NY1: New Korean fine dining restaurant Noksu opens inside subway station

Nōksu, a Korean-influenced fine dining restaurant, opened its doors underground at the Herald Square subway station earlier this month.

The restaurant's entrance is low key by design. And the owners play up the mystery of the black door by sending diners an access code that changes every day.

"We wanted people to walk into an ambiance of tranquility," said Bobby Kwak, one of the owners of Nōksu.

Kwak and his business partner Joseph Ko fell in love with the 1,200 square foot space four years ago and wanted to take their time renovating it. Kwak said the space was occupied by a barbershop and newspaper stand for more than 30 years.

Transforming it into a restaurant wasn’t quick. There were a lot of workarounds that needed to be done. For instance, there’s no gas line in the space, so they serve a mostly cold menu. And because of the small space, Nōksu decided on counter seating for only 13 diners.

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