Ever since he was a child, Sean Kim dreamed of owning his own restaurant, and on June 11, his dream came true when he and co-owner Joe Shin opened Amazing Katsu, a ghost kitchen in Santa Clara serving Japanese-Korean fusion katsu.
“I kept eating tonkatsu and gaining weight every day,” Kim said, as he set out to create a “great” recipe that combined the thick meat of traditional Japanese katsu with ingredients like cheese from modern Korean katsu.
“A lot of Korean cutlets are pounded with a hammer so they're very flat and taste like poor quality meat, whereas the really high-end, luxurious Japanese cutlets tend to use fillet or loin and have a special process to make the cutlet really tender and juicy while still retaining the original shape of the meat,” Shin said.
Amazing Katsu is a ghost kitchen operating out of the Elite Events Center that offers four types of katsu for takeout and delivery: pork loin, pork tenderloin, cheese and a specialty katsu (with cheese, bell peppers, onions and carrots, which Shin describes as “similar to Suprem pizza, but tonkatsu style.”) Kim and Shin hope to offer katsu at an affordable price to patrons who are unfamiliar with katsu, open a brick-and-mortar location and eventually franchise.
“My goal is to open many restaurants, but my goal is to satisfy my customers first and then make them happy through their experience,” Kim said. “To provide high-quality food at a lower price than other restaurants and make my customers happy and satisfied. That's my ultimate goal for everyone.”
Kim has worked in the food and beverage industry for about 10 years and has been involved in various projects, including building the front system for a popular Korean restaurant chain, but he always wanted to have his own concept. As a foodie, Kim realized that there was no tonkatsu restaurant in the Bay Area that he personally enjoyed. So, at the New Baptist Community Church in Mountain View, he met Shin, who had recently opened a Korean food cooking business in Santa Clara, and decided to start a business together.
“I'm really happy to work with him because my weaknesses are his strengths and (his) weaknesses are my strengths,” Kim said. “So we blend together harmoniously.”
Before starting his meal preparation business, Singh worked in the stock market in New York.
“I realized I didn't bring any value to the world,” he said. “I wanted to do something more. I wanted to spend my life doing something that other people would value, that would give other people a chance.”
So about a year and a half ago, Shin moved to California and opened Silgaban at the Elite Events Center, where he met Kim through church and became a co-owner. Then, last month, Kim started Amazing Katsu in the same kitchen, with Shin also becoming co-owner.
“We donate a portion of our profits (to New Baptist Community Church) and also distribute small amounts of food to those who need it at the time,” Singh said. “We believe in giving back to the community and doing the right thing while we grow.”
Amazing cutlet2670 El Camino Real, Santa Clara; 408-598-8467. Instagram: @amazingkatsu_officialOpen Monday to Friday from 11am to 3pm and 5pm to 8pm.
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