The restaurant, at 6200 Claremont Ave. in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood, will close on May 31, according to an Instagram announcement. “The restaurant industry is tough and we are not big on making excuses or elaborate sad stories,” the post reads. “We will take more time to reassess our situation and examine what our options are.”
Ok partnered with the local Ohgane Korean restaurant group to open Oken last May. The Rockridge restaurant’s menu combined Korean, Japanese and Southeast Asian influences, with dishes like its takes on chawanmushi — a Japanese steamed egg custard with torched trout belly and cured salmon roe — and jajang Bolognese, with a Cantonese black bean sauce, wagyu, cucumber and daikon kimchi.
Ok, who previously cooked at Palo Alto’s now-closed, Michelin-starred Maum and tasting-menu Colombian spot Mago in Oakland, opened Ok’s Deli in 2022. The casual shop became known for his creative sandwiches, such as Sichuan hot chicken on a house-made sesame-seed bun and a sisig bolillo.