Cote's founder shares taste of Korean culture

Simon Kim, owner of Cote, a Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse in New York City / Courtesy of Cote

By Betsy Kim

NEW YORK ― When the doors open at 5 p.m. at Korean steakhouse Cote in Manhattan's bustling Flatiron district, the first stream of guests celebrating family birthdays and graduation dinners arrive into a crisp and modern room filled with subdued music.

Two hours into the night, the atmosphere gradually transitions as professionals come in after work and start filling the tables. Then at around 9 p.m. is when the music gets loud and guests ready to party start to arrive, donning fancy, night-on-the-town clothes.

This is a typical night at Simon Kim's acclaimed Michelin-starred New York City restaurant. Its Miami location which opened last year recently also won the Michelin epicurean badge of honor. But although Cote has catapulted Korean barbecue into today's latest trend, it still reaffirms how Koreans respect the full cycle of life.

"We don't want to forget about anyone," Kim said. "I don't want to work at a restaurant that grandmas and children cannot come to."

His philosophy has benefited from its wisdom. Both Cote restaurants generate an annual gross revenue totaling between $35 million and $40 million, according to a company spokesperson. Kim's achievements have attracted high-profile attention. He even met with South Korea's newly elected President Yoon Suk-yeol, as an invited guest at the inauguration in Seoul.

At Cote, Simon Kim combines a typical Korean barbecue joint with an upscale fine dining experience. / Courtesy of Cote

But it's not just big money that comes with serving 300 guests every night at each of his restaurants. For Kim, this kind of foot traffic creates an opportunity to cross an international, cultural bridge to South Korea.

His business model rests upon a commitment to go beyond preparing exquisite meals, sourcing quality ingredients and preserving authentic Korean traditional dishes, while using modernized cooking techniques from around the world.

Words alone often cannot fully capture the beauty and subtle idiosyncrasies of other cultures. These aspects must be lived, making food and drink an essential aspect of traveling abroad.

With this understanding as a distinguishing hallmark, Kim strives daily to convey an authentic sense of Korea ― a taste of its history and people ― through a culinary experience.

Celebration of life

"The word, 'family,' in Korean is 'shi-ku.' If you translate that into Chinese characters, it means, 'the ones you share a meal with,'" Kim said. "Koreans like to share."

For centuries, he said, other countries such as China and Japan have attacked Korea. He pointed out how the Land of the Morning Calm didn't hit the industrial-age jackpot of widespread affluence with oil, gold or natural resources. Only now, in contemporary times, he said, has South Korea reached an economic golden age, becoming a global powerhouse. Thus, historically, eating together and celebrating good fortune were important, according to Kim.

"When we get together, there's still that sense of convivial abundance," Kim said. "I wanted to zero in on that, for Cote to really provide for Americans that festive sense of how Koreans really celebrate life."

Simon Kim strives daily to convey an authentic sense of Korea and a taste of its history through culinary experiences. / Courtesy of Cote

Having worked for Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Thomas Keller, two of America's acclaimed restaurant owners and chefs, he recognized how Americans appreciated the art of elegant cuisine from other countries.

"When I moved to the U.S., how Asian cuisine was viewed as inferior or cheap was something I resented because back home that's not how it is," he said referring to the ubiquitous plastic cutlery and containers often associated with takeout food. "We don't all eat off plastic things. There is refinement and finesse."

Kim explained that in Korea, aristocratic society and culture with high-end culinary traditions have long existed, dating back for centuries. It became part of Kim's mission to share that sophisticated gastronomic heritage with diners in the U.S.

Living with balance

The restaurateur opined that Koreans value balance, which comes across in their diet.

"When we eat steak, we don't double down on mashed potatoes and creamed spinach," he stated. There is rice, fermented, pickled and leafy vegetables, prebiotic and probiotic fiber. "When you feast at Cote, the next day you don't feel bad. That's one of the reasons that I have people coming in two or three times a week."

There is the deluxe $185 steak omakase with an $80 wine pairing. But the restaurant remains accessible, having a $64 "Butcher's Feast." This menu item includes four selections of meat, Korean accompaniments, vegetables, well-known side dishes and dessert.

The "Meat, Meat & More Meat" menu section offers individual pricing generally in the mid-$40 and up range. Diners can add on various Korean-style fixings and choose fish and other savory options such as bibimbap, kimchi stew and angel hair pasta with apples, lettuce and a gochujang sauce.

Kim picked galbi ($49 marinated short ribs) as his favorite dish. Although the menu also features two types of caviar as well as Kobe beef certified by the Japanese government, he added, "Galbi is unique and it's Korean."

When he was growing up in the 1990s, galbi was the favorite food of almost every Korean child, Kim recalled. But even affluent families did not overindulge. "Being able to eat galbi with a bowl of rice and kimchi just brings me back to a different place and I can channel my inner child," he said.

Generosity from deep within

Kim described a sense of hospitality and generosity that he says comes from deep inside Koreans, something amounting to giving "a little more." It encapsulates how if a customer finished too quickly or didn't order enough food, a traditional Korean grandma restaurant owner would just give the guest more food.

Cote is a for-profit business. Yet Kim aspires for it to embody his motherland's "aggressively hospitality-driven" nature and genuine generosity.

He views his active philanthropy as merely involvement in his different communities. Being in the food industry, Kim serves on the board of directors of City Harvest, which feeds New Yorkers in need. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with zero revenue dollars coming in, Cote donated $25,000 to the nonprofit. Partnering with Frontline Foods, the restaurant and its proprietor gave $10,000 and delivered 777 meals to hospitals for healthcare workers, according to a Cote spokesperson.

Kim supports Apex for Youth, an organization that provides mentorships for Asian and immigrant students from low-income families. Twice a year, Cote hosts complimentary dinners, inviting the mentees to dine at the restaurant on Wagyu beef, caviar and other fine delicacies. Emphasizing that kids need more than academic support and scholarships, he commented that exposure to these types of experiences helps prepare them socially for the future.

In response to the surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), Kim co-founded "The Taste of Asia." The fundraiser offered Asian-inspired food from 40 top restaurants. With tickets ranging from $1,000 to $50,000, the event raised over $1 million split among City Harvest, Apex for Youth and the Madison Square Park Conservancy, where he's an associate board member.

The business leader helps the Korean American Community Foundation, which provides grants to nonprofits focused on assisting underserved people. He also backs the Korea Society, which promotes Korean culture.

Cultivating an American Dream

Kim started his first restaurant in 2013 with executive chef Chris Cipollone. Although it served Italian food, he named it Piora. In Korean this means "to blossom," as it was always his intention to grow his business. Cote (pronounced "kkot") in Korean means "flower." The name signifies that which has blossomed. Plus, with high-quality beef, professional butchers say that "the marbling has flowered."

In 1995, Kim was uprooted and transplanted to the Long Island suburb of Manhasset, when his parents moved from Seoul. Coming to the U.S. as a non-English-speaking 13-year-old was tough.

"You come here from a different country, teenagers are going to pick on you," Kim said. In junior high school, scuffling with a bully who knocked off his hat, Kim fought back. He gave his harasser a bloody nose. No one bullied Kim again. The eye-opening lesson taught him about refusing to tolerate people who overstep boundaries, without going overboard.

After studying finance at Baruch College, he moved to Las Vegas and earned his degree in hotel management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He manned the front desk at the MGM Grand, then worked at the upscale Japanese restaurant, Shibuya. Kim returned to New York, and served as a manager at BR Guest, Matsugen, the Mark Restaurant and Thomas Keller's restaurant group.

Often being the only Asian male while working his way up the professional ladder meant encountering racism. He managed servers who pushed back against his authority. He recalled even some diners would question, "Who is this guy?" when he opened a bottle of French wine.

"It was difficult to be in the position of middle management," he said. "I was not the business owner. I was just in that middle. So that was challenging."

He responded by having a thicker skin, showing up earlier and going home later.

After opening Piora, Kim met his wife Karen Yun. She also came to the U.S. from Korea as a teenager. They knew of each other, having common friends while they were both in college. One night, a friend called and told him to take good care of his younger sister, who would be coming to the restaurant for dinner. In 2016, the two married. Now, living on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, they have two young children, daughter Dani and son Eunu.

However, building the American Dream is seldom an easy journey. Although food critics gave Piora rave reviews, and in 2015 it earned a Michelin star, it was financially bleeding. A Cote representative stated that Kim took out a $120,000 personal loan to keep the business afloat. He had to shutter the doors of the charming West Village eatery in 2017. But the entrepreneur put his chips on Cote, the Korean restaurant he had envisioned for years.

All business ventures involve a bit of a gamble but Kim's odds are auspicious. He has long since paid off the loan and under his Gracious Hospitality Management umbrella, he's planning for continued growth into the future.

Translating Korean culture at Cote

Kim's perseverance in cultivating and establishing his roots as a Korean-American immigrant is integral to the brand's food, hospitality and service.

In describing Korean culture, he listed several terms: "han" or a form of resentment, "yamang" or ambition, "yeui" or politeness and courtesy, and added in an American slang word for an irreverent rebel. Words, even in translation, can fall short. But dining can be a profound experience, deciphering those encrypted layers of what all people understand and share in common.

Kim's favorite part of his business is how food and hospitality have a unique power to connect people ― something Cote does 365 days a year. He wondered aloud how many people have come together, bonded and celebrated friendships and family moments, under their roof.

"The emotional and human relationships that we bring together, that's what wakes me up every morning," he said.

Making people happy is one of the most joyful but also most difficult things, he stated. "I'm only as good as my last meal."

But the Korean-American immigrant added with a smile, "The meal I'm most interested in serving is the meal that I haven't yet served."

Betsy Kim is an editor, writer and immigration lawyer based in New York City.