At This Intimate New Korean Tasting Counter in NYC, You Get Your Own Private Chef for the Night
Oiji Mi, the modern Korean restaurant in New York City’s Flatiron neighborhood, won its first Michelin star just a few months after opening. And now chef Brian Kim is taking his lauded cuisine to a new spot.
On Tuesday, the restaurant’s team opened Bōm, an intimate space offering up a mix between a chef’s counter and a Korean steakhouse. Situated behind Oiji Mi (the name is an abbreviation of “behind Oiji Mi,” and also means “spring” in Korean), the new place only has room for up to 17 guests. Two seatings will be available per night for the $325 tasting menu.
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Sitting at a counter with embedded grills, diners will be assigned to a chef who will oversee their entire experience, across 13 or more courses. That allows them to both watch the chef work and learn from him. The cooking process and ingredients will be vocalized, helping to give guests a deeper understanding of Korean fine dining.
The menu will begin with small bites and appetizers, mostly spotlighting seafood and vegetables. The opening menu includes dishes like bluefin tuna with Hudson Valley foie gras and gamtae (seaweed), and diver scallop with mung bean, finger lime and tomato water. Subsequent courses, utilizing the countertop grills, will highlight Bōm’s high-quality meats, which feature various aging periods and methods. Thirty-day dry-aged ribeye comes with Périgord truffle, celeriac and nabak kimchi (water kimchi), while A5 Miyazaki is served with oiji, chive and muchim (spicy cucumber salad).
After indulging in the beef, diners will be presented with a classic Korean hansang charim (“well-prepared table of food”), with banchan, soup and rice. Desserts from executive pastry chef Adriana Adorno will round out the experience, including perilla with Korean pear and pomelo, and apple with ssuk (mugwort), tapioca and Meyer lemon.
As part of the Oiji Mi family, Kim cooked first at Oiji, a more neighborhood-y restaurant that opened in the East Village in 2015. Launching the more elevated Oiji Mi last March was Kim’s first outing as an owner in the fine-dining space, and now he’s evolving even further with the opening of Bōm.
The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday, with seatings offered at 5:30 and 8:30 pm.
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