James Chen and Chef Chris Pak, co-owners of KuKu Korean Cuisine, will open a new chain of their Queens-based restaurant in Roslyn Heights. The duo plans to introduce the new restaurant at 96 Mineola Ave. by the end of 2025.
The restaurant specializes in traditional Korean cuisine, with menu items ranging from spicy pork with kimchi bulgogi to bibimbap, a dish with seasoned vegetables and optional meat over rice.
Chen and Pak paired up in 2021 to open their first business in Long Island City after Chen kept returning multiple times per week for roughly a decade to another restaurant where Pak worked as a chef. When the restaurant closed down during the pandemic’s peak, Chen joined with Pak to open their own restaurant after becoming friends over the years.
Chen said their backgrounds in operating restaurants complement each other well, with Chen working more on the administrative side while Pak heads the kitchen.
“Because our specialties are different, there’s no conflicts,” Chen said. “And I trust his ideas. He can do whatever he wants without asking me for my permission because I trust him 100% and vice versa. Every time I say, ‘Hey! This is a new location, we’re going to work on this,’ he says ‘I’m ready.’ That’s the kind of partnership that we have.”
“We’re very happy.”
Since starting nearly four years ago, KuKu Korean Cuisine hasexpanded to Forest Hills and will open another Long Island location in Huntington in the next two months.
Once open, customers can enjoy the restaurant’s array of sweet, spicy and savory offerings, including Thai chili chi-bap, a dish with fried chicken coated in Thai chili sauce over rice with toppings including spicy mayo and pickled carrot.
Other dishes include beef tofu stew, kimchi bacon fried rice, and the noodle stir fry entree Japche.
While KuKu Korean Cuisine offers numerous chicken dishes like crispy chicken wings, tenders and poppers, Chen said his focus for the restaurant is creating an authentic Korean culinary experience, which he said is hard to come by.
“I feel like Korean food does not get the same reputation as compared with other Asian foods,” Chen said. “Our food and tastes are completely different than most Asian food…but somehow we don’t get that recognition.”
As owners of traditional Korean restaurants retire and close up shop, Chen said generational knowledge gets lost. And while restaurants like Korean Barbeque joints and Pelicana Chicken in Plainview offer Korean dishes, their specialties are limited to only barbecue or chicken dishes, Chen said, rather than showcasing a full scope of authentic Korean cuisine.
“That’s the reason why we’re unique,” Chen said. “The traditional, original Korean food is fading away, and we’re trying to bring it back.”
Chen also credits his business partner Pak with getting the restaurant to where it is today by leading the kitchen and bringing the authentic culinary experience alive.
“He is the master key of this restaurant,” Chen said.
Since moving to the Roslyn area a few years ago, Chen said he has been eager to open a chain in town. Chen also said his admiration for the residents and the character of the neighborhood inspire him to make the new location the best it can be.
“I wanted to reinvest back to the neighborhood,” Chen said. “I wish I could have opened this last year!”
