A New Voice in Modern Australian Dining: Wood Fire Cuisine with a Korean Soul

A new modern Australian restaurant is set to open with a clear yet deeply considered vision: to explore how Korean flavour can live naturally within contemporary Australian dining.

Born from years of reflection and global kitchen experience, the restaurant presents modern Australian wood-fire dining with Korean flavour—not as fusion for novelty’s sake, but as an organic evolution of the chef’s culinary journey.

The kitchen is led by Korean chef - Happy Cho - whose career spans some of the worlds most influential restaurants, including Mr Miyagi, Nobu, and the two-Michelin-starred Benu. With a foundation in Japanese cuisine and extensive experience in French and Mexican cooking techniques, Cho has spent years refining a style defined by balance, restraint, and clarity of flavour.

Despite this global background, a quiet question remained: how can Korean flavour be expressed in a way that feels natural, refined, and contemporary—without losing its identity?

This restaurant is the answer.

Wood fire sits at the heart of the kitchen, reflecting both Australian cooking culture and the chef’s belief in simplicity and depth. Korean flavours appear not as literal recreations of traditional dishes, but as subtle references—through fermentation, seasoning, aroma, and structure—woven seamlessly into modern Australian plates.

The result is a dining experience that feels familiar yet distinctive: Australian in its openness and produce-driven approach, global in technique, and quietly Korean in soul.

This is not a reinterpretation of Korean cuisine, nor a departure from it. It is a personal expression—an exploration of heritage through the lens of modern Australian dining.