At GIUK, opening October 27 in Flatiron, Korean comfort food meets the American dining habits of its founders. Lunch will bring bibimbap and soft-tofu stew; dinner ventures into shiitake pasta with optional sea urchin and short ribs over burdock risotto. Owner Matae Lee and executive chef Austin Changki Jo named the restaurant for 기억, the Korean word for “memory.”
At lunch, Jo will serve customizable bibimbap with white or purple rice, vegetables, egg and a choice of proteins and sauces, along with spicy soondubu stew made with soft tofu, vegetables and seafood or beef. Korean banchan will accompany the lunch dishes.
Dinner moves in a more playful direction, with shareable plates such as corn ribs with citrus-wasabi-perilla mayo, doenjang shiitake pasta with optional sea urchin, charred octopus with gochujang romesco, and slow-braised galbijim with burdock risotto. Jo has more than a decade of restaurant experience, beginning in his family’s Korean restaurant in Nashville.
Behind the bar, beverage director Eunah “Chloe” Jeong is developing cocktails that draw on Korean ingredients. The Dirty Bong Bong combines rum with Korean grape juice, coconut jelly and mint, while the Sujeonggwa reworks an Old Fashioned with date, ginger and cinnamon.
Designer Claire Soojin Kim has given the 1,500-square-foot restaurant a warm palette of light oak, with deep-blue and gold wallpaper by artist Aerosyn-Lex Meštrović.
GIUK plans to serve lunch and dinner, with reservations through Resy. For more information, visit giuknyc.com.
