Chef Hoyoung Kim spent years as executive chef of the two-Michelin-starred Jungsik in Tribeca, an education in precision and restraint that is clearly visible at Jua. But at 36 E 22nd Street in the Flatiron District, Kim is doing something that feels less like graduate work and more like a personal statement. Jua is Hoyoung Kim's restaurant; the wood-fired technique, the specific use of season and fermentation, the balance of fire and delicacy, these are choices made by a chef who has found his own voice.
The seven-course tasting menu at $140 is among the best value propositions at the Michelin level in New York. The dining room is intimate and atmospheric, exposed brick walls, distressed wooden ceiling beams, soft mood lighting, and an open kitchen that allows you to see the fire that characterises Kim's approach. Two seatings per evening; the team is warm and outgoing without being inattentive to privacy.
The wood-fired element is not ornamental. It defines the flavour vocabulary of the menu, char, depth, smoke, and then the precision of Korean technique applied on top. The fermentation elements, the seasonal vegetables prepared with care that makes you reconsider what you thought a vegetable could be, and the protein courses that arrive as the centrepiece of the evening all bear the hallmark of a chef who is in complete command of his kitchen.
Jua ranked 6th in the Beli App's top-rated NYC restaurants from over 60 million ratings, ahead of restaurants with more stars and exponentially higher prices. That ranking is not a statistical anomaly. It is a reflection of genuine excellence accessible to a slightly wider audience than the three-star tier.
