Kyungmoon Kim

Coming Up

The work of service, cellar management, and beverage leadership runs through Kyungmoon Kim’s career with unusual consistency. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, he has moved between restaurant floors, teaching, and importing with the same technical discipline. As a South Korean Master Sommelier and founder and principal of KMS Imports LLC, his practice has stayed anchored in precision, range, and the ability to put bottles in front of diners with context. Guiding guests and structuring wine service took shape early at Jungsik Dang in Seoul, South Korea (2011–2013), where Kyungmoon Kim worked as manager and sommelier. In 2013, the move to New York City, New York, USA brought a broader set of responsibilities: beverage director at Jungsik and also general manager at Jungsik. The shift extended the same core skill set into a more demanding market, where the room, the list, and the pace all required exact control. By 2015, The Modern in New York City, New York, USA added another line to that record, with Kyungmoon Kim joining as a team member. The progression across Seoul and New York shows a steady accumulation of operational and beverage experience rather than a break from one discipline to another. Manager, sommelier, beverage director, general manager, team member: each role added another angle on the same trade. Since 2020, Kyungmoon Kim has served as adjunct instructor of wine at The International Culinary Center while also working as founder and principal of KMS Imports LLC. Teaching puts his beverage knowledge into circulation for the next generation; importing extends that knowledge into product selection and market placement.

Where They Are Now

The beverage program has been the common thread across Jungsik Dang, and The Modern, with Kyungmoon Kim moving between leadership and service roles in high-level dining rooms. That background now sits behind KMS Imports LLC, where he has turned his attention to importing premium products. On that shift, he said, "I just decided to take on this mission, to import premium products and break the paradigm of soju being watered-down vodka." The line is direct, and so is the work it describes: changing how products are understood by changing what reaches the glass, the classroom, and the market.

In Their Words “CIA was my top choice because of the extensive classes. It was great to be so completely immersed in the program for two years surrounded by like-minded students pursuing their dreams.” “I don’t think there is any other culinary school that teaches as much as CIA—from fundamental cooking techniques to how to run a business.”

Honors

Kyungmoon Kim’s honors include Master Sommelier Certification.