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A New Homestyle Korean Restaurant in West Town Is a Tribute to Siblings' Mother and Grandmother

Daniel Hautzinger
A spread of Korean dishes on a table seen from overhead
“We wanted to create a space where we can share that same experience that we had growing up – that homestyle, authentic Korean cuisine – in a place where non-Koreans and Koreans alike can all experience it,” says Charlie Park. Credit: Nick Robins Photography

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Two siblings are opening a Korean restaurant in West Town in homage to their mother and grandmother. Mister Tiger at 1132 W. Grand Ave. debuts with a soft opening on January 25. It features traditional Korean dishes that Charlie Park and Min Lee grew up eating, from stalwarts that you’ll find on the menu of most Korean restaurants – such as the ubiquitous side dishes banchan, pajeon (fried chive pancakes), marinated beef bulgogi, and the rice bowl bibimbap – to items less commonly seen in Chicago, like the elaborate braised short rib galbijjim or fried cod braised in a spicy sauce.

“They made literally everything that you see on the menu, and my mom still does,” says Lee of his mother and grandmother. Photos of both of them as well as Park and Lee as kids are on display in Mister Tiger. Their mother came to a family preview night at the restaurant and “was shocked to see a bunch of pictures of her,” Park says with a laugh. But she’s foundational to the restaurant, even if not officially involved: she has been preparing the kimchi for Mister Tiger’s opening events and lunch takeout, which launched earlier, although Lee, the restaurant’s executive chef, will soon take over.

That succession is fitting, since Lee cooked for and helped raise her younger brother Park when their mother was working and grandmother was busy elsewhere. She helped the matriarchs prepare food, and in the process picked up the ineffable quality of sonmat, or “hand taste.”

“It’s about cooking without precise measurements or written recipes, instead relying on intuition and the senses to create delicious flavors,” explains Park. Now Lee is sharing those baked-in memories of flavors with people outside the family via Mister Tiger, with the help of Park and her own husband, Brian Lee, the third partner in the restaurant.

“We wanted to create a space where we can share that same experience that we had growing up – that homestyle, authentic Korean cuisine – in a place where non-Koreans and Koreans alike can all experience it,” Park says.

While the dishes are traditional, they are presented in a contemporary space and manner, in a location where there’s not much Korean food around – the partners are hoping to capture some of the downtown worker lunch crowd with their dosirak, the Korean version of a bento box, which contains portions of rice, salad, a protein, banchan, and more. Once Mister Tiger gets its liquor license, a bar program headed up by Park will serve a variety of sool – Korean alcohols that include the spirit soju and creamy rice beverage makgeolli – as well as playful cocktails like one that riffs on the menthol- and herb-heavy Tiger Balm salve Park’s grandmother used to soothe her joints.

While you can find plentiful Korean restaurants and stores in the northwestern suburbs, as well as some throughout the city, Park and the Lees believed the area near downtown could use more homestyle Korean food. “We want to add the dishes that are 100% authentic but also very approachable,” Park says. They offer some popular Korean barbecue, like short ribs and a ssam platter of vegetables, pickles, and sauces to accompany them, but they also serve humble dishes such as the burger-like marinated beef patty tteok-galbi, soybean stew with tofu, and fish cake stew with rice cakes. And then there’s the decidedly not homestyle galbijjim, a royal dish which pairs slow-cooked short rib with rice cakes and a variety of vegetables in a rich sauce.

“It’s our signature dish,” Park says, “but it is probably the toughest dish to make in the kitchen,” due to the long cooking time, artfully cut vegetables, and multiple components. Despite the labor, even that dish showed up on the table prepared by his mother and grandmother.

The family grew up in New York after immigrating from Korea, and Park and Lee’s grandmother lived with them, helping to raise them while both parents worked. Lee and her mother eventually moved to the Chicago area, and Park followed after college and a stint in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He works for Meta and Brian Lee is a lawyer, jobs both will continue during the day from an office in the back of Mister Tiger before transitioning to hospitality roles at the restaurant at night, while Min Lee keeps the kitchen running for lunch takeout and seated dinner. The work ethic echoes the matriarchs to whom the restaurant is a tribute.

“Something that I’m always thankful for is how much my mom and my grandma sacrificed for us, immigrating to the United States from Korea, and continuing to carry on that tradition” of cooking Korean food at home. Park says. “Korean cuisine takes a lot of work, but that was just how they showed us love, and those are some of my fondest memories. And I want more of that in Chicago.”