Popular Korean restaurant in Hell's Kitchen in danger of shutting down for good

HELL'S KITCHEN, Manhattan -- New York's first Michelin-starred Korean fine-dining restaurant is feeling the heat Thursday night in Hell's Kitchen.

Hooni Kim, chef and owner of Danji on West 52nd Street, is struggling to keep his restaurant open after a fire next door forced everyone out.

"It was alive," said Chef Kim to Eyewitness News. "And now it looks sick. It looks like it's almost on its last breath. It looks like it's dying. It's so sad."

Despite the fire breaking out in the business next door, Danji is in danger of closing.

It didn't damage the restaurant, but the two are in the same building and since NYC Department of Buildings issued a vacate order, Danji has been forced to wait.

At first Chef Kim was told he could reopen in three weeks.

Then it turned to six weeks. Three months. It's now almost been a year.

"If I had known from the beginning, we wouldn't made different plans," he tells Eyewitness News.

Chef Kim says it's costing him $20,000 each month to pay off loans, equipment leases, and to retain key members of his staff.

"My chef who's been with me, I met him when he was 16, this was 25 years ago," he said. "I taught him how to hold a knife and he's been my chef forever. I had to keep him because without him Danji is not Danji."

A spokesperson for Flatiron Real Estate Advisors tells Eyewitness News, "Repairs are being made as quickly as possible. We anticipate completion of all repairs soon."

For Danji's owner, it can't come soon enough.

"We don't have a single investor," Kim admitted. "It's just my wife and I am maxing out all of our credit cards keeping this alive. And we're at the point where we see the end now and it's close."

To offset the expenses, Kim has started a GoFundMe.

"It's a very small place but always fun, always great energy," he said.