Ask Brian Baik what he would’ve opened in 2020 — when he relocated from New York City to his hometown of Los Angeles — what his first-ever restaurant would be, and he probably wouldn’t have said “a bar.” But on July 29, Baik will debut Bar 109 in Melrose Hill with bartender Kayla Garcia overseeing the drinks and Jon Tran as general manager. The bar will open in the front portion of his forthcoming tasting menu restaurant, Corridor 109, which has been in development for years.
Baik moved to Los Angeles as the scion of Kobawoo, the iconic Koreatown restaurant known for its bossam, after working at restaurants like Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, Eleven Madison Park, and Sushi Noz (which is expanding to Century City soon). The first iteration of Corridor 109 was a pop-up at Kobawoo that served a tight collection of Japanese and Korean seafood courses inspired by his New York City experiences. The name, taken from the strip mall suite number for Kobawoo, is inspired by Passage 53, a now-closed two-Michelin-starred gem in Paris founded by Mr. T owner Guillaume Guedj. In 2022, pop-up moved to a four-table setup in Chinatown, but his Bar 109/Corridor 109 project near the corner of Melrose and Western Avenues was always the intention. The bar opens first as a way for Baik to introduce himself to Melrose Hill, a rapidly growing neighborhood that has welcomed Bar Etoile, Kuya Lord, Ggiata, Café Telegrama, Étra, Le Coupe, and L.A. Grocery & Cafe, joining longtime restaurants LA Pupusa House, El Churrasco Chapin, Osteria La Buca, and others.
At Bar 109, Garcia will serve updated versions of classic cocktails, like the gently salted Marine Layer, a type of martini mixing gin, Manzanilla sherry, dry vermouth, saline, and white kelp. The Ichigo Punch blends summer ingredients of strawberry and basil with vodka, mezcal, clarified milk, and junmai sake. A Korean-inflected Chic Hey (named after sikhae) employs malted barley, fermented rice, and non-alcoholic kombucha for a spirit-free sipper. While at Kumiko, Garcia earned a sake sommelier certification, and she compiled a standalone sake menu alongside the greater wine list, which was curated by master sommelier Michael Englemann.
As for food, Baik will serve a bar bites menu for probably the first time in his career, which has mostly occupied the world of New York City fine dining. Start with a smoked salmon dip with Ritz crackers and then ogle the massive shrimp cocktail using some of the largest shrimp (U-10, meaning under 10 shrimp per pound) on the market. A fried fish sandwich inspired by Japanese nanbankan comes with hefty tartar sauce and pickles between potato buns. A wagyu hot dog heavy on Dijon mustard comes with pickled pepper relish.
For Bar 109, Montalba Architects designed a sleek, mostly black-painted space anchored by the striking Forest Gold marble countertop with tendrils of rusty brown running across its surface, an element that Baik said he went “all out” on in terms of cost. Three elliptical tables allow for groups to congregate and potentially take in some pre- or post-dinner drinks once Corridor 109 opens. But unlike the likely pricey dinner that will await those folks, Bar 109 won’t take reservations and is intended to be a casual neighborhood hangout open until midnight.
Debuting on July 29, Bar 109 will be open Tuesday to Saturday, 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., and is located at 641 N. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90004.