Louis Vuitton's unexpected foray into fine dining has been a global talking point, and Korean food lovers are buzzing that the brand chose to spotlight Korea's most celebrated overseas chef — bringing a taste of New York's Atomix back to Seoul for the first time. The fact that Chef Junghyun Park doesn't have his own restaurant in Korea makes this collaboration feel like a rare, unmissable event.
Louis Vuitton has been quietly building one of the most unexpected luxury empires in the food world — and their latest move just landed in the heart of Seoul. Following the success of their Bangkok collaboration with legendary Indian chef Gaggan Anand, the fashion house has now partnered with Chef Junghyun Park (JP), the Korean culinary genius behind New York's acclaimed Atomix, to open **JP @ Louis Vuitton** in Myeongdong's Shinsegae Department Store flagship. It opened in January 2026, and one dedicated food blogger has already been — and they have thoughts.
For those unfamiliar with Chef Park's story: he trained in Seoul, then honed his craft in Finland and Australia before joining Jungsik in Seoul, one of Korea's most respected fine dining institutions. He moved to New York in 2011 as part of the opening team for Jungsik NYC, then launched his own casual Korean restaurant Atoboy in 2016, followed by the fine dining powerhouse Atomix in 2018. Atomix went on to be named the best restaurant in North America by the World's 50 Best Restaurants and earned two Michelin stars — making Chef Park arguably the most celebrated Korean chef on the global stage right now. The twist? He doesn't have a restaurant in Korea itself, which makes this Louis Vuitton collaboration feel even more special for Korean diners who've never had a chance to taste his food at home.
The restaurant is tucked on the 6th floor of Shinsegae's The Reserve section in Myeongdong — no direct elevator, so you'll need to take the escalator up from the 5th floor. The space is dressed in classic Louis Vuitton elegance, with branded tableware that the reviewer cheekily noted looks even better than Hermès. The lunch menu reads like a love letter to Korean ingredients reimagined through a French fine dining lens. Highlights included a crispy **gametae** (dried seaweed) roll filled with yukhoe (Korean beef tartare), Korean pear, and white kimchi — a dish that somehow felt both deeply Korean and effortlessly modern. A silken tofu dish topped with foie gras foam was another standout: the spicy, umami-rich soondubu flavor played beautifully against the creamy richness of the foam. The abalone risotto — made with barley, spinach, and mussels, finished with cheongju (Korean rice wine) and crème fraîche — was described as a sophisticated distillation of Korea's coastal flavors. The lobster with gochujang foam and the Hanwoo beef striploin with galbi sauce rounded out the mains, both showcasing how Korean fermented and braised flavors can be woven seamlessly into Western fine dining technique. Desserts leaned into unexpected Korean ingredients too: a burdock root vanilla ice cream with pine shoot sorbet and makgeolli foam was the kind of thing you'd never expect to work — and yet, apparently, it absolutely does.
The day-to-day kitchen is run by a former sous chef from Atomix, so the DNA of Chef Park's New York flagship is very much present even without him physically in Seoul. The reviewer, who had been underwhelmed by Atoboy back in 2016, came away genuinely impressed — calling it more refined and cohesive than most Michelin-starred restaurants currently operating in Korea. The menu changes quarterly, so there's already a reason to go back. Dinner is next on the list.