It took the L.A. Times' Jonathan Gold to come along and rave about a few to get non-Koreans interested, especially since many were in strip malls in sketchy parts of town that affluent white suburbia avoided. Where I live the closest Korean restaurant is 50 miles away and we've been there twice. Before it opened, the last Korean restaurant I visited was in London around 1999. I'm very interested but local opportunities are very, very sparse.

I was travelling in Alaska in 2017, and got the impression there's a significant Korean-American presence in that state. Could be a skewed impression, but that's how it seemed at the time. We ate at Korean-owned restaurants in Nome and Barrow. The food was good but I wouldn't say it was genuine Korean cuisine - more like the sort of westernised pan-Asian food you see all over the world.

[Robin Garr]

We've definitely got it here in Louisville. In fact, local chef Edward Lee (610 Magnolia, Milkwood (closed after the pandemic) and most recently the full-Korean Nami) is one of those national figures, I think. He's good, AND he does a lot of self-promotion.

Independent of that, we've also got a couple of dozen Korean places ranging from fairly upscale dining rooms to fire-on-the-table spots, neighborhood joints, and a couple of food trucks, Korean coffee shops, Korean groceries and Korean-owned all-Asian groceries. A few have been around since the '70s, but most since 2000. I just assumed it was the same in most cities, but maybe not?

[Jenise]

Robin, Edward Lee, from what I can tell from afar, is just one great guy. Loves Bourbon, loves Kentucky, and is out and proud about being Korean in a way he wasn't in his younger years. His stint on Top Chef seemed to help with that a lot. I'd think he'd be a magnet for other Korean chefs. If I ever got to Lousville I'd want to eat in one of his restaurants for sure.

Seattle probably has some K restos, and though there are many, MANY successful Asian places I can't name on that's Korean. I'm sure they're here, but they're not talked about so much where Vietnamese is very hot.