Where the Chef Behind Pharrell’s Favorite Restaurant Eats in NYC

A Really Good NYC edition.

Welcome to the third NYC edition of The Relisher! I have to say—this might be my favorite one yet. This week, I met with Chef Partner Jihan Lee of Nami Nori, the Japanese restaurant known for its open-style temaki, with locations in the West Village, Williamsburg, and Montclair, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida.

Jihan spent years in some of the city’s most notable kitchens, including Morimoto and Zuma, before joining Kappo Masa under chef Masa Takayama—the only three-Michelin-starred sushi chef in the U.S. He also caters Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton private events in Paris. Most recently, Pharrell became a partner in Nami Nori’s two new Miami locations.

Below, Jihan shares his favorite restaurants in NYC, the best meal he’s had in the city this year, his go-to bars and boutiques, and the spots he’s most excited to try next.

My Best Meal of the Year

I’ve only been to Koloman once, but I still think about that meal regularly. The restaurant is rooted in traditional French techniques, but they also do some really cool, unexpected things.

Honestly, I don’t usually love French food. I think a lot of Asians struggle with it—the richness, the butter—it’s just not something we grew up with.

At Koloman, I remember every single dish. I kept thinking, Oh my God, what is this? The beef tartare and the roasted duck were incredible. The flavors were unlike anything I’d had before. Every plate was a surprise—and it all made me realize: this is what really good French food can taste like. It changed how I thought about the whole cuisine.

Favorite NYC Restaurants

I travel a lot—especially with the opening of the new restaurants in Miami—so when I’m back home in NYC, my favorite food is my wife’s cooking. Everything she makes is amazing. But when I do go out, these are my favorite spots in the city.

Seoul Salon is the first place that comes to mind. What I love about it is that it’s from the same team behind Atomix—a Korean fine-dining restaurant that’s considered one of the best in America. Seoul Salon takes that level of quality and brings it down to a more fun, approachable vibe—geared more toward a younger crowd.

I usually order a bunch of stuff. They have this rice dish with seaweed oil and scallops—that one’s amazing. The raw crab noodles are also incredible—some people might not be into it because it’s marinated raw crab, but you squeeze out the meat, mix it with perilla noodles, and it’s spicy and packed with flavor. I also love their Rosé tteokbokki—a twist on the classic spicy rice cake dish. They add stracciatella cheese and basil, and it totally works.

The fried shrimp and cheese is another standout. They make shrimp paste into little balls, stuff them with mozzarella, roll them in corn, and deep fry them. The outside’s crispy, the inside is springy and cheesy, and it comes with this tart dipping sauce—it’s so addictive.

The menu is really well-curated—you can order almost anything and you won’t be disappointed.

I like going late—close to closing time. If they close at midnight, I’ll head over around 10:30 or 11. It’s quieter, but there’s still a good vibe. The energy’s still there, just more laid-back.

The next one is Massara, because I really love Italian food. A lot of restaurants in the city serve variations of the same thing, but this one’s doing something totally its own.

It’s from the team behind Rezdôra, which I love, but there’s something special about what Massara is doing. The flavors of the pasta just hit differently. Massara focuses more on coastal Italian cooking, so a lot of the pastas have seafood. I’ve tried almost all of them. If you go with a group, order five or six and just share—it’s the best way.

My favorite dish is this cold tomato pasta with raw red shrimp—it’s called “If Pasta Fredda was in Amalfi.” It’s tiny—like two bites—but the flavors are unforgettable. I’d never had cold pasta like that before, and it really stuck with me.

The caponata, the cavatelli, the sausage ragù—they’re all solid. The pastas are the real stars. They also have really good pizzas. They’re small, personal pan-sized. There’s a pizza oven on the ground floor, and if you’re upstairs, there’s a skylight where you can watch them making pizzas—it’s a cool touch.

Win Son Bakery is my third favorite. The chef is really talented—he understands flavor and knows how to make it work across cultures and formats. The decor’s not fancy, but the vibe is young, fun, and no-fuss. It’s an Asian take on American comfort food.

For example, instead of a bagel, their breakfast sandwich uses a scallion pancake—chewy, crispy, and totally mind-blowing. It’s a bacon, egg, and cheese omelet wrapped in that pancake. Another time, I had this traditional Vietnamese bread—usually dipped in soup—but they filled it with foie gras. It tasted like a savory, unsweetened donut, and I still can’t stop thinking about it.

It’s the kind of place where you could go for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It looks like a café—you can sit with coffee or a cocktail and try a bunch of dishes. I usually go for lunch, order a little bit of everything, and just chill.

My Favorite Bar—and the One I Can’t Wait to Try

Double Chicken Please is a bar that’s just having fun. It’s one of those places that’s both really good and not taking itself too seriously. They’re doing something different. They’re actually ranked as one of the top bars in the world. It’s upscale but still young and fun. The cocktails are super creative, and the food’s solid too.

One cocktail I’ll never forget is called Cold Pizza. It’s tequila-based, but they add cheese, burnt toast, tomato, basil, honey, egg white—it sounds insane, but it totally works. They top it with this little edible graphic that looks like a slice of pizza. When you drink it, you get the tomato and basil—it’s like sipping on the flavor of pizza in cocktail form.

Just note that it’s a bit hard to get a reservation, so it’s better to book in advance.

Clemente Bar is one of the places I’m most excited to try. It just opened inside Eleven Madison Park. I don’t know much about it yet, but I’ve heard it’s more like a performance experience. It’s also one of those places that’s super hard to get into—I think it only seats 12.

Two NYC Boutiques I Always Recommend — Desserts & Japanese Knives

One of my favorite stores is actually a desserts boutique called Lysée. The chef worked in Paris under some big names including Cédric Grolet.

She creates beautiful desserts that look like fruit. For example, there’s this small banana—it’s actually banana bread pudding inside white chocolate, but it’s airbrushed to look exactly like a tiny banana. It’s the most perfect little bite. The coffee’s also really great. They do things like roasted rice coffee or add Korean elements into classic drinks.

It’s definitely a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for. Every piece shows the amount of love and labor that went into it. They also offer beautifully packaged gift boxes—I love bringing them to housewarming parties or giving them as thoughtful gifts.

Korin is a Japanese knife shop in Tribeca, but it’s more than just a store—it’s an experience. They carry rare, hard-to-find items and have close relationships with their vendors. Sometimes, artisans from Japan—like the owner of a ceramics studio in Tokyo—visit to host in-store events, where you can meet them and learn how the pieces are made.

Plenty of shops have tried to copy Korin’s model, but it’s never quite the same. They don’t just carry trendy items—they stock pieces you didn’t even know existed. It’s the kind of place where you stumble on something and think, What is this? Then someone shares the backstory, and you’re like, Wow, I had no idea this even existed. It’s a gem—full of hidden treasures.

HERE is a Google Map with all of the locations listed above.

Thanks for reading,

Gabrielle