Specialty Grocer Blends Syrian, Korean Offerings
The owners of a popular Brooklyn takeout restaurant that combines Syrian and Korean cuisines have opened a small, bodega-style grocery store that does the same.
James Kim and his wife, Rosette Khoury Kim, and Rosette’s brothers, Mazen and Michael Khoury, have earned praise and a steady stream of devoted customers at their tiny eatery, Syko (a blending of SY-rian and KO-rean), in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood near Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. The restaurant offers what are essentially two menus—one focused on Korean-inspired dishes and the other on Syrian dishes, although some of the items feature a mix of ingredients from both cuisines. It is known in particular for its hearty sandwiches such as the Bulgogi Fatboy and the Chicken Shawarma, but it also features an innovative menu of hot and cold appetizers and sides.
They expanded the concept into a retail store just around the corner, called Dukan Syko (“dukan” is an Arabic word meaning “shop”), which features many of the ingredients found in their restaurant. The tiny store previously had been a bodega operated by Kim’s family, according to local reports. It now features a mix of Korean and other Asian sauces and ingredients with a wide assortment of Syrian and other Middle Eastern foods, including grab-and-go prepared foods from both regions.
It also has a small olive bar, a reach-in refrigerator with tofu, yogurt, juices, sodas, and other products, including varieties of hummus, labneh, and kimchi made in-house. Products include several Middle Eastern dairy items from Paterson, New Jersey-based Romi’s Farm Products, as well as Asian rice products from California-based Koda Farms, and a range of other brands specializing in products from both regions of the world.
At the back of the store, a small counter features a display of freshly made pizza-style flatbreads, turnovers, and other foods prepared in the store’s oven.
Several shelves in the middle of the store and against either wall contain an assortment of teas, snacks, sauces and other ingredients from both Korean and Middle Eastern cuisines.
“It’s really the staples of every Middle Eastern and Asian household, all in one place in an area where it is hard to find a lot of it,” James Kim said in an interview with Eater.
Kim said he opened the store in part because Syko’s restaurant customers had been asking where they could find some of the ingredients used in the menu.
The Syko restaurant, around the corner, meanwhile, which offers limited seating and just barely enough room to walk in and place an order, has garnered some recognition for its unique offerings, including a favorable write-up in The New Yorker magazine last year and a listing as one of the “10 Restaurants Reshaping New York City’s Dining Scene” by reservations platform Open Table.