KRISTALBELLI ON NY1 BY CELEBRITY REPORTER MICHELLE PARK!

A new, upscale Korean restaurant in Midtown is dishing up barbecue with a side of crystal. NY1′s Michelle Park filed the following report.
Maybe people like Korean barbecue, but at the new restaurant Kristalbelli, which opened up in Midtown on Monday, the BBQ comes with a little extra bling. True to the name, the meat goes straight from the crystal grills to your belly.
VIPs turned out Monday to celebrate the brand new addition to the Korean food scene, including The Wonder Girls, South Korean recording artists.
“I think people will love this new place. I’m sure food is amazing here too,” said Sun Min of The Wonder Girls.
“And J.Y. always had great taste in food,” said Lim Woo of The Wonder Girls.
Owner J.Y. Park, a celebrity himself, is a heavy hitter in the Korean entertainment industry. This is his first foray into food, and he says he hopes he brings the best of Korea to diners.
“I really wanted to create the right spot for non-Korean people to go and experience Korean food,” said Park.
This is no typical Korean BBQ restaurant with charcoal grills and heavily marinated meats. The restaurant serves up wagyu beef, organic vegetables and other goodies on an infrared, heat-powered grill with vents that make the entire process smoke-free.
At Kristalbelli, diners cook their own meat at each table on a crystal grill. Executive chef David Shim said the healthiest way to eat Korean BBQ or BBQ in general, because one can literally watch the grease slide off the grill
“The grill is designed this way so that as you cook the meat on the grill, all the grease falls down and it drips into this area, where there is a grease pan that catches all the grease,” said Shim.
Healthy or not, Korean food lovers said they were excited to eat at the new restaurant.
“Korean BBQ has been the hottest trend right now in the food industry and for normal people,” said Nana Lee, the owner of the Blank Space Gallery.
“I feel like everybody and their mother, these days, wants to eat Korean BBQ when they go out! So to have a really hip trendy place will be really cool,” said Nicole Bermensolo, the owner of Kyotofu.
Once you are done with your “Seoul” food, you may want to put on some dancing shoes, as the second-floor bar area has it all, from a DJ booth to specialty cocktails.
Kristalbelli is located at 8 West 36th Street.


KRISTALBELLI
The Next Korean BBQ Restaurant
www.KRISTALBELLI.com