Jeong - Chicago
Korean is currently a happening cuisine, 
but it has a long and distinguished tradition that’s slowly being revealed to Chicago diners. Jeong is an excellent restaurant for newcomers to Korean food as well as those who’ve known it for years.
Jeong is headed up by Dave Park and Jennifer Tran, formerly of the highly regarded Hanbun, and it has been gaining high praise from Chicago food enthusiasts.
Korean is currently a happening cuisine, but it has a long and distinguished tradition that’s slowly being revealed to Chicago diners. Jeong is an excellent restaurant for newcomers to Korean food as well as those who’ve known it for years.
Jeong is headed up by Dave Park and Jennifer Tran, formerly of the highly regarded Hanbun, and it has been gaining high praise from Chicago food enthusiasts.
Jeong offers elevated Korean food, with an eye toward achieving the delicate finesse characteristic of fine dining restaurants and an adherence to traditional techniques of preparing Korean food.
Still, one of the few traditional Korean food served at Jeong is the kimchi…and they, of course, bring it a step further. On the Jeong tasting menu, the kimchi is paired with duck and rice, and kimchee juice is also used in a truffle emulsion for the beef course.
a luscious dish is the Beef and Kimchee pie, a layered, lasagna-type creation that you have likely never tasted before…but really should.
There is, however, way much more than just kimchee on the menu, and several of Jeong dishes have gained much critical acclaim.
In Chicago Magazine, Jeff Ruby wrote “From the first course of the tasting menu, I knew that Dave Park had also taken his food to the next level. In that dish, thick, succulent coins of king crab nestle with twigs of pickled ginger, chili-braised fern, and a marmalade of maesil…the next offering, a puck of salmon tartare, was Park’s inspired take on hwe (pronounced way, as in ‘way better than sashimi’)… It’s my favorite thing from 2019 so far. Not my favorite dish. My favorite anything.”
In Chicago Tribune, Phil Vettel contends, “The optional tasting menu, $87 for seven courses, is a conspicuous bargain compared to menus of similar size and skill.”
Jeong is an affordable luxury, and both an accessible introduction to Korean cuisine and a step further for those already familiar with this powerful culinary tradition.
