Jimmy Park
Chef/Owner, Shoyo | Dallas
December 2021
Jimmy Park’s first job was dishwashing for a Chinese-Korean restaurant in Seattle—a job he took after dropping out of high school to provide for himself. After two months, he was handed a chef’s jacket and his passion for cooking took off. Park bounced across the country for the next three years, and a combination of hard work, persistence, and a steady hand for knife-work landed him a role with his dream restaurant group, Nobu, cooking at Matsuhisa in Aspen. Two years later, Park transferred to Nobu San Diego where he built a relationship with Nobu’s corporate executive chef and now-mentor, Master Sushi Chef Shinichiro Kondo.
After a stint at Kabuto Edomae Sushi in Las Vegas, Park moved to Dallas to reunite with the Nobu team. Park collaborated with two restaurateurs to open fast-casual poké bowl concept Pōk the Raw Bar in 2017, followed by laid-back temaki spot, Nori Handroll Bar. When Park learned that Kondo moved on from Nobu and was semi-retired, Park encouraged Kondo to move to Dallas, help open Park’s new concept, Shoyo, and carry on their legacy. Together they run the intimate, 12-seat, 17-course omakase restaurant—the only exclusively omakase restaurant in Dallas. Park’s dishes demonstrate complex techniques and years of craftsmanship, accentuated by remarkably fresh fish and a playful approach to Texas cuisine.
