Co-owner and head bartender Justin Park is a three-time winner of the Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai Festival “World’s Best Mai Tai” competition (2012, 2015 and 2018); Bombay Sapphire/GQ’s “Most Inspired Bartender” (2012); Technical Champion of the Campari & United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) Apertivo Competition (2013); Best Technical (2014, 2015) and Overall First Place winner (2014) of the “Shake It Up!” Cocktail Competition; USA representative and Best Garnish/Decoration winner in the International Bartenders Association (IBA) Pan American Cocktail Competition (2014, 2017, 2018) and the USA representative and Fourth Place Fancy Cocktail winner in the IBA World Cocktail Competition. Park is also the co-owner and co-founder of Bar Leather Apron, established in 2015, recognized as a two-time James Beard Award “Outstanding Bar Program” semifinalist (2018, 2020) and named to multiple “Top 10” and “Best Bars” lists including nods from Tales of the Cocktail, Esquire and Playboy.
Head chef Ki Chung was born in Incheon, South Korea, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His interest in food started humbly in his youth, first watching his grandmother make traditional Korean dishes and evolving further when he became responsible for cooking for his siblings while his parents worked. Chung is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of American and has staged in multiple Michelin-starred restaurants across the country, including The French Laundry, Manresa, Benu, The Fat Duck and Jean-Georges. Landing at Aubergine restaurant at L’Auberge Carmel, Chung rose from garde manger to Aubergine’s first chef de cuisine. While there, he helped lead the restaurant to a Michelin star, a Forbes five-star ranking and a No. 14, North America, placement on the Opinionated About Dining (OAD) list.
