Genesis House, a Stunning New Restaurant In New York Above A Hyundai Showroom, Offers Exotic Korean Royal Cuisine

Let’s begin by saying Genesis House is one of the most stunning-looking restaurants in New York, with a grand second-story view of the lower Hudson River. Set atop the Hyundai Genesis car showroom, which is itself beautifully sleek, Genesis House, designed by Suh Architects, is vast without being overwhelming in its size because of the way its 46,000 square feet area is separated into smaller spaces based on Korean style. Columns and Corten steel hold up ta high ceiling whose LED lighting blocks cast a golden glow on the polished wood tables and oak flooring below.

There is a sleek bar area, a section with counter seating, a tea pavilion and an airy library section up three steps, its shelves filled with art, fashion and travel books. It’s all quite serene and the tables are widely separated, set with exquisitely thin Glasvin stemware. There is music, a little too intrusive, but the separation of sections keeps the noise down.

The restaurant is the first international expansion for Onjium Studios, a Seoul-based cultural institute led by artisans Cho Eun-hee and Park Sungbae, dedicated to creating a “new heritage “based on traditional Korean clothing, food, and housing. The contention is that the restaurant’s cuisine derives from ancient bang-ga recipes of the royal Joseon Dynasty, which dates to the 14th century (abolished in the late 19^th). It is, then, a tad difficult to how the kind of food executive chef Losa Salvieus Yi creates is true to form. No matter: it is true to a sensibility of bang-ga harmony and refined presentation, right down to the diverse ceramics used. The metal chopsticks are lovely to look at, but offer too slippery a surface with which to pick up the food.

Losa was born in Korea, moved to New York City to study at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, then trained at Gotham Bar & Grill, Daniel and Aquavit before relocating to London to work at The Savoy. Next stop Vegas, at Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand. Following the pandemic, Yi returned to Korea to immerse herself in the local culture and cuisine of Seoul.

You may dine à la carte or with a five-course tasting menu at $175, with a $115 wine pairing. The à la carte items are quite expensive and portions not large, so the tasting menu is the better option.

Burgundy-born general manager Kevin Oprouve has put together a canny wine list that goes well with Losa’s cooking, which involves unusual seasonings and ingredients rarely seen this side of the Paciic Rim.

All dishes are amply described on the menu, beginning with some Korean snack foods ($14 each): Gim bugak a fried seaweed chip, along with a delightful pop-in-the-mouth treat called gotcam made of dried persimmon, Brie Fermiér cheese, Brillat Savarin and walnuts.

A fanfare of small plates begins with surachai ($35) of chilled abalone, scallop, snow crab, octopus, poached egg and crispy pear with a pine nut sauce, based on a dish from a clan in Gyeongju. Abalone makes another appearance in daeha yukjeup naengchae ($37) along with prawn, Asian pearl, asparagus and a deliciously tangy but not-too-pungent mustard meat sauce. Jinju bibimbap ($35) is a subtly flavored moo radish, spinach, bracken fern, mung bean sprouts with a steamed dumpling sauce.

Large plates are largely seafood and vegetables, as with tongyeong domijjim ($40), a dish from the port city of Tongyeong made of fleshy sea bream, gochujang red chile paste, shiitake mushrooms and zucchini; goldong myeon ($29) is a mix of nutty wheat noodles rife with shiitakes, onion, zucchini and a soft-cooked egg that brings it all together with a velvety texture.

Desserts are not as rich or sweet as Western desserts—but very pricey à la carte—but they have their own pleasures, as in baesuk ($19) made with ripe poached pear, pink peppercorn crumble and cream, and pat sirupyeon ($17) , which is a steamed rice cake with vanilla red bean crunch $17. You’ll end off with “tea snacks” ($11) like a yakgwa, a honey and sesame cookie.

Genesis House’s cuisine obviously deserves the term exotic, but in more subtle ways than more familiar usual Korean food in New York, which is often based on slices of beef cooked on a fiery brazier set in the center of the table. There are no pyrotechnics at Genesis House, but there is a great deal of individuality and style throughout a meal whose setting is itself quite luminous.

40A 10th Ave.

New York, NY 10014 

855-444-0836

Open for dinner Tues.-Sun.