At 550 Madison, Simon Kim Turned His Wildest Fantasies Into Reality

Simon Kim is responsible for one of the most exciting restaurant empires in America—starting with Cote, his Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse, and the viral Coqodaq, which took fried chicken into the stratosphere. Now comes his biggest swing yet: three concepts—Bar Chimera, a new Cote location, and an intimate sushi counter run by three-Michelin-starred chef Masahiro Yoshitake—across 15,000 square feet of a Philip Johnson-designed Midtown landmark at 550 Madison Avenue. Here, in his own words and photos, he takes us inside the final stretch to bring it to life.

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550 Madison is a very unique space with dramatic 60-foot ceilings. I was inspired by the bustling markets and plazas in Rome, which are essentially public gathering places where people stop and rest. I wanted to mimic that and create a social hub in Midtown. We installed a giant tree surrounded by water to create a natural and serene setting, where people want to gather when they finish work. It’s a literal urban oasis in the middle of the concrete desert. 

Above it all is an artwork by Martin Creed, one of the most prominent living artists, commissioned by Artline (run by my sister Sue Kim), that delivers an uplifting and positive message. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to place this piece by Martin, a distinctly non-capitalist artist, at 56th Street and Madison Avenue, the very heart of capitalism. 

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When I first walked the property five and a half years ago, the moment I stepped into the mezzanine, the vision of a sushi restaurant was immediate. It just made so much sense. It’s a limited amount of space, so how can we actually bring something that’s special but requires a small footprint? I couldn’t think of anything other than a sushi restaurant. And when I looked at that giant, Philip Johnson and John Burgee-designed window, surrounded by that pink granite, it’s truly a symbol of Gotham City. It’s literally like Batman signals. I thought it would be a perfect backdrop for a sushi counter. Together the mix of Edo-mai tradition and a dose of Gotham City makes for a one-of-a-kind home for a world-class chef like Masahiro Yoshitake. There is also a symbolic significance to this. Back in its Sony days, this building also had a sushi counter by chef Masaharu Morimoto. So this carries on this tradition as well. 

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When we open restaurants, we always want to create something unique for each location. This being 550 Madison, we wanted to bring a little more of an opulence aspect to our signature Butcher’s Feast. The Butcher’s Feast is actually a value-driven offering; at $82 it is the price of a filet mignon at a regular steakhouse. It’s a value proposition, which is always important, even here. I’d been thinking about how to elevate it for a long time. I view tuna as beef of the sea—even visually it looks like A5 wagyu. We considered three types of tuna and we ended up with otoro, the most prime cut. It’s a good introduction for what’s to come, the first bite being of the best quality. We also serve it as a cube, just like our steak. I haven’t been to a Japanese restaurant that serves a cube of otoro; usually it’s served in slices. 

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We have three individual bars at Bar Chimera. So we did a lot of research and development on  universally, crowd pleasing bar snacks. The scotch egg is obviously one of the iconic bar snacks. We experimented with a little quail egg to bring an Asian touch that also makes it more manageable in size. But ultimately we had a limited amount of fried appetizers and we ended up going with the wagyu corn dog. For the scotch egg, if you don’t make it with pork, it’s not quite as delicious and pork can be polarizing so it did not make the cut. 

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I try to get a facial the day before a big event. Because when you get a facial on a day off, you glow too much. I also try to get a haircut the day before too, so that it feels more lived in. You don’t want to show up too made-up. 

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I tend to go numb right before events like this. They are so monumental and overwhelming. I try to meditate before I leave and I try to calm down and cool off because there’s so much excitement, and if I start channeling it and feeling it, then it gets overwhelming. I practice a breathing technique to prevent the feelings from taking over until I’m really ready to soak it in once I arrive. 

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I decided to wear a white dinner jacket for the opening party. Having honestly worked hard for five and a half years on this alongside my wonderful team, I really wanted to own the moment. My suitmaker Ralph Fitzgerald made me this white tuxedo jacket. He also found a vintage silk for the lining, very special—a nod to my team of dragon slayers. 

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Simon’s Choice is my selection of premier cuts: it’s a USDA prime filet mignon, then there’s a USDA prime dry-aged ribeye, but the cap of it. In Korea, we call it the shrimp cut because it bends like a shrimp. There is also an American wagyu steak, a Japanese aged wagyu. And what’s not pictured is the Galbi, always a favorite. Personally, I find this combination the most exciting. 

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Japchae is a Korean barbecue mainstay, but as a steakhouse, we wanted to put a different spin on it. For our COTE 550 version, we were inspired by a panzanella, the Italian bread salad. We wanted to create a noodle salad, but focus on the different vegetables and textures. We also adopted a tableside preparation, like at traditional steakhouses when they make a Caesar salad. We wanted to bring that delight to our customers by adapting this carb-centric dish into something more vegetable-forward and elaborate. 

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Working with David Rockwell and Rockwell Group on this project played a huge part in bringing it to life. Having already worked on COQODAQ and COTE Vegas, we have an intimate working relationship. It’s not a traditional architect to client-type of dynamic. For COTE 550, which is located on the subterranean level, we wanted to bring the natural elements to the center of Midtown: fire from the grills, greenery from the live plant walls, and of course, water. 

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As a father of young children, it’s not easy to balance family and work. At the end of the day, you just do your best. That’s all there is to it. I don’t think you ever truly figure it out. I think what kids want is to see you’re trying your best, right? On this day, I was in the middle of this opening, the busiest time, but it was also Eunu’s spring break, so I had him for the week. Being so close to opening, I couldn’t take him anywhere, so I took him to work. I’m pretty sure he loved it. 

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For the Bar Chimera martini bar uniforms, my suitmaker Ralph Fitzgerald created these classic white tuxedo jackets, very James Bond, but with a unique feature: no lapels. Without the lapel, it’s super clean and cool. Tradition is very important to me, but also innovation. To me, innovation only happens when there’s a tradition. Everyone on our team also wears a pin, which is similar to a name tag. It gives our team a sense of belonging and of pride to wear it.

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Laura is one of my dearest friends. She’s also a co-chair at Taste of Asia and we’ve worked together on a lot of fun charities and events. She is one of the most talented fashion designers. We wanted to create something really elegant for the hostess uniforms and I wanted to work with a Korean designer. Even though the uniforms are not traditionally Korean by any means, there is still this sort of sensibility that’s melded into it.

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