LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The legacy of late restaurant owner and longtime chef Jong Park continues in the Las Vegas valley, as his wife and son work to keep his dream alive.
Channel 13 first told you aboutDynamite Korean Street Food and Sushi in May of 2023, as people all over the world were rallying around the family behind the business. Steve Park was documenting his family's journey on TikTok, sharing how his family had moved from South Korea to the United States for their American dream.
Steve's father, Jong, was a longtime sushi chef, who in late 2022, had just realized his dream of owning his own restaurant. But just as they were getting Dynamite Korean Street Food and Sushi off the ground in the Silverado Ranch Plaza, they got a devastating diagnosis: Jong Park had tongue cancer.
Still, through chemotherapy, procedures, and countless doctor's appointments, he was determined to see his dream through.
"Even with his chemo treatment of eight months in, he was still working at the restaurant, every single day, anywhere between four to eight hours a day," Steve Park said.
Vegas-based TikTok influencer Keith Lee, who's known for uplifting local restaurants, put the spotlight on Dynamite Korean in February 2023. Lee's TikTok taste test featuring the restaurant garnered more than 3 million likes on the social media app, along with tens of thousands of comments from people all over the world, wishing the family well. The social media exposure resulted in a visible boost in business for the Parks.
Steve and Jong Park share how the community rallied around them after Jong's cancer diagnosis:
Steve Park said they started to notice visible improvements in his father's health last year, as well.
"We genuinely thought, even all of last year, that he was going to make it. He had successful chemo treatment. He had successful radiation treatment. When he was finished, even though he lost a lot of weight, his tumor looked a lot better. It shrunk by over 60 percent," Park said.
However, in the final months of 2023, the tumor started to grow back — and quickly.
"That's when we thought, 'This is a lot more serious than we expected,'" Park said.
On Dec. 27, 2023,Jong Park passed, leaving his family with this message:
"He said, 'Just focus on you and the restaurant and just take it as long as you can. Don't feel obligated or pressured to operate the restaurant for the rest of our life. This was my dream and I wanted to do this. But since I won't be here much longer, just go through with it as long as you possibly can,'" Park said.
In the face of immense grief, Steve Park and his mother have shown incredible grit, and they say the community has really helped them through it. Once again, Keith Lee stepped up for the Parks, and posted a TikTok offering to pay for the first 300 customers at Dynamite Korean on New Year's Eve. The line stretched around the building that day, with hundreds of people showing up to support the Parks amid the heartbreaking loss.
"People who waited six to seven hours in this long line in the small complex, that was an insane moment for us," Park said.
"That really gave us a reason to hold on to the restaurant, gave us a reason that hey, we're not alone and we have the support of not only the Vegas community, but all over the nation, all over TikTok, all over social media, rooting for us."
Steve Park said he felt his father was with them that day, cheering them on from above.
"I felt him speaking to us as we were cooking, saying 'You guys are doing fantastic,'" he said.
That day and every day, Steve said he still feels his father's presence all around him — especially in the kitchen where they bonded.
"All the discipline and hard work and that mindset of working hard and hustling and just persevering in life, I learned it from my dad," Park said. "My father, for me, was my hero."
Now, he's putting his father's lessons into practice, as he and his mother work to continue Jong Park's dream.
"Before my dad passed, he wanted to pass down everything he learned for sushi and luckily I had most of it down, and now I'm learning the front end of the kitchen and other menus besides sushi," Park said.
While the days are long and still filled with heartache and grief, Park said he and his mother are so thankful for the community's support. Although they're not sure what the long-term future holds for Dynamite Korean Street Food and Sushi, they're hoping to continue Jong Park's legacy for as long as they can, while still trying to make time for their own health and wellbeing.
If you'd like to keep up with how the restaurant and the Park family are doing, you can follow them on TikTok and on Instagram at @dynamitevegas. Their restaurant is located at 9711 S. Eastern Ave., Suite H7 in Silverado Ranch Plaza.
