At opposite ends of the world exist two fine dining restaurants, each with two Michelin stars: one in Seoul, serving Americanized Korean food (presented in English), and one in New York City, serving elevated Korean dishes with ingredients flown in from all over the world. These restaurants are Soigné (Seoul) and Atomix (New York), and while almost two years elapsed between my dining experiences at each, they are two of the most memorable meals I’ve had at restaurants that share a lot more in common than I anticipated they would.
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24 hours after my college graduation in May 2024, I found myself on a plane to Seoul, South Korea with my a cappella group. The trip was supposed to take place the summer after my freshman year (2020), but after Covid threw a wrench in everything, I was hellbent and determined to make Korea Tour happen before I graduated from Brown and from the group. It became my magnum opus of sorts—though I truly had no idea what to expect from any of it until we landed in Seoul—but it turned out to be an incredible adventure and the perfect culmination of my experience in the group.
It was one of those trips where, despite taking the lead in planning the entire thing, I knew there were certain aspects I would have to play by ear. A friend of mine who studied abroad in Seoul gave me a stellar list of recommendations for restaurants, museums, shopping, and other must-do experiences. I knew that with 15 kids in tow (half of whom were freshman and several of whom had never left the continental US before this trip), I would have to prioritize the group’s desires and not the really chic café I was dying to visit. I did take some mornings to myself to wander the streets and hit some places on my list, which was a lovely way to get to know the city. It provided necessary contrast to the hours on end we spent cooped up inside a hotel ballroom to perform at a high school graduation ceremony, as well as contrast to the otherwise surreal experience of being driven around in a Mercedes tour bus at the whim of a wealthy Korean businessman (an alum of the group) who helped sponsor our trip.
Throughout ten days in Seoul, I often found myself going stir crazy, which is historically something that happened to me on every single Jabberwocks tour, whether in a member’s family home in Connecticut or across the world in Seoul. I anticipated that the feeling would hit me, so I needed to carve out certain moments of solitude in advance. I became particularly enthralled by one restaurant on my friend’s list of Seoul recommendations. She said if I did one fancy dinner anywhere in Korea, it should be at Soigné.
Fortunately, my friend Ethan is also a big foodie and comes from a family that appreciates indulging in a ten-course tasting menu every now and then (mine does not as much). We made our reservation at least a month in advance of the trip and somewhat surreptitiously slipped away from the group like parents leaving their children for a long-awaited date night.
We arrived at the address and found ourselves amidst a complex of office buildings. We were convinced we were in the wrong place, but eventually we found our way into the elevator and an employee guided us through an unassuming corporate hallway through the doors to the restaurant. On our right we passed a glassed-in kitchen that looked more like a medical lab, with chefs scurrying around in matching light grey outfits that actually looked a lot like scrubs.
We were led to our table—of which there were fewer than ten—and pointed towards a tabletop iPad that contained interactive maps of where each wine we were about to drink came from. It all felt very futuristic.
Everything was grayscale—the waiters’ custom scrub-like outfits, the walls, the tables. In perfect English, our waiter briefed us on the menu and began presenting each course to us with great precision.
I continued on to Singapore and Japan after Korea, but my entire grad trip was my first time visiting Asia. I found that no matter what type of restaurant I was dining at, the staff acted as though it was one with multiple Michelin stars. The culture is to do whatever you do extremely well and to treat American tourists with astonishing respect (though this might be different now that we’re a year and a half into Trump’s presidency…). But regardless of cuisine or price point, there is always an incredible attention to detail, and they’re not even working for tips!
I digress. The tasting menu at Soigné consisted of 13 courses (which they call “episodes”), and it cost $150 per person. This is truly a bargain… It came out to more because we elected to add wine pairings, but the experience was well worth every penny.
Not only were we given a personalized menu to take home, but inside the envelope was an in-depth write up of the evening’s ingredients, heritage, and inspiration. As a writer, I love a meal that consciously tells a story. Though the descriptions were definitely a bit over the top, they aided our appreciation for the exquisite dishes as they appeared before us.
I remember highlights being the escargot, the mussel and green garlic, a melt-in-your-mouth slice of hanwoo beef, and all of the desserts. We were truly blown away by each and every bite.
Our waiter offered to call us a cab and guided us through the matrix of offices down to the curb. When we entered the elevator, Ethan and I attempted to make casual small talk with her.
“So, how long have you been working here?” He asked her.
She looked at us quizzically, a bit embarrassed.
“I don’t…” She stammered, “I’m not sure. To answer.”
She didn’t speak a lick of conversational English. Her presentation of our intricate meal was all a performance, a meticulously rehearsed production of complex adjectives and poetic descriptions of food. This revelation was shocking to us. If we didn’t already feel like we were in some version of The Menu, we really did then. We’re still talking about this interaction almost two years later.
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Ethan moved to New York 6-8 months after I did. We’ve shared some great meals together already—Rolo’s and Oxomoco being two favorites. As our birthdays approached (his in December, mine in January), I suggested that we plan an extravagant dinner akin to the one we shared in Seoul. Due to busy schedules and this being a highly coveted reservation, we ended up landing on a Wednesday night in February for our next culinary adventure at the famed Korean establishment Atomix.
I rarely venture to Murray Hill. Being there gives me hives. But I understand why Atomix landed here. I first walked by and missed it completely. The restaurant is in the ground floor unit of a brownstone apartment building. They do not let you inside until the exact time of your reservation.
Both Atomix and Soigné have sleek, grayscale interiors. The only pop of color inside both restaurants emanates from the bright red Michelin plaques that adorn the back wall, which I joked to Ethan would be incredibly tacky (aesthetically speaking) if they didn’t represent what they did. Soigné is quintessential Seoul—in an unassuming office building. Atomix is quintessential New York—in a residential brownstone with no windows to the street. Both are places you would otherwise miss from street view.
We opted for the bar tasting menu (upstairs) over the chef’s table tasting menu (downstairs). It’s ten courses instead of twelve and runs you $285 per person instead of $385. You pay for the entire thing when you make the reservation, which is great because two months later when our dinner finally rolled around, it felt like it was free! The bar tasting menu also comes with cocktail pairings, which I didn’t think much of, until I was four drinks deep at 9 pm on a Wednesday and struggling to keep up with the drinks as more kept getting brought out.
We dined with four other guests at the bar, where we were able to watch the magical process of our dishes and drinks be assembled and explained. My favorite dishes here were the steamed barley bread with whipped soy and omija, the fried goguma (Korean sweet potato) with Kristal caviar and macadamia, the iberico maekjeok with golden queen rice and maitake mushrooms, and the textural dream of a dessert: bergamot orange, Korean pear, preserved fig, and white chocolate.
Atomix excels in texture; I found myself marveling at the way each bite felt in my mouth and pondering the technique that enabled it to come to life as a truly singular dish. Each course felt just the right level of experimental, while still being hearty and delicious. A tasting menu should open your eyes to new flavor combinations without losing sight of the real, whole ingredients. I was trying new things while still being able to identify most of the ingredients I was eating.
I think that’s why I gravitate towards Korean fine dining, in particular. The attention to detail that permeates Korean culture really shines within the context of fine dining, so it makes sense that there are so many Korean restaurants of this nature in New York alone. These restaurants have a clear sense of heritage and storytelling that stuffier fine dining establishments often lack, while employing a level of innovation that is central to the culture and ethos of Seoul. Ethan has dined at Eleven Madison Park. I have not, but I am much less enchanted by a primarily plant-based American tasting menu served in a dining room that appears to be strangely corporate. Ethan and his family loved their meal there, but The Infatuation recently rated it a scathing 6.5/10, claiming that the restaurant is clearly struggling with an identity crisis… Not that The Infatuation is the end all be all, and they might just be offering a hot take for the sake of being controversial, but one thing Soigné and Atomix do not struggle with is identity.
The bowls and silverware were beyond exquisite. Despite the gray hues of the space’s décor, the lighting and small details brought a necessary warmth into the space. I really wanted to steal the pen after signing the check (it literally felt like a Montblanc, no joke), but we were swiftly informed that each pen costs $70…
The server leading our experience (who was not shy about teasing me for my graveyard of cocktails that I couldn’t finish) offered to take us downstairs to give us a glimpse of the chef’s counter. Downstairs is a bit homier and offers double the amount of seating at a U-shaped bar with the kitchen in the center. In theory I would come back to try that menu, but realistically, if I’m dropping this much on another tasting menu, I want to venture elsewhere.
I’d be curious to know if chef JP Park (head chef and creator of Atomix) was directly influenced by Soigné, which opened in 2013 in Seoul, when he opened Atomix in New York five years later. I would be shocked if he hasn’t at least dined there before.
Meals like these are an extreme privilege and remind me of the vast variety of dining experiences that are at my fingertips in New York. If we want to stick to our Korean roots, perhaps bōm, Jua, or Jungsik (where chef Park began his New York culinary career) is next for Ethan and me.
So, my sweet, the largest Korean population in the United States is in your hometown of Los Angeles - do you think we have any comparable spots here? I will get you here any way I can!!!!!!
Yummy! Would love to try both sometime.