The Best Chef Top 100 New Candidates: Junghyun Park

The Best Chef Top 100 New Candidates: Junghyun Park

The Best Chef Top 100 New Candidates: Junghyun Park

After earning a degree in food science at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, Junghyun Park took off far and wide. He began his globetrotting odyssey in Finland, on a chance exchange program, and then took a deep dive into European food culture. Park eventually traveled to more than 30 countries.

From Europe, he headed to Melbourne, Australia, where he ended up working at Andrew McConnell’s Cutler and Co. for nearly three years before returning to Seoul to work in Chef Jung Sik Yim’s newly opened, fine-dining establishment, Jungsik. When a satellite of Jungsik opened in New York City, Park led the American team as chef de cuisine, turning it into one of the best reviewed restaurants of 2011 and earning two Michelin stars.

In 2016, Park and his wife Ellia opened Atoboy, a casual, progressive Korean restaurant. Where Jungsik presented Korean flavors using French technique, Atoboy (ato meaning gift in Korean) makes greater use of Korean technique and focuses on banchan—small side dishes served with every Korean meal. In 2017, Park won a StarChefs Rising Stars Award, and Atoboy was awarded two stars in The New York Times. In 2018, Park opened his second Ato concept, Atomix, with a chef’s tasting counter and bar program from fellow Rising Star Jesse Vida.