Chef
SangTae Park
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
i. Biography
Before SangTae Park took ownership of Omakase Yume in Chicago, the work moved through the usual proving grounds: Chicago-area kitchens where timing, consistency, and team discipline set the pace.
The Climb
Sous chef roles at Mirai in Chicago area and Japonais in Chicago area formed the early part of Park’s record. In those kitchens, the job sits below authorship but above anonymity: the station work, the pressure, and the expectation to hold tempo with the room. That is the kind of line that teaches control before it asks for a signature. Founder-chef work at Badaya in Highland Park, Illinois, and later at Izakaya Yume in Niles, Illinois marked the shift from execution to direction. Those titles are not cosmetic; they place Park in the position of building the room as well as working it. The progression here is visible in the job names themselves, with each kitchen extending the same discipline into a more personal frame. Since 2018, SangTae has been owner and chef of Omakase Yume, and since 2020 co-founder of TenGoku Aburiya. Omakase Yume is the clearest expression of the line he has been building: chef-owned, Chicago-based, and shaped by the earlier stages of his work. TenGoku Aburiya extends that same practice into another room, with the same emphasis on control and intention.
Today
Park’s career reads as a sequence rather than a leap. Mirai and Japonais establish the training ground, Badaya and Izakaya Yume show the move into founding kitchens, and Omakase Yume and TenGoku Aburiya carry that work into ownership and co-founding. The shape is disciplined and cumulative, with each stage adding responsibility rather than replacing what came before.
Recognition
The clearest recognition in Park’s record is the progression itself: from sous chef roles to founding kitchens, and then into ownership of a chef-led omakase room in Chicago. That kind of movement usually comes from sustained work rather than a single break. For someone reading the line of influence, the named rooms matter. Mirai and Japonais reflect the Chicago-area foundation, Badaya and Izakaya Yume mark the founder-chef years, and Omakase Yume and TenGoku Aburiya show the later phase of ownership and co-founding. In that sequence, Park’s approach becomes easy to trace: built in stages, carried forward by repetition, and clarified in each new room.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of SangTae
What is SangTae Park's current role?
As of 2026, SangTae Park is Owner/Chef.
Where did SangTae Park work before?
SangTae Park's earlier career included Mirai, Japonais, and Badaya.
