Get ready to try something different.
A new Korean barbecue restaurant chain, Mr. Kimchi Inc., has come to Orange County.
The business is owned by South Korea-based Sempio Foods Corp., a leading soy sauce manufacturer with yearly sales of about $100 million.
Mr. Kimchi has set up a 3,000-square-foot headquarters in Tustin and last week opened its first restaurant: a 2,000-square-foot store that seats about 30 in the Target shopping center at Knott and Katella avenues in Cypress.
The company plans to have 10 stores open in Orange County,and possibly in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas,by the end of 2002, according to Mark Sigler, senior marketing associate at Voit Commercial Brokerage’s Irvine office. Voit is representing the restaurant chain.
Mr. Kimchi is in negotiations to rent sites in San Clemente, Buena Park, and University Center across from UC Irvine.
Cassi Crisafulli, project coordinator at Mr. Kimchi, said the chain chose Orange County, and Cypress in particular, because it has such a diverse ethnic population.
“We’re hoping to bring some education about the Korean culture into the community,” Crisafulli said. “We want to let people know what the food is like.”
Educational marketing will be critical for Mr. Kimchi to move its concept beyond Korean neighborhoods, said Alan Liddle, editor at trade magazine Nation’s Restaurant News.
“I don’t believe many members of the general public have a clear concept of Korean cuisine,” he added.
The cuisine gets some of its inspiration from other Asian foods, such as Thai, Japanese and Chinese, which are more common in Orange County.
Dishes are described as healthy and range from fried dumplings, to scallion pancakes, tofu soups, glass noodles tossed with saut & #233;ed vegetables and barbecued beef. There will also be traditional Korean specialties such as kimchi, a fiery condiment made from salted and fermented vegetables.
An emphasis on healthful ingredients will work in Mr. Kimchi’s favor, according to Liddle. He said that convenience foods, especially those perceived as “fresh and somewhat healthy,” are gaining in popularity, as are some types of ethnic foods.
Orders will be freshly prepared at restaurants and delivered to tables once patrons pay, similar to a Wahoo’s set up, Sigler said. Lunches will range from $6 to $7 and dinners will cost $7 to $10.
The chain is a way for Sempio to market its soy sauce and other products and penetrate the U.S. market, according to Sigler.
Mr. Kimchi is Sempio’s first foray into the restaurant business. Sigler said the company is hoping to create a demand for its authentic Korean food and American hospitality, and emulate the growth some other Mexican and Chinese food chains have seen here.
But it’ll take some planning.
Charlie Zhang, president and CEO of San Clemente-based Pick Up Stix, knows that well. An immigrant from China, Zhang combined his experience with Chinese cuisine with partner Bill Beckett’s knowledge of American hospitality and corporate restaurant chains to develop the popular quick-service Chinese food chain.
For Mr. Kimchi to do well in the U.S., Zhang said, the company will have to make its overall product, including its food and dining experience, fit American tastes.
“I see too many people, especially immigrants,and I’m an immigrant,who just don’t get it, we don’t understand. If you’re serving Americans, they’re looking for high quality, consistency and great atmosphere,” Zhang said. “If you do those three things, you’ll be there.”
That’s what Mr. Kimchi is banking on, Sigler said.
In five years, the company plans to have 30 company-owned and 10 franchise locations throughout the United States, Sigler said. Europe and Canada will follow, he added.
But muscling into prime retail space, and drawing both lunch and dinner crowds, is not always easy,at least in OC.
“It’s competitive out there because you have Wahoo’s and Baja Fresh looking for essentially the same space. Fortunately, (Mr. Kimchi) has strong financials, stronger than some of theirs, and we’ve been able to compete,” Sigler said. n
