At the Altar of Korean Fried Chicken
New York magazine|April 8-21, 2024
Coqodaq's owner calls it a cathedral. It feels more like a club.
MATTHEW SCHNEIER
At the Altar of Korean Fried Chicken

THERE COMES A TIME when a New Yorker must pledge allegiance to his or her preferred Korean fried-chicken outpost: Are you a Mad for Chicken man? Pelicana partisan? Or one of the many who still lament the gonebut-not-forgotten charms of Baden Baden?

Simon Kim, who Koreanized the New York steakhouse with Cote (or steakified the KBBQ, depending on your perspective), is hoping a quorum of the wealthy will warm to Coqodaq, his own entrant in the ongoing KFC wars. So far, they have. Since it opened in January, Coqodaq (the French and Korean words for “chicken,” soldered together) has been taunting aspirant diners with nothing more than midnight Resy slots and unfulfilled promises to Notify them. Coqodaq has the low lights, pulsing music, and door-stationed bouncer of a nightclub, and most days, a line for the walk-in seats along the bar and in its front-room lounge starts to form around 4:15 p.m.

In Seoul, fried chicken is a cheapish, cheerful, local encounter. Coqodaq, in keeping with Kim’s fine-dining expertise, is designed to optimize the experience. You enter the restaurant—past a boarded-up front that will house 24 extra outdoor seats—directly into a hand-washing station, a nice touch for finger food, where you may select your own luxury soap. (The correct choice is Loewe’s tomato-leaf cleanser, which retails for $80.) Coqodaq is a “fried chicken cathedral,” Kim has said, even if David Rockwell’s interior, with its illuminated archways, suggests something closer to a fried-chicken tunnel of love.

This story is from the April 8-21, 2024 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the April 8-21, 2024 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINEView All
LIFE AS A MILLENNIAL STAGE MOM
New York magazine

LIFE AS A MILLENNIAL STAGE MOM

A journey into the CUTTHROAT and ADORABLE world of professional CHILD ACTORS.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
THE NEXT DRUG EPIDEMIC IS BLUE RASPBERRY FLAVORED
New York magazine

THE NEXT DRUG EPIDEMIC IS BLUE RASPBERRY FLAVORED

When the Amor brothers started selling tanks of flavored nitrous oxide at their chain of head shops, they didn't realize their brand would become synonymous with the country's burgeoning addiction to gas.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Two Texans in Williamsburg
New York magazine

Two Texans in Williamsburg

David Nuss and Sarah Martin-Nuss tried to decorate their house on their own— until they realized they needed help: Like, how do we not just go to Pottery Barn?”

time-read
3 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
ADRIEN BRODY FOUND THE PART
New York magazine

ADRIEN BRODY FOUND THE PART

The Brutalist is the best, most personal work he's done since The Pianist.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Art, Basil
New York magazine

Art, Basil

Manuela is a farm-to-table gallery for hungry collectors.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
'Sometimes a Single Word Is Enough to Open a Door'
New York magazine

'Sometimes a Single Word Is Enough to Open a Door'

How George C. Wolfein collaboration with Audra McDonald-subtly, indelibly reimagined musical theater's most domineering stage mother.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Rolling the Dice on Bird Flu
New York magazine

Rolling the Dice on Bird Flu

Denial, resilience, déjà vu.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
The Most Dangerous Game
New York magazine

The Most Dangerous Game

Fifty years on, Dungeons & Dragons has only grown more popular. But it continues to be misunderstood.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
88 MINUTES WITH...Andy Kim
New York magazine

88 MINUTES WITH...Andy Kim

The new senator from New Jersey has vowed to shake up the political Establishment, a difficult task in Trump's Washington.

time-read
6 mins  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025
Apex Stomps In
New York magazine

Apex Stomps In

The $44.6 million mega-Stegosaurus goes on view (for a while) at the American Museum of Natural History.

time-read
1 min  |
December 30, 2024 - January 12, 2025