One of Los Angeles’s most talented chefs Ki Kim is opening a new tasting menu restaurant called Ki in Little Tokyo this December. The 10-seat fine dining counter will be located in the subterranean space that also houses Michelin-starred Kaneyoshi and its sister sushi-and-cocktail concept Bar Sawa.
Kim opened the acclaimed tasting menu restaurant Kinn in Koreatown in November 2021 with In Hospitality (Hanchic, Chimmelier, and Jilli), earning a glowing review from the Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison, who called Kim one of the “freshest culinary voices in Los Angeles.” Kinn closed in 2023 with the chef citing mental and physical exhaustion. Kim shared some of the internal struggles of operating the restaurant while continuing to uphold the rigors of fine dining in an in-depth interview with Eater.
Kim hinted at the incoming restaurant on his social media on October 10, announcing his amicable departure as the chef de cuisine of Michelin-starred Meteora. “My time here wasn’t just a job,” Kim wrote on the social media post. “It was a period of growth as both a chef and person.”
Kim’s namesake restaurant is modeled after inspirational dining experiences at Hayato in Downtown LA, Kaneyoshi in Little Tokyo, and Blanca in Brooklyn where Kim also worked. Ki will serve a $285, 14-course tasting menu for six diners at a time; capacity will eventually expand to 10 diners. Though Kim is hesitant to label his food Korean, he acknowledges its inescapability. “A lot of people will not perceive it as Korean. Some people will get the context of how this is Korean. I’m hoping our guests will figure it out, and they’ll be the ones to give us a label instead of me,” he says.
The opportunity to open at the “Kaneyoshi-plex” was fortuitous. Kaneyoshi chef Yoshiyuki Inoue had dined at Kinn a few times and offered encouraging words to Kim. One night while Kim was dining at Kaneyoshi, Inoue mentioned he was looking for a chef for an upcoming space in his building (“I think I just found him and he’s sitting right in front of me,” Kim recalls Inoue saying.) Kim thought Inoue was joking at the time, but a week later the duo discussed an official partnership. Though Bar Sawa and Kaneyoshi share a hallway, Ki occupies a separate venue with partner Yuichi Ito, who operates all three restaurants.
Though Kim didn’t have control over the interior design as he was brought in after those decisions were made, he hopes to offer a calm, dimly lit room where people can enjoy themselves. “I want people to open up and feel comfortable. And have lots of wine,” says Kim.
With a personal interest in elevating the mental and physical well-being of those working in restaurants, Kim wants to employ sustainable workplace practices at Ki. He plans to have three back-of-house staff preparing food and one server. “It’s a very small team, and the idea is that we’re not only aware of the cooking and sending out courses, but we’re also aware of what’s going on in the dining room and able to catch small details during the dining experience,” says Kim. “I also want to be able to compensate chefs in a way for them to be financially stable,” Kim says if a person has to take time off, he hopes another staffer from the Kaneyoshi-plex can help fill in.
“Having a small team with a higher average price per person allows me to meet my goal of fair compensation. I want it to be a healing and rejuvenating experience for our guests, but also the team,” says Kim.
Ki is located at 250 First Street, Basement 1, Los Angeles, CA, 90012.