The pair are working with Clique Hospitality, which is in the process of creating a 24,000 sq ft food hall in Las Vegas called Proper Eats.
Set to open this winter, the space will be located on the second-level promenade of ARIA Resort & Casino and will be home to 12 ‘highly sought-after imports and only-in-Las Vegas destinations’ including Wexler’s Deli and handroll concept Temaki.
“We have been looking for the ideal place to introduce Seoul Bird to the United States for a while, and when Andy Masi reached out about partnering with Proper Eats, we knew we had found it,” says Joo.
“The design, which is in the exceptionally talented hands of Alessandro Munge, is truly stunning. And, the location, in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip at the luxurious ARIA resort, is beyond compare.”
Joo and Hales launched their debut Seoul Bird site in Westfield London in August 2020 and followed up with a second site in Canary Wharf’s Jubilee Place earlier this year.
The menu is a fusion of Korea and America, offering tater tots served with gochujang mayonnaise and mac ‘n’ cheese spiked with kimchi.
The chicken is served up in a similar way to most chicken shops with a selection of boneless thighs, wings and tenders. The poultry is brined in soy for 24-hours before being double-fried in rapeseed oil for a glass-like crunch.
Seoul Bird also offers chargrilled chicken marinated in soy, sesame and Korean spices. There are also burgers and more health-conscious ‘Seoul bowls’ that come with a base of either steamed white rice or Cauliflower rice, mixed with broccoli and quinoa that can be topped with fried or grilled chicken or soy-ginger marinated mushrooms.
The Korean-American but now London-based chef is best known for her five year stint running Korean street food and sharing plate restaurant Jinjuu.
She left the Soho restaurant in 2019 to pursue other projects, including the release of a cookbook.