Meju

If you already make your own kimchi and brew your own kombucha, you’ll geek out over Meju. If not, dinner at this eight-person chef’s counter in LIC might feel like an initiation ritual. You’ll be ushered through a secret hallway inside Little Banchan Shop, and into a room that looks like a Renaissance inventor’s sketchbook—all geometric lines and modern chandeliers in sepia, bronze and gray. Take a seat and sip a yuzu highball while the chef leads you through seven leisurely courses, each highlighting a different Korean ferment. If dishes like buttery amberjack with gochujang, radish, and shallots, or tender Miyazaki beef topped with small-batch ssamjang don't convert you, the first taste of 128-year-old soy sauce will.