Junghyun Park, known as JP, is the Seoul-born chef behind Atomix, Atoboy, NARO and Seoul Salon in New York City. Atomix holds two Michelin stars and reached number 8 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2023, making it the highest-ranked restaurant in North America that year.
Park’s work is a sustained argument for what contemporary Korean fine dining can be when presented on a global stage, built on hansik traditions and delivered through tasting-menu fine-dining formats.
TL;DR
- Seoul-born chef, trained via a globetrotting apprenticeship across 30+ countries
- Runs Atomix, Atoboy, NARO and Seoul Salon in New York with his wife Ellia Park
- Atomix holds two Michelin stars and reached World’s 50 Best No. 8 in 2023
- James Beard Foundation Best Chef: New York State 2023
- Co-author of The Korean Cookbook (Phaidon, 2023), 350 recipes
Junghyun Park key facts
| Born | Seoul, South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Main restaurants | Atomix, Atoboy, NARO, Seoul Salon (all New York) |
| Michelin stars | Two stars at Atomix |
| Style | Contemporary Korean, hansik, fine-dining tasting menu |
| Notable awards | James Beard Best Chef NY 2023, World’s 50 Best No. 8 (2023) |
| Book | The Korean Cookbook (Phaidon, 2023) |
Early life and training of Junghyun Park
Park grew up in Seoul in a food-centred household. Traditional Korean holidays, where the table spread is the centrepiece of the celebration, gave him early hands-on experience helping his mother and family prepare dishes like jeon. That interest became a career path rather than a hobby when he enrolled at Kyung Hee University in Seoul to study Food Science rather than attending a classical culinary school.
After graduating, he made up for the lack of formal culinary training by travelling. Over several years he moved through more than 30 countries, taking apprenticeships wherever he could land one, including The Ledbury in London and Andrew McConnell’s Cutler and Co. in Melbourne, where he stayed for nearly three years.
Back in Seoul, he joined chef Jung Sik Yim’s newly opened fine-dining restaurant Jungsik. When Jungsik opened a New York satellite in 2011, Park led the American team as chef de cuisine and helped earn it two Michelin stars, one of the best-reviewed restaurants of 2011.
Junghyun Park career timeline
- Education: Food Science at Kyung Hee University, Seoul
- Early career: Apprenticeships across 30+ countries including Finland, London (The Ledbury), Melbourne (Cutler and Co.)
- Seoul: Joins Jungsik Dang under chef Jung Sik Yim
- 2011: Moves to New York as chef de cuisine for Jungsik’s NYC opening; earns two Michelin stars
- 2016: Opens Atoboy in NoMad with his wife Ellia Park
- 2017: Wins StarChefs Rising Stars Award
- 2018: Opens Atomix as a fine-dining counter format
- 2019: Atomix receives one Michelin star
- 2022: Atomix wins Art of Hospitality Award at World’s 50 Best
- 2023: Atomix reaches No. 8 on World’s 50 Best; James Beard Best Chef NY State; The Korean Cookbook published by Phaidon
- 2024: Atomix moves up to two Michelin stars
- Present: Continues to run Atomix, Atoboy, NARO (Rockefeller Center) and Seoul Salon (Koreatown)
Junghyun Park signature style
Park frames his work as a platform for Korean culture rather than a single-chef vision. Atomix pays respect to Korea’s traditional cuisine and history while being inspired by the shifting vocabulary of modern global cooking. The name Ato comes from an ancient Korean word for “gift”, a framing that runs through Atoboy, Atomix and the later restaurants.
His cooking distinguishes itself from Jungsik-era Korean fine dining by foregrounding Korean technique over French technique. Where Jungsik presents Korean flavours through a French grammar, Atoboy centres banchan (the small side dishes served with every Korean meal) and Atomix builds its tasting menu around ingredients and fermentation techniques specific to hansik.
The restaurant is also a deliberate platform for Korean artists and designers. The ceramics, menu cards, interiors and much of the service tableware at Atomix are commissioned from Korean designers working in contemporary Seoul, turning each meal into a curated exhibition of current Korean design alongside the food.
Notable dishes at Atomix
Park deliberately resists naming “signature dishes” at Atomix, treating the restaurant as still young and evolving. Recurring elements include mumallaengi-seasoned rice (using dried radish as the flavouring agent rather than a condiment), makgeolli ice cream (turning fermented rice wine into a dessert component), and ganjang-marinated Ōra King salmon with gim rice. Each course arrives with a menu card designed by a Korean artist that contextualises the dish as both a culinary and cultural object.
Awards and recognition
- 2017: StarChefs Rising Stars Award
- 2019: Atomix earns its first Michelin star
- 2022: Art of Hospitality Award at World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2023: Atomix reaches No. 8 on World’s 50 Best, highest in North America
- 2023: James Beard Foundation Best Chef: New York State
- 2023: The Korean Cookbook published by Phaidon, co-authored with Jungyoon Choi
- 2024: Atomix receives its second Michelin star
- Three stars from The New York Times at Atomix
- Two New York Times stars at Atoboy (2017)
Junghyun Park impact on Korean fine dining
Park belongs to the generation of chefs building what is commonly called the New Korean movement: Mingoo Kang in Seoul, Corey Lee in San Francisco and Park in New York, each working on a different version of the same question. He is careful not to position himself at the front of this movement, framing his work as part of a collective that is still finding its form.
What distinguishes Atomix is the insistence on treating Korean fine dining as a platform for Korean cultural output beyond just food. Few other restaurants at this level put as much weight on commissioning designers, writing menu cards as cultural objects, or using the tasting menu as a structured argument about Korea’s present rather than its past.
The Korean Cookbook, co-authored with culinary researcher Jungyoon Choi, extends that project outside the restaurant. It is a 350-recipe reference work on Korean home cooking and regional traditions, positioned as a scholarly document rather than a celebrity chef cookbook. That matches his approach in René Redzepi‘s lineage of chefs who treat their restaurants as research platforms rather than performance stages.
Junghyun Park FAQ
How many Michelin stars does Junghyun Park have?
Atomix holds two Michelin stars (upgraded to two stars in 2024 after initially earning one in 2019). Atoboy is a Bib Gourmand.
What is the meaning of “Ato” in the restaurant names?
Ato comes from an ancient Korean word meaning “gift”. The Parks chose it to frame their cuisine and hospitality as a gift from Korea to the dining scene of New York.
Where is Junghyun Park from?
He was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. He studied Food Science at Kyung Hee University before travelling and eventually moving to New York in 2011.
What restaurants does Junghyun Park run?
Four in New York City: Atomix (two-Michelin-star tasting counter), Atoboy (casual progressive Korean in NoMad), NARO (in Rockefeller Center) and Seoul Salon (in Koreatown).
Has Junghyun Park written a cookbook?
Yes. The Korean Cookbook, co-authored with Jungyoon Choi and published by Phaidon in October 2023, is a 350-recipe reference covering traditional Korean home cooking and regional dishes.
What is next for Junghyun Park
With four restaurants in New York and a definitive cookbook behind him, Park is in a position to shape the next phase of how Korean cuisine is understood globally. The recent upgrade to two Michelin stars at Atomix suggests the restaurant is still ascending rather than peaking. His official Instagram (@jp__park) is the best place to follow his current work.
