Jungsik, the highly-acclaimed, two-starred Michelin restaurant that was first to introduce New Korean cuisine in Tribeca, New York City, has announced its new signature menu. Executive Chef Suyoung Park, winner of the 2021 Michelin Guide Blancpain New York Young Chef Award has curated an updated menu to put her own spin on the banchan and seasonal dishes.
The restaurant has not strayed from its format and highlights a seven-course signature menu with optional wine pairing or premium wine pairing. The signature menu, which has consistently seen small variations in both presentation and flavor profiles since the restaurant’s opening, begins with an awe-inspiring banchan, or amuse bouche, where one finds five rotating impeccable bites served on white ceramic platforms for a dramatic entrance into the dining experience.
The current iteration includes offerings such as a truffled wagyu tartare toast, a powerful umami, followed by a classic gyeran jjim or soft steamed egg, which pairs with the deep ocean flavors from clam and wild gamtae seaweed from Seosan. The next bite is raw striped jack, which has its prime season in the summer, gently fermented tomato in a crisp tartlet. After that comes shrimp mandoo, revisiting the idea of what mandoo is, creating a dumpling from shrimp and broth which explodes with juiciness when it is bitten. The last banchan, inspired by Korean hwangdo, is a harmonizing bite featuring peaches served with lime as a refreshing finish.
From there, guests indulge in the osetra caviar (bluefin tuna belly with a slow-cooked egg yolk, osetra caviar and crispy quinoa); raw Hokkaido scallop (dressed in a kombu-infused brown butter, served over milk-poached white asparagus, topped with roasted beets and garnished with lemon juice and lime zest); octopus (served crisped over a gochujang aioli); golden eye snapper (a crispy golden eye snapper served in a warm Kong-Guk sauce with house-made white kimchi and crown daisy oil); the tuna kimbap (a crunchy seaweed wrap stuffed with truffled rice, bluefin tuna belly and a house-made kimchi) and galbi (made with the highest quality wagyu finished with a tangy Korean barbecue sauce).
The menu is completed with the delicious, internet-famous trick-of-the-eye baby banana, made up of a white chocolate shell and an interior of Dulcey cream, banana cremeux and a Bailey’s banana cake, accompanied by coffee ice cream and chocolate hazelnut crumble.
The signature menu is priced at $235 with the option for a wine pairing for an additional $155 or a premium wine pairing for $425.
In addition to the menu’s updates this summer, Yoonjung Oh has been appointed as the new executive pastry chef. Chef Yoonjung began her journey to becoming Jungsik’s executive pastry chef by studying at The Culinary Institute of America, after which she began working at two-Michelin-starred Aquavit. She then joined the team at Jungsik where she served as the pastry sous chef under former Executive Pastry Chef Eunji Lee for more than three years.
Chef Yoonjung said that knew that she wanted to be a pastry chef from a young age after she recognized that good desserts have the immense power to become memories, not only due to their sweet taste and beautiful designs but also because of the moments in which desserts are shared. In creating desserts, she sees an opportunity to become an artist, using delicious edible components to show people a new world.
The beverage program includes a number of signature cocktails such as the Seoul Mule, a refreshing take on the Moscow Mule (made with Ginseng-infused Damsol Soju, calamansi and ginger) and a Café au Lait variation of a Ramos Gin Fizz, the Au Lait (Golden Barley Soju, Ron Zacapa XO, Devocion Coffee, cream and egg white).
The wine list still features exquisite producers including Château d’Yquem, Marcassin, Bonneau du Martray, Dal Forno Romano, Biondi-Santi, Chateâu Margaux, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Haut-Brion and Vega Sicilia, among many others.
Jungsik is located at 2 Harrison Street, New York, NY and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
