Kitchen duty
JIHO KIM • Joomak
WORK • Tuesday Routine
JIHO KIM • chef / owner • Joomak
Neighborhood you work in: West Village
Neighborhood you live in: Midtown
It’s Tuesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m the chef and owner at Joomak, which relocated to the West Village earlier this year as a new iteration of my former Michelin-starred restaurant, Joomak Banjum. My week starts on Tuesday, as the restaurant’s open Tuesday through Saturday. I walk through our restaurant's main door and check every corner to see if we missed anything on Saturday night's final check. I'll walk through our dining room, and finally, into our kitchen, and always check the fridges and freezer just in case something might have happened over the weekend. A clean kitchen makes me feel comfortable, and it charges me up like a battery.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I'll check our weekly reservations and see if we have any events this week. I'll communicate with our chef de cuisine, Truman Parsons, who’s in charge of all things culinary, to see if we need to order anything for the kitchen side, and to address any issues from last week. When our GM comes in, we'll check service notes from last week, and adjust our training program for the upcoming days. I also check with all our vendors to see if there’s any new product coming, and if so, we'll throw some ideas together and plan to taste.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I'll usually get a hash brown potato and a coffee at Hungry Llama, and if I can get a table at Don Angie, I'll get their chrysanthemum salad, lasagna, and tiramisu. On Saturday, I'd like to go to the Flatiron Room with friends to get sushi rolls or steak and listen to live music. On Sunday, I'm thinking about getting a burger and roasted bone marrow at Minetta Tavern. My favorite restaurant is New Wonjo in K-Town. They serve authentic Korean food with a lot of menu options, and the best part is that they use a charcoal grill for barbecue.
How about a little leisure or culture this week?
I love running marathons, so I usually run a half-marathon on my own at Central Park on the weekends. I'm looking forward to also dining out at Octo, the best part of my weekend!