Hooni Kim
Chef Hooni Kim was born in Seoul, Korea but has resided in New York City for over 30 years. He attended the French Culinary Institute and trained at Michelin three star restaurants Daniel and Masa. Chef Hooni Kim’s first restaurant, Danji, opened in the Hells Kitchen district of Manhattan in 2010. Danji received accolades from numerous publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal, and The Village Voice. In 2012, Danji received a Michelin star, the first ever for a Korean restaurant. Sam Sifton of the New York Times also named Danji one of the Top 10 new restaurants of 2011.
His second restaurant Hanjan opened in the Flatiron district of Manhattan in 2012. The New York Times heralded Chef Hooni Kim as “the city’s leading interpreter of Korean cuisine,” and awarded Hanjan 2 stars. Pete Wells also listed Hanjan #5 as his best new restaurants of 2013.
Chef Hooni was recognized as an ambassador of food and culture by the Korean government in 2011. He is currently a judge in South Korea’s television program MasterChef Korea and also appeared on Food Network’s Chopped as a guest judge. He also has a cook book coming out in Summer of 2017 being published by Norton with Maria Guarnaschelli as his editor.
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Hooni Kim | Danji NYC and Hanjan NYC