Midtown Takorea & Ssam Bar Reimagines Menu with Chef Tomas Lee’s Korean Flavors of Home

For more information:

 Morgan Lanier

                  Melissa Libby & Associates

404-816-3068

morgan@melissalibbypr.com

MIDTOWN TAKOREA & SSAM BAR REIMAGINES MENU WITH

CHEF TOMAS LEE’S KOREAN FLAVORS OF HOME

Korean Fried Chicken Night, Build-Your-Own Ssam Bar are Flavorful New Additions to the Menu

ATLANTA (April 5, 2017) – Atlanta chef Tomas Lee, best known for nurturing and enabling our city’s current craze for Korean tacos at his West Midtown Hankook Taqueria, is now using his 30 years of culinary expertise, along with his Korean heritage, to transform the menu of his popular Midtown Takorea & Ssam Bar. Opened as an offshoot of Hankook Taqueria in 2011, the adorably funky, airy restaurant at 818 Juniper Street is now a beloved Midtown mainstay, revered for fueling its eclectic mix of hungry college students and urban condo dwellers with Lee’s trademark fast-casual Korean street food.

Now, Lee wants to deepen that culinary conversation with more sit-down dinner options inspired by his family’s favorite recipes from home. “By putting traditional Korean flavors inside the familiarity of tacos and burritos, we were able to introduce Atlantans to the foods I grew up with,” says Lee. “Now with Midtown Takorea & Ssam Bar’s more chef-driven menu, our goal is to create lots of flavorful, sharable dishes that you’ll want to pass to friends and family around the table.”

Midtown Takorea’s new build-it-yourself Ssam Bar (ssam is “wrapped” in Korean) offers spicy marinated pork tenderloin or beef, paired with bowls of flavorful banchan side dishes (such as kimchi) and other pickled vegetables, sauces and a spicy bean paste, all delivered via a stack of crisp green leaf lettuce wraps.

Ssam Bar menu highlights include:

·         Kalbi (Short Rib) Ssam — Sweet soy-marinated boneless Angus beef short rib, served over sesame rice and butter-roasted Napa kimchi

·         Dragon Pork Ssam- Red pepper-marinated pork tenderloin served over sesame rice and butter-roasted Napa kimchi

·         Bulgogi Pork Ssam – Sweet soy-marinated pork tenderloin served over sesame rice and butter-roasted Napa kimchi

Starting on April 19, Wednesdays will be reserved for Korean Fried Chicken Night. Guests that opt for this mid-week special will receive a whole fried chicken (all-natural chicken, twice fried to a golden brown in a gluten-free rice flour batter) and served with fried rice, tempura-citrus Brussels sprouts and an assortment of house-made kimchi and pickled veggies, enough for four friends, all for $60. Reservations for KFC Night (via OpenTable or by calling 404-532-1944) are strongly encouraged.

“I love cooking for the people in this neighborhood,” says Lee. “We’ve been welcomed into Midtown and in return, we wanted to create a neighborhood spot where you can come in with your friends, share new tastes together and really explore the flavors of Korea in a relaxed, budget-friendly way. We began a neighborhood conversation here when we opened in 2011. Now, we want to broaden and deepen that dialogue with a more chef-driven menu filled with all the flavors of Korea.”

Located at 818 Juniper Street in Midtown Atlanta, Midtown Takorea & Ssam Bar serves lunch and dinner daily. For more information, call 404-532-1944 or visit mytakorea.com.

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