The son of a 40-year-old Korean restaurant owner is opening a fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles Koreatown. Chef Brian Baik is the son of Geum In Baik, the owner of the longstanding Korean restaurant Kobawoo.
Baik is opening Corridor 109, a modern seafood fine dining restaurant on the corner of Western and Melrose avenues early next year, Eater LA reported on September 3.
Inheriting his father’s flavors, which have remained unchanged for 41 years since 1983, Baik is opening a full-fledged restaurant after proving his skills by running pop-up restaurants in Chinatown.
The restaurant will be located in the former furniture strip on Western Avenue in Koreatown. This is a familiar spot for Baik, having come and gone for years with his parents, who own a restaurant business.
For reasons why he chose the location, Baik said “There’s a good parking situation, it’s not overly commercialized, and “there are a lot of interesting projects in the area, so it just feels right (to open a restaurant).”
Currently, Western Avenue is home to a number of emerging art galleries, and the neighborhood is rapidly becoming “The next Soho”.
Before moving to Los Angeles in 2020, Baik worked at three Michelin-starred restaurants in New York City, Eleven Madison Park, Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, and Sushi Noz, a high-end sushi omakase restaurant.
But just like any others, Baik started out in the back of his parents’ restaurant. He named it Corridor 109 after the hidden side entrance to Kobawoo (Suite 109). Baik opened the pop-up restaurant in late December 2021 during the pandemic and served a small number of customers every Monday. At the time, it attracted attention for his dishes made with seasonal seafood sourced directly from Korea and Japan. Then, in January last year, he opened a pop-up with a few tables at the Far East Plaza mall in Chinatown.
It was only open three days a week. On Tuesdays and Fridays, it received seasonal fish from Japan. The restaurant only served customers on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings with only eight customers a day.
The menus were mostly developed from his experience helping his parents in the Kobawoo restaurant. Popular dishes include the signature Iwashi (sardine) toast with a hint of charcoal flavor to account for the fattier fish in winter, pesto spaghetti with flavorful bonito, and crab meat soup using Dungeness crab with a rich texture.
As with the pop-up, Corridor 109 will be operated in small size, with eight to 10 seats. Fine dining is priced at $275 per person. The restaurant will also have a cocktail and wine bar, Bar109, to serve as a community space.
“I felt it would be important to have a component that serves the neighborhood and community, to be a place where people can hang out, come in for drinks to meet with friends,” said Baik. Bar 109 will be open from early evening to midnight, six days a week.
Baik said he will continue to run pop-up restaurants in Chinatown until the official opening in Koreatown early next year. Reservations can be made through the website: exploretock.com/corridor109.
Baik said he will continue to pursue the purity of the ingredients as he has in the past. “My sole goal is to find the best ingredients, apply the best techniques, put food at the center, and create a unique experience for my guests.”
BY SUAH JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
