Few restaurants have the sex appeal of COTE.
With three locations—in New York, Miami, and Singapore—and a fourth in the works in Las Vegas, the Korean barbecue staple has established itself as a consummate crowd-pleaser—if you can snag a reservation. Behind it all is Simon Kim, a hospitality powerhouse who got his start at his parents’ restaurant in Tribeca before scaling up to Vegas and Manhattan fine dining in the aughts. This year, the Seoul native introduced COQODAQ, a new fried-chicken-forward eatery in Flatiron, and announced a monumental three-story dining nucleus on Madison Avenue.
How does he do it all? Kim lets CULTURED in on a few of his secrets below.
Where are you, and what's in your system?
I'm in my apartment in Tribeca. I have nothing in my system. I went out last night, so I woke up a little late. Right now I'm brewing my green tea.
2024 has been a huge year for you. You opened two new restaurants and announced a monumental new dining project at 550 Madison Avenue. How do you juggle it all?
I started off the year with a bang, right? In January, I opened COQODAQ, a brand-new fried-chicken concept in New York. Two weeks later, I flew out to Singapore—19 and a half hours, the longest flight in the world—and opened a COTE location there. Of course, we have the mega project in Las Vegas, which is going to open next September, and 550 Madison Avenue slated to open the following year. The secret to keeping up is ignorance. I am such a sucker for creating. It's not work, it's not scary, it's not bothersome. Over the years, we built enough infrastructure so that it's not like a candle flame. It's more like a steam engine with a surplus of charcoal that we can continuously feed, so the fire burns strong and sustainably.
Eight years into the COTE story, what has been your biggest takeaway? And the biggest surprise along the way?
The biggest surprise is the validation. I don't have a banking background. I'm went from the dish pit to the boardroom, if you will. I always believed in hard work. We opened eight years ago, and we're doing better year over year. We're still an impossible reservation to get! We opened COTE New York with such fanfare: a Michelin star in four months, fully booked, making lots of money. We were scared that it might be a fad, but we believed in the formula. It's about true hospitality—and looking at it from a customer's perspective.
Tell me about the food environment you grew up in and how that informed your take on hospitality.
Every family is interesting, and so is mine. I always grew up thinking my dad was like a secret Michelin inspector. We didn't go play catch or hike or do these normal activities that kids and fathers would do. But he would take us to fine dining restaurants. My mother, who was an actress—she's now acting again at 72!—was extremely passionate. She saw the dinner table as her time to shine. She knew how important food was to our family because her husband was very introverted, but he loved food. Food brought us together. Food is the most important thing to our family. It wasn’t just about nourishment; my mom wanted to make sure our family was entertained through food. And I was the youngest of the three, so I was kind of the maître d’. My mom and I were basically service providers, and my older siblings, sister, brother, and dad were kind of like the audience or the customers.
So my dad would take me to fine dining restaurants, which I enjoyed, but Korean barbecue was fun and rambunctious. You can be a child, and COTE is exactly that. I wanted to embrace the sensibilities I learned working for Jean-Georges [Vongerichten] and Thomas Keller along with my fun-loving vibe. I wanted to create a restaurant where, if there’s a bell curve, with one end being uber fine dining and the other end being McDonald’s, the majority would enjoy it. Same with COQODAQ, where NYU students and billionaires sit next to each other, having the best time of their lives in their own ways.
What were your first experiences with Miami, and how did you decide to open a branch of COTE there in 2021?
I actually had never been to Miami until about five years ago. As an Asian American New Yorker, Miami wasn’t on my route. I would go to Asia or Europe, but going south just wasn’t a path. When I was looking for COTE’s second location, I traveled a lot: to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto. One of my partners suggested Miami, so we went. When I got there, I realized it’s only two and a half hours away from New York, and it’s tropical. I was feeling the vibe—I fell in love with the beach and weather first, then the people.
I realized that, like New Yorkers, Miami people are extremely curious. I started to see Miami as the sixth borough of New York, and I thought the two cities should have a much closer relationship. I banked on that. My partners warned me that there was no Asian culture or clientele there, so a significant customer base was missing. But I thought it would work. And then I found the Design District, which almost looked like they’d ripped Madison Avenue and turned it into this Disney World for high fashion, luxury, and art. I went to Art Basel too. I was like, “I want to be part of this.”
What’s it been like since the opening?
We’re extremely grateful. We have an amazing local team. Many restaurants open but don’t have the resources or human capital to really train people. We were there with them every day for six months. That’s rare. We invested our time, and now 75 percent of our employees there are day-one employees, which is rare three years in. I love our Miami location. We have a cold, sexy facade, but we pair that with warm hospitality, humility, and food consistency. We got our Michelin star in the first year, so all the stars aligned. We added a Korean ceviche to pay homage to our South American clientele, have DJs Thursday through Saturday, and make sure the vibe and lights inside the corridors have a Miami…
Flair?
Exactly. We have a private room with karaoke. An element like that captures the zeitgeist of Miami. Their blood is hotter, and they like to party.
In the spirit of camaraderie, can you tell me about other Miami restaurants you really love beyond COTE?
I love Mandolin Aegean Bistro—sitting outside, eating Greek food, drinking white wine under those enchanting lights. It really hits the spot. You cannot talk about Miami restaurants without Joe’s Stone Crab—the best. Pro tip: Their coconut shrimp appetizer is a true sleeper. People think the fried chicken is the thing, but really it’s the coconut shrimp with their honey mustard sauce. There’s a great sushi restaurant in Coral Gables called Shingo. And then there’s Thomas Keller’s Surf Club. For a fancy night out, nothing hits home like the Surf Club.
You’re also a prolific collector. Could you tell me how you got into the field and how that journey parallels your hospitality work?
I grew up around incredible art. We didn’t have a TV in the living room; instead, we had art, and that had a huge influence on us. Both of my older siblings went into art. My sister went to Cornell University for fine art, and my brother went to the [School of the] Art Institute of Chicago. My sister [Rosa Suehyun Kim] later became an art dealer. She helps me collect because I’m busy selling steak and fried chicken. Restaurants are a perfect place to display art. Conventionally, art spaces are white walls with canvases hanging, which is amazing and lets you focus on the piece. But that’s evolving. Imagine a dark space with music. What kind of feeling does art yield in that setting? Sometimes I’ve had a couple of martinis, and suddenly a painting speaks way more strongly to me than it did before.
I love Tracy Emin’s pieces; we have them in New York and Miami. There’s also a Louise Bourgeois piece, one of her rare works, with a boy and girl wrapped around each other—it’s colorful and lovely. We have Ed Ruscha’s Miracle in New York, which creates a distinct feeling on a dark wall. Barbara Kruger’s [My Pretty Pony] is another favorite, creating a dynamic atmosphere. We just got a Tracey Emin piece—a little napkin that says “Thank You,” and that sets the tone too. Those pieces create warmth, and you’re seeing them in a completely different context.
If you were to sit down for a meal with an artist right now, who would it be?
I’d hang out with Andy Warhol. As a restaurateur, I balance commerce and artistry. He embraced that balance. So, I’d just want to hang out—vibe with Andy. Drink whatever he’s drinking, a lot of it, go to his studio, and talk.
What dish represents where you’re at in life right now?
The Butcher’s Feast at COTE. It’s my North Star. When I opened COTE, I was underfunded and desperate but grateful. In Korea, we call it “beginner’s heart,” and the Butcher’s Feast has that essence in it. Fast-forward eight years, and much has changed personally and professionally. But I still need my North Star.
