Exciting news! JEJU noodle bar has secured the 16th spot in Pete Wells’ prestigious NYC 100 Best Restaurants list from New York Times !
We’re reaching out to express our deepest gratitude for your ongoing support and patronage. Your enthusiasm for our cuisine and atmosphere has played a pivotal role in our success.
Thank you for believing in us and for being part of our journey. We’re incredibly fortunate to have guests like you who inspire us to strive for excellence every day.
We look forward to celebrating this achievement with you soon. Until then, please accept our heartfelt thank you!
Thank you @busychopstix and @soilbaker for JEJU Chikin Logo. It took very long time to come up with the right one but we are very satisfied. So many tries and errors. Thank you for your patience. @soilbaker thinks I am one of the pickiest person😜 in the world.
I was saddened to hear that Sushidokoro Mekumi NY may have closed — it hadn’t been open very long, and it was doing something genuinely special. It carved out a rare space in the city: high-quality omakase at a price point that didn’t require a special occasion to justify. Their crab omakase was a standout — refined without being showy, and seasoned with the kind of restraint that only comes from confidence in the ingredient itself. Their corkage policy was equally generous, which made it a quiet favorite among wine lovers who wanted something meaningful in the glass without the markup. Whatever the reason for the closure, it’s a loss. New York City has always been a brutal proving ground for restaurants, and it’s only becoming more so — rising costs, shifting regulations, and an operating environment that seems designed to wear you down year by year.
But watching places like this disappear has pushed me to think about something deeper. Eating is one of the last experiences that cannot be digitized, automated, or replaced. It isn’t content. It isn’t a service that can be optimized away. It engages every sense, anchors memory, carries culture, and brings people together in a way that nothing else quite replicates. A meal shared over a great bottle of wine is, in its own quiet way, an act of being fully human.
As AI absorbs more and more of daily life, I think dining will become one of the few things that grows richer in meaning rather than diminished — not despite its simplicity, but because of it. AI can process. It can generate. But it cannot taste, cannot smell, cannot feel the weight of a glass or the warmth of a room. That matters. And as long as it does, the table remains one of the most important places we have. I hope we never stop fighting to protect it.
And yes — there’s an irony in all of this. Even these words were spoken into my phone and shaped by AI. But that’s exactly the point. It can find the words for me. It cannot taste or smell for me. Some things still have to be lived
I’ve been getting into film photography lately, and the whole process of shooting, scanning, and converting negatives to positives is surprisingly involved — way more nuanced than just exporting a digital file. I use a Plustek scanner and Negative Lab Pro to handle the conversion, then bring everything into Lightroom Classic to fine-tune. When the scanner hits correctly, it’s incredibly satisfying. I especially love shooting oceans — there’s something about the way film renders water, tones, and grain that digital just can’t replicate
Many of you have been asking why we weren’t open 7 days.
Our focus has always been consistency — making sure every service meets the standard we set for ourselves.
As we prepare for our new Nolita location, it’s time to grow.
We are now open 7 days a week, including Mondays and Tuesdays.
With a larger team, we’re able to create more space for walk-ins and welcome more of you throughout the week.
We’re currently looking to expand our BOH team.
If you’re dedicated, focused, and serious about your craft, we would like to hear from you.
This is just the beginning.
I finally had the chance to try Leica MONOPAN 50, and it turned out to be a much more challenging film than I expected.
This is not an easy film to shoot. With ISO 50, it demands a lot of light and careful exposure. There’s very little room for error, and it really forces you to slow down and think through every frame. In that sense, it feels very “pure”—you have to be intentional with both your settings and your timing.
At the same time, it’s also not the easiest film to work with afterward. Getting the most out of it requires a thoughtful approach during development and scanning. It’s definitely not a point-and-shoot kind of experience.
I’ve heard that this film is quite limited, and honestly, I’m not even sure how easy it will be to get your hands on it consistently. That alone makes it feel a bit special.
Despite the difficulty, it’s actually a very fun film to shoot. The challenge is part of the appeal. When you do get it right, the results feel earned, and there’s something very satisfying about that process.
Overall, Leica MONOPAN 50 is not for everyone—but if you enjoy a slower, more deliberate shooting experience, it’s definitely worth trying.#leica #leicam6#monopan50
After spending so much time shooting digital, I’ve noticed a lot of people assume film is easier—that you can just shoot and don’t have to edit or do much afterward. Personally, I feel the opposite. Film actually involves more steps and more intention. From choosing the film stock to development and scanning, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. In many ways, the “editing” is just built into the process rather than done afterward.
That said, the results can be incredibly rewarding. When everything comes together, film has a depth and character that feels truly special.
I’ve been shooting with the Leica M6 for a while, and it’s been a beautiful, deliberate experience. But after picking up the Leica R9, photography started to feel fun in a completely different way. It opens up more possibilities, especially with wider lenses.
Shooting at 19mm is something I had never really explored before, and it’s been a refreshing change. The perspective is dramatic, a bit challenging at times, but ultimately very engaging. It pushes me to see compositions differently and experiment more.
One of the best parts of the R system is its flexibility. Being able to adapt these lenses to M and SL bodies makes them even more valuable, letting you carry that same character across different systems.
Overall, film may take more effort than people expect, but that’s exactly what makes it so satisfying.
After spending so much time shooting digital, I’ve noticed a lot of people assume film is easier—that you can just shoot and don’t have to edit or do much afterward. Personally, I feel the opposite. Film actually involves more steps and more intention. From choosing the film stock to development and scanning, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. In many ways, the “editing” is just built into the process rather than done afterward.
That said, the results can be incredibly rewarding. When everything comes together, film has a depth and character that feels truly special.
I’ve been shooting with the Leica M6 for a while, and it’s been a beautiful, deliberate experience. But after picking up the Leica R9, photography started to feel fun in a completely different way. It opens up more possibilities, especially with wider lenses.
Shooting at 19mm is something I had never really explored before, and it’s been a refreshing change. The perspective is dramatic, a bit challenging at times, but ultimately very engaging. It pushes me to see compositions differently and experiment more.
One of the best parts of the R system is its flexibility. Being able to adapt these lenses to M and SL bodies makes them even more valuable, letting you carry that same character across different systems.
Overall, film may take more effort than people expect, but that’s exactly what makes it so satisfying.
