Koreatown has a new upscale destination from Alex Park, Patrick Liu, John Kim, and Yohan Park, the team behind Liu’s Cafe and the now-closed Tokki. Danbi, which translates to “sweet rain” in Korean, is now open in the former Tokki space in Chapman Market. The name refers to a place that’s meant to be refreshing and not overly complicated.

Chef Lareine Ko, who will oversee the kitchen, started her career in Taiwan before delving into the world of omakase at Rowland Heights’s Sushi Yuen under the tutelage of Ryan Kwak. Since then, she’s been working as a private omakase chef. Ko first connected with the Danbi team when she consulted for Liu’s Cafe, developing items for the menu that reflected classic offerings at Taiwanese and Hong Kong cafes.

Her current role as the executive chef at Danbi is the first time she’s run a kitchen of this type, with an a la carte menu and 80-seat dining room. Though hesitant at first, she says it has been a great learning experience. Ko developed a tight menu for Danbi with just eight main dishes divided into pork, beef, fish, and vegetable sections, plus honey butter chips and crudité under a separate anju section. Among these are a delicate but flavorful pork broth soup that is served with slices of tender pork jowl and rice; a yukhoe, or finely chopped seasoned beef, that comes with bone marrow and a raw egg yolk on top; and an uni bibimbap. A scallop pancake topped with bite-sized bay scallops is meant to be shared, while a charcoal-cooked wagyu zabuton comes over a bed of sweet caramelized onions. The refreshing red snapper crudo on the menu is inspired by hoe, or thinly sliced raw fish.

Also coming from Liu’s Cafe is pastry chef Isabell Manibusan, who runs the pastry program at the cafe, and the desserts here at Danbi. Before Danbi, Manibusan held pastry chef roles at Michelin-starred Maude and Mr. Holmes Bakehouse. Assembling the dessert menu at Danbi posed a challenge for her since dessert isn’t often served in Korean restaurants. Manibusan decided to reach into her own upbringing as a Korean American to reinterpret familiar flavors into dessert dishes.

Her current spring dessert menu features three dishes — sujeongwa granité, a banana milk cloud, and Mont Halla. Manibusan feels especially connected to the banana milk cloud, which was inspired by trips to South Korea as a child. She recalls meeting family in Korea and feeling disconnected due to cultural differences and not being able to speak the language. Searching for a connection, Manibusan’s family offered her banana milk and watched her face light up. At Danbi, banana milk is reinterpreted as a creme anglaise which acts as the base for a torched meringue, and sliced banana is placed on top. For Mont Halla, which is named after South Korea’s tallest mountain, Manubisan wanted to do a take on the classic French Mont Blanc dessert, but with the flavors of songpyeon, a stuffed Korean rice cake traditionally served during Chuseok. The base of the dessert is a pavlova to which roasted soybean powder, brown rice pudding, and mugwort cream are added.

Danbi’s cocktail offerings are led by bar director John Yi who has put six soju-based cocktails on the menu, along with Korean sul options like soju, makgeolli, yakju, and more. The cocktails include the boozy Barley Soju, which is soju infused with barley and served on the rocks; the tangy Kimchi Mule with white kimchi; and the Sweet Rain with soju, raspberry, and elderflower.

The opening of Danbi is part of a recent wave of restaurants in Koreatown reinterpreting classics into modern menus. Like Tokki before it, as well as drinking spot Jilli, Danbi roots its experience in familiarity and tradition while pushing forward what Korean food and drink can be.

Danbi is located at 3465 W. Sixth Street, Suite 90-100, Los Angeles, CA 90020. The restaurant is open for dinner from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday and from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are available through Resy.