Deuki Hong, the 25-year-old chef at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong in K-Town says he’s been “starstruck” by some of the people who have come into the Korean barbecue restaurant since it opened in December.
It’s not that the meaty spot has been inundated with actors, musicians or pro athletes — though, of course, ubiquitous celeb Questlove has been in.
Rather, it’s serious chefs who are flocking to the place: David Chang, Anthony Bourdain, Dominique Ansel, Rich Torrisi of Carbone and Santina, Mission Chinese’s Danny Bowien, numerous “Top Chef” contestants and many more noted toques have all been into the restaurant in recent months.
“These are chefs…that [I] idolize,” says Hong, a New Jersey native who has worked at Momofuku Noodle Bar and Jean-Georges.
Chang, Hong’s one-time boss, has been into the restaurant several times and counseled him on his career.
“The last thing he said was ‘stop being a pussy,’” Hong laughs.
But the most exciting customer for him was Corey Lee, the James-Beard-Award-winning San Francisco chef who headed the kitchen at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry before opening his own three-Michelin-star spot, Benu.
“We pretended we didn’t know who he was, until the end of the meal,” recalls Hong. “Then I was like, ‘sign my [copy of his cook] book,’ totally fan-boying him.”
While Koreatown’s late-night fare has long been popular with food industry folk working long hours, Baekjeong — which is open until 6 a.m. on the weekends and 2 a.m. the rest of the week — is distinguishing itself from its 32nd Street neighbors. (Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong has four locations throughout the US, including one in Flushing, Queens, but all operate independently with unique menus.)
His chef-y customers agree.
“The stuff that they do is at a higher level,” says Leah Cohen, owner of Pig & Khao, who has been to Baekjeong several times and hosted a party for her staff there.
“The flavors are cleaner,” raves Hung Huynh, winner of “Top Chef” Season 3. “They use good meat.”
It’s not that Hong is reinventing the grill. He offers some uncommon cuts of meat, like pork jowl, and nontraditional touches — like wasabi in the dipping sauce — but, for the most part, he’s just improving upon Korean barbecue by using premium ingredients and classical technique.
Chef-TV personality Eddie Huang puts it more eloquently.
“[Hong’s] just making it better,” says Huang. “There’s no stupid chef ingredients or reaches for your attention; it’s just standard Korean barbecue. It’s a rarity. [Usually] either you have a guy who’s just treating it as his job and clocks in/clocks out or you have a chef masturbating on a plate. Here you have a guy with the ability and energy to masturbate on a plate but instead [he] just funnels it into executing an old Korean barbecue menu to the best of his ability.”
Aside from improving the food itself, Hong strived to make the overall customer experience better — though waits for a table are typically over an hour, even on a weeknight.
The staff is young and energetic, and servers are trained for weeks to learn to cook the meat perfectly.
It’s something award-winning pastry chef Ansel, who has been into the restaurant several times, has noticed.
“There’s creativity behind the way the food is presented and a focus on the customer service and experience,” says Ansel, whose favorite dishes include marinated short ribs and a shaken rice-egg-kimchee dish called the Lunchbox. “Eating [there] is really a complete experience.”
It’s that experience that Hong first mentions when asked about what differentiates his barbecue.
“Most of our staff is very young, we’re not like Korean old ladies,” he says. “We want it to be fun.”