A seldom-seen Korean wine stars at a new S.F. bar
Funky, milky and ancient, an often overlooked Korean rice wine is getting the spotlight at a new San Francisco bar.
Jilli opens Saturday, June 14 in the Mission District, at 1503 15th St., with a special focus on makgeolli: a traditional style of rice wine which fell out of favor but has gained a recent surge of popularity in South Korea. Branding itself as a sool jib — Korean for drinking house — Jilli, which already has a location in Los Angeles, will focus on craft makgeolli pours and cocktails with Korean bar food.
'It's a little grainy and thick. You can think of it as (unfiltered) sake or a bit like yogurt and sometimes it has bubbles,' Jilli owner Dong Hyuk Lee said of makgeolli. He likens its appeal to that of natural wines, kombucha or sour beers.
Soju, a distillate made from grains, has been hot for some time on both sides of the Pacific. It's made its way into trendy Bay Area bars and low-alcohol cocktail lists. Korean pop idols regularly grace soju labels and even launch their own brands. When Lee opened his first Los Angeles restaurant in 2020, Korean fusion spot Hanchic, diners wanted more traditional dishes with soju or Korean beers to drink.
Makgeolli, meanwhile, was long considered an unhip drink for farmers and grandpas, Lee explained. But a boom happening in recent years has created a moment for this rice wine, with a new generation of brewers in South Korea innovating with new variables, such as changing temperatures or filtering methods, and adding ingredients like botanicals and fruit to the drink. The fervor eventually reached the U.S., with Korean-American craft makgeolli brewers launching on both coasts.
Seeing the growing profile of makgeolli among younger brewers and young crowds in South Korea, Lee opened the first Jilli in Los Angeles at the start of 2024. The low-lit den dedicated to makgeolli was well received, with groups huddling over tables crowded with glasses and Korean bar bites. 'The vibe is more like a hip bar than a Korean restaurant,' Lee said. Capacity in San Francisco is for 25 seated diners indoors, plus another 25 in a patio space.
Jilli's bottle list will include selections from leading U.S. craft makgeolli brewers like Brooklyn's Hana Makgeolli and Southern California producers like Sang Makgeolli and Nomi Doga. Pours will be available as well as cocktails that incorporate ingredients like blended strawberries and roasted chestnuts.
Lee developed dishes to pair with the rice wines based on his mother's home cooking, with some modern interventions. He said the San Francisco menu will be close to the Los Angeles location, where diners bite into shrimp toast with chile vinaigrette and tteokbokki, chewy rice cakes, that swim in an uni butter sauce with smoked trout roe. A rigatoni in a kimchi vodka sauce, a fan favorite, will also be available at the incoming bar.
Expect to see Korean-style fried chicken as well. As the bar approached its opening, Lee used the kitchen as a base for a popup of Chimmelier, his Los Angeles chicken restaurant. The positive response convinced him to make it a permanent fixture during lunch hours. Lee's company, In Hospitality, launched the first fixed Chimmelier location in Berkeley, quickly followed by another in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood.
Lee thinks San Francisco will embrace the focus on makgeolli, and hopes the rice wine style continues to grow in popularity. 'It's become very different compared to old times,' Lee said.
Jilli. Opening Saturday, June 14. 1503 15th St. San Francisco. Tuesday-Saturday 5-10 p.m. instagram.com/jilli_sf/
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