Mari Korean Handroll

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

The Concept Behind the Roll

Mari takes its name from the Korean word for "roll," and that single idea shapes everything on the plate. Opened in late 2021 in Hell's Kitchen, it is the second restaurant from chef Sungchul Shim — the same team behind the Michelin-starred Kochi — and it carries forward the same balance of accessibility and culinary tradition that made their first project a success. The premise is deceptively simple: the hand roll, a format rooted in Korean street food, becomes the vehicle for a refined, seasonally driven tasting menu.

The Chef's Story

Sungchul Shim grew up in the Korean province of Jeollanam-do, cooking for large family gatherings before going on to train in some of New York's most demanding kitchens — Le Bernardin, Per Se, Morimoto, and Neta in Greenwich Village among them. In 2019 he opened Kochi, a nine-course Korean skewer tasting menu that earned a Michelin star. Mari represents his next step: taking the hand roll seriously as a fine-dining format, with Chef de Cuisine Feridun Fangaj alongside him in the kitchen.

What to Expect at the Table

The tasting menu opens with the hansang, an amuse-bouche course of small, tantalizing bites. From there, seasonally inspired hand rolls take center stage. The foundation of each roll is carefully considered: rice prepared with a sesame seed and sesame oil base, wrapped in gim — the delicately textured dried seaweed that gives each bite its structure and depth.

The current menu moves through a thoughtful progression of Korean seafood and land-based ingredients. Egg and Caviar arrives with Myeong Ran Beurre Blanc, fennel, and rice cake. A morel course pairs burdock, sunchoke, maitake, and tonburi. The seafood selections — fluke, beltfish, Ora King salmon, scallop, branzino — reflect the kitchen's confidence with fish, while Zabuton wagyu and a Spicy Tuna roll broaden the range. The meal concludes with two desserts: an apricot sorbet with oolong granita and cherries, followed by mochi donuts with coconut sorbet and calamansi curd.

Wine Spectator recognized Mari with its Award of Excellence, a fitting acknowledgment for a restaurant that pairs its Korean cuisine with a wine list thoughtful enough to merit a dedicated pairing option alongside the tasting menu.

The Experience

Mari pushes the boundaries of contemporary Korean cuisine without abandoning what makes the hand roll a beloved format in the first place. The result is a dinner that feels both grounded in tradition and genuinely inventive — a tasting menu that earns its place among New York City's most distinctive fine-dining experiences.