Banker-turned-restaurateur Min Park is teaming up with chef Brian Shin, an alum of Corey Lee’s Benu and In Situ, on a new project called Ajae. Park told the Chronicle that it will be an upscale Korean restaurant serving Shin’s take on Korean comfort dishes like gukbap, a homey rice soup.
“Those dishes are in almost every Korean restaurant, but with Brian’s special skill set they get taken to the next level,” Park said. “It’s going to blow people away.”
The target opening timeframe for Ajae, which will be located on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue, is late 2026, Park said, but he declined to share the address, or its past tenant. Once open, he hopes that the restaurant can bring some optimism to the local dining scene, which has seen a spate of closures amid a challenging environment. “A good restaurant can transform the entire block and how it feels,” he said.
Shin has previously worked at fine dining landmarks such as Chicago’s Alinea and Corton in New York before starting with Corey Lee’s group. In 2017, he pivoted to a more casual setting, at cocktail bar the Snug in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights. Shin will follow in the footsteps of some of his former Benu peers, including James Yeun Leong Parry of the Happy Crane and Alan Hsu of Sun Moon Studio, who have gone on to open their own restaurants.
The partnership for Ajae will echo Park’s ventures at Itria and Yeobo, Darling: He runs the financials and other business aspects, while the chefs focus on the kitchen and dining room. Park is also the chief financial officer of Bay Area hospitality company Omakase Restaurant Group, which operates Michelin-starred Niku Steakhouse and casual xiao long bao chain Dumpling Time.
Park said that there’s a personal element to his latest restaurants. The concept for Yeobo, Darling spoke to him, he said, since he is Korean and his wife Taiwanese, as are its chefs, husband-and-wife duo Michael and Meichih Kim. And since Park’s mother passed away in November, he and his father have been dining out at Korean restaurants more frequently, seeking out dishes in the comforting style of her cooking — a feeling he hopes that Shin can offer diners.
“Making restaurants that have meaning to you,” Park said, “creates the best product.”