Ellia Park

The Path

A contemporary Korean restaurant language in New York was established first, in this current form, through Atoboy in New York City, where Ellia Park has been owner and operator since 2016. Atomix followed in 2018 under her ownership and operation, extending that language into another format while keeping attention on the same trade concerns: sequence, reception, room tone, and the relationship between service and memory. Hospitality company-building becomes part of the craft when the operating structure carries the same standards as the dining room. In New York City, Park is owner and operator of Atoboy and Atomix, and co-founder and CEO of NA:EUN Hospitality. In the original phrasing of her professional constellation, she is also co-founder and CEO of NA:EUN Hospitality; the title matters here because the work is not only restaurant ownership, but the shaping of a house style across multiple venues. A portfolio gains coherence only when each room has a reason to exist. The additional owner-operator roles at Naro Terrace, and Seoul Salon extend Park’s New York field without replacing the earlier anchors. The through-line is operational rather than biographical: polished reception, controlled atmosphere, and a consistent attention to how guests are held from arrival to departure.

The Work Today

Atomix remains a primary marker of Park’s work, with her owner-operator role dating to 2018. Its place in the craft is tied to the full choreography of hospitality: service, pacing, atmosphere, and the small accumulations of detail that make a meal read as one continuous experience. Atoboy, under her ownership and operation since 2016 in New York City, remains the earlier foundation within that same operating vocabulary. At NA:EUN Hospitality in New York City, the company frame gives structure to the venues around it. Park’s titles remain direct—owner and operator, co-founder, CEO—and that language is useful. It points to hospitality as a daily practice of maintenance, not a brand position held at a distance. Current New York work also includes ownership and operation of Naro and ownership and operation of Seoul Salon. Alongside Naro Terrace, those venues broaden the field while keeping the earlier centers of Atoboy and Atomix in view. The continuity lies in atmosphere, service, and the practical question of how a guest moves through a room. The emotional register is stated plainly in Park’s own words: "The mundane, yet beautiful conversations we shared over these warm meals—the lessons I learned about home life and love—are the ones I think of fondly." For an operator, that statement turns into systems: service that protects the moment, design that supports the cuisine, and timing that lets memory attach to the meal. Park has also said, "But when a chef makes a dish, it disappears in a moment. So we want to memorialize that moment for our guests, and for ourselves." The work, then, is not to make the meal permanent, but to build the conditions under which a temporary thing can be retained.

In Their Words “The mundane, yet beautiful conversations we shared over these warm meals—the lessons I learned about home life and love—are the ones I think of fondly.” “The design of a restaurant begins through its cuisine, continues with the service style, and comes together to form a personality.”

Acclaim

Hospitality recognition has followed the operating work: Ellia's honors include Outstanding Hospitality (2025) and Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award (2022).