Passerotto

Jennifer Kim pours every ounce of herself into this narrow Andersonville restaurant, going so far as to decorate it with old hanbok dresses from her childhood. The menu, an unexpected Korean-Italian fusion, feels similarly intimate, a peek into Kim’s culinary soul. If you’re dubious about the marriage of two such disparate cuisines, order the tteokbokki. Passerotto elevates a humble Korean street-stall staple into a destination dish by searing half a dozen dense rice cakes until they’re crunchy on the outside and sticky within, then enrobing them in a slow-simmered lamb neck ragu. You’ll leave feeling like you’ve known Kim for ages.