This Korean Spot is LA’s Hottest New Restaurant | On The Line | Bon Appétit

Baru is a modern Korean restaurant. People say this is inspired by Buddhist temple cuisine. I try to reflect and then I try to put that spirit into what we are doing. Fermentation is really integral part of cooking in Baru because all the dish has at least one fermented ingredient. As a restaurant chef and owner, having tasty menu restaurant is all the time my dream. I try to keep it inspiring for everyone, including me and our team and our guests. Hello, my name is Kwang and this is my wife Mina Park. We are running the restaurant together, Baru, in LA. We have a lot of things to do today, so let's get going. So this is Baru and to me it's very luxurious than previous restaurant right next to 7-Eleven, which had only three people working and then very small space. When people from the old Baru come, they say, oh, this is so different. Yes, it's so different. It's 8.30 in the morning. As head chef, I'm the first to arrive here. When I first come in the morning, I check everything is in place and then make it tidy. People say like control freak. Yeah, it used to happen now. I kind of try to let it go. Just checking the working cooler. So this is produce. This is cold, hot and family and this fermentation. Sometimes it's a little bit messed up, but today is pretty good. So this is service station. This is kind of my time to wake up for the day. Also, Buddhist monk said every part of your life is kind of meditation. So to me, it's not really matter. I really prefer like this way. All the leftover naegin. We are doing laundry at home, Mina and me. So we have whiteboard. We write down something we need and then we go shopping. There wasn't too much stuff, just a few things today. We got Korean melon with this. We are making dongchimi, which is kind of Korean radish kimchi. We got some beef shrimp. When you go to Korean market, there are a lot of scrap and then you can get really cheap price. So shop, this is kind of urgent. So we need to take out all the blood. So we need to put some sugar and then cold water. We need to soak it. And then this is just kind of family meal. And then also we have kid. This is his paper he did last night. So he asked, please put this one in his desk. Everything looks good and tidy. So now it's the time to see our AM team. In the morning, they are usually doing all kinds of sauce, all kinds of prep, which takes a lot of time and labor. There's only two people. So now we are making bugak. Bugak is kind of Korean traditional snack. This is a very expensive seaweed imported from Korea. We are spreading the rice porridge. And then we have giant fan setting up there. And then we're going to dehydrate. Once completely dehydrated, we deep fry. And then that rice porridge is popped up. And then it's going to make crispy snack. He's the master of doing this. So I don't even need to check. So this is inventory list. And anything we need to order, we put it here. There's a condiment and then farmer's market. And then prep list. We also put it here. Most important part is actually communication with each other with AM and PM. Did you guys talk last night to PM team? Yeah. So what do we have? We're doing XO, beef stew. And then we're doing the almond cream as well. Did you guys check today's reservation? Yeah. How many vegetarian? Actually, there's one. Just one? One vegan? Yeah, one vegan. Okay. Now it's 9.40 and I'm checking the reservation and then email. So today, our cover is 68. Since we are selected restaurant of the year of the LA Times, we book pretty much every single night. Yeah, I think tonight. And also, I talked to Mina about today's plan. So we run the restaurant together. He takes care of the culinary side. Metaphorically, she's the mother of the restaurant. I'm pretty quiet boy, quiet guy. So all the important job is what I'm not really good at. She's doing actually the most important job. So I can see the cod being delivered. We have live lobster. We don't usually get. So it's just for R&D. And then this one is the sole and scallop. And then also we have a black cod. Our sous-chef, Matt, he's checking quality and the freshness. When there's a head, he can see the eyes and the gills. And I check all the invoice, quantity and price. And today, everything looks really good. Matt is going to butcher. And then we're going to make soy-braised black cod. This is actually one of the people's favorite. It goes with chameh dongchimi, which is Korean melon kimchi. And then papaya chip and citrus form. It's 10 a.m. So my job is checking fermentation. So this one is part of our rice dishes. We pickle watermelon, radish, rose and Sichuan peppercorn inside. Texture should be crunch from the freshness. And then taste-wise, between over-ripened and then ripened. So I can taste a little bit funkiness. This radish is done. So I think it's done. It's summertime, so it's pretty good condition to grow beneficial bacteria and the microorganism. And the second thing is a lemon verbena kombucha. We strain it and then make some kind of foam. And then we put on top of the watermelon and tomato gazpacho. I'm gonna just check it's gonna be ready. It's good. So this is basically you try to squeeze out the moisture from the tofu and then cover with ssamjang. We use this tofu as kind of backbone of our vegetarian vegan menu sauce. If it's kind of really aged well, it tastes like blue cheese. It tastes really savory umami. And a little bit of sour, good sour. That's what I'm looking for. One thing I found really strange when I first entered the United States, people think fermentation is very strange thing. But because I'm from Korea, it's just kind of natural. When I start at Noma, they really open and awake my perception about fermentation. They try to do everything like roasting, defrying, and dehydrating, and then ground it, and then make it even some kind of water. They are trying to apply all kinds of cooking technique interpreted into totally different culture of people. And I want to make these fermented condiments because these ingredients are the most important part of the Korean cooking. Doenjang, fermented soybean paste, ganjang, soon-to-be soy sauce, and then this one is gochujang. This one looks also good. I open the lid. Sun is going to shine. It's really good for all the fermented condiments. So we are done with the fermentation check. At least once a week when I go to farmer's market and then see something interesting, I try to do some kind of fermentation. We got golden nectar plum, and mirabelle, and green gage plum. This strainer is very typical Korean. Every household who's making kimchi have this one. Once it's drained, we're going to cut it. We're going to seed it, stem off, and then we're going to make fermentation. There are two different kinds. One is just covered with sugar, let it sit. So all the sugar is going to melt, and then it will turn into liquid. It's like a syrup, but it has microorganisms. If we have some kind of grill of the seasonal vegetable, we can just marinate in this syrup. And the second is lacto-fermentation, mixed with salt without oxygen, and then a lip ferment. And it's going to be done, usually this weather, I can say two, three days. I'm going to wrap up this fermentation. Our PM team is arriving now. It's around noon. So now it's going to be seven people. When PM cooks arrive, I usually check everything's going properly. But every day is pretty good. Big difference is the length of time. So what AM do is more time-consuming and labor-intensive job. But what PM do is more like maybe two, three hours job. Cutting, shredding, picking up the herbs, and then be ready. While they are doing preparation for the service, I just check every single component of dishes, and then I taste. So this is the aeobak, which is a kind of baby squash. We use for the rice dishes in bansang for vegetarian. Bansang is kind of tray with a lot of the side dishes and then rice and soup. This is radish, and then naengi-namul. Naengi is a shepherd's purse. Tasting looks great, so we can move on. Now it's three o'clock, so now we're going to work on the R&D. We really try to change the menu as much as possible, but it's been a year. As head chef, the researching and menu development is really important. Yesterday, I kind of marinate pork neck. I'm going to just grill and then check how's the texture and how's the seasoning. This one is the jam lettuce. We're going to grill this one. This jam lettuce can be solo or it can be garnished. So now I'm going to try to use this next dish as appetizer. We are making lobster bisque in Korean way. Made with fermented soybean paste and with the grain. So this is already cooked lentil and then buckwheat. We're going to cook it down a little bit more. I'm trying to think about kind of hybrid way of the maybe Italian risotto and then our version of the fermented soybean stew. I try to think about all different kinds of the flavor. Saltiness, sweetness, bitter, sweet, sour, umami. And then also I'm trying to think about what other fermented goods in the working color are going to be well paired with this. For the protein side, I'm going to make a fried lobster. The batter is typical, but we put it in the nitrogen charger. It also really makes a fluffy, aerated batter. So we're going to deep fry the lobster. Actually, it's better than I expected. Anyone want to try this one? We can increase the salinity. Yeah, increase the salinity. The sweetness is good. Actually, I like this one more. I'm thinking about to glaze with some kind of fermented fruit or vegetable juice and then glaze it. And then it can go well with the solo, but it can also go well with any kind of protein, I think. So this one, try to have it all together. Like a grain, and then soup, and then the pickle, radish. I accentuate with the lovage oil, but I'm thinking about something in my mind is kind of lemongrass. But we are using lemongrass in the black cut. You can use a liquid. Bottle form. Yeah, that's also a good idea. We make a lighter idea. Yeah, that's a good idea too. Great tasting menu session with our team, baru team. So everything was good, but there are absolutely more things to work on it. And then now it's four o'clock. It's almost about to have family meal. It's 5.15. Everyone is back from the break. And then we have 15 minutes to open. So we're going to have pre-shift meeting now. So tonight we have 69 covers. We have 11 birthdays, one anniversary. We have one vegan at 7.30 and no other vegetarians tonight. Have a good service, everyone. Right now we are about to start the service. So my role today is expo. Manage all the tickets and also dispense all the dishes to the right table. And then I need to make sure also dishes clean. This is just wipe the plate. I mean, I don't mind to do the expo, but sometimes kind of joke. They don't like me in the expo. Sometimes I made a mistake. So first guest is about to arrive. Thank you so much. We need to be ready. So you guys need to be out now. Bye.