The circumstantial evidence is too strong to ignore: A high-end Korean restaurant is taking over the Chanterelle space (rumor first reported here). The windows have been papered, and the building permits have been posted—they were issued to Jung Sik Yim of Jung Sik Dang; he’s presumably the same Jung Sik Yim who is the chef-owner of a Seoul restaurant named Jung Sik Dang. What’s more, according to the bio on Jung Sik Dang’s site, when he worked in New York for a few years, he did a stint at Bouley, just a couple blocks down Hudson Street.

Such hair! And back in October, Nicholas Lander wrote in the Financial Times: “Jung Sik Dang was, however, an exciting experience, most memorably for a fried grasshopper salad; a dish of rice, anchovy and turnip; pork belly with pickled chili; and ginseng macaroons. Jung Sik Yim, the chef, has plans to open in New York. If the roots of exciting modern Korean cooking are to be nurtured successfully, I hope his passport is confiscated, forcing him to focus on one restaurant only.”

Jung Sik Dang certainly looks like quite the culinary experience, exclusively serving set menus at lunch and dinner. I tried calling for more info but that didn’t work out; I also emailed, so we’ll see…. In the meantime, here are some photos of his food.