A five-hour tasting menu in a basement on Manhattan's East Side has just been crowned the best restaurant in North America — and the couple behind it are Korean immigrants who arrived in New York with little more than an idea.
Atomix, opened in 2018 by chef Junghyun "JP" Park and his wife Ellia, took the top spot on the inaugural North America's 50 Best Restaurants list, adding to two Michelin stars it had already earned. The Parks also had a fresh arrival to celebrate when the news landed: their first child, born just a few weeks earlier.
What makes Atomix interesting isn't just the accolades. The restaurant serves a Korean tasting menu in one of the world's most competitive dining cities, built deliberately around the food of the Parks' home country rather than chasing fusion or playing it safe. JP Park says he never imagined the level of recognition it has received, and he frames the success in broader terms: he hopes Atomix shows how a very specific cultural point of view can connect with people from completely different backgrounds.
That message lands with extra weight right now. As the United States debates immigration, who belongs, and who gets to stay, one of its most celebrated restaurants is the work of two people who came from South Korea and staked everything on sharing where they came from. The Parks' story is, in effect, the immigrant story told through tasting menus.
For travellers, the takeaway is twofold. First, Atomix is now firmly on the list of reservations worth planning a New York trip around — the kind of table you book well in advance, not walk into. Second, it's part of a bigger shift in how American fine dining works: the top of the scene is no longer defined by French technique or Californian produce, but by chefs cooking from their own roots. New York's most interesting tables increasingly belong to immigrants cooking the food they grew up with.
This story is the first US stop for Food Chain, a series from Roads & Kingdoms and 50 Best exploring food culture through restaurants like this one. The full feature sits behind the publisher's membership program, which starts at $6.50 a month and includes twice-weekly features and access to in-person events.
Even if a seat at Atomix stays out of reach, the Parks' trajectory is worth following: from a 2018 opening to two Michelin stars and a continent-wide No. 1 in seven years, on their own terms. It's a reminder that the best reason to book a hard-to-get reservation isn't the flex — it's the chance to taste a point of view you can't get anywhere else.