New York City’s first-ever Pocha is getting ready for its first expansion since opening.
Nowon is a popular new restaurant concept from Chef Jae Lee, who began his culinary career in 2007 in an East Village ramen shop. While studying hospitality management at CUNY, Lee fell in love with the craftsmanship of ramen and began dreaming of operating a ramen shop of his own that paid homage to his Korean roots. Over the next few years, Lee would work at various well-known restaurants across the city, including Tribeca Canvas, Shikh Ahn, Zyma, and Momosan Ramen. His big break came in 2017 though, when he was invited to serve as Executive Chef at 50 Bowery’s Hotel celebrated Rice & Gold restaurant.
At Rice & Gold, Lee befriended his now-mentor Dale Tade and the two began developing menus together and plotting a vision for a brand-new restaurant concept. When Rice & Gold closed in 2019, Lee began operating a pop-up restaurant called Him, which means “Strength” in Korean. The success of Him launched to critical acclaim and elevated Chef Lee to the public stage, and soon he was finally able to open the restaurant of dreams – Nowon.
Established as a tribute to his Korean culture as an American citizen, Nown prides itself on being New York’s first Pocha, which is the Korean version of what Americans would describe as a “gastropub”. Named after Chef Lee’s hometown in Seoul, Nown earned city-wide praise for its incredible food options, delicious house cocktails, soju, and for regularly inviting patrons to participate in Korean drinking games. Offering up everything from cucumber kimchi and Nowon fried chicken to Chef Lee’s legendary burger with his signature kimchi mayo, Nowon has quickly established itself as the East Village’s go-to spot for elevated Korean fare and craft cocktails.
Excitingly, Chef Lee has just announced on Instagram that he and the Nowon team will be launching their first-ever expansion later this year in Bushwick. While he hasn’t officially announced the new location, he has teased it, posting cropped-out pictures of the renovations and inviting fans to guess where he may be opening Nowon’s next iteration.
Nowon’s Instagram page currently lists Summer 2023 as the restaurant’s targeted opening date. In the meantime, Chef Lee is currently set to get married this weekend, and Nowon fans have been flocking to the comments section to offer the couple their well-wishes. For further updates as the story develops, you can follow Nowon on Instagram.
