Son of Egg is taking a crack at a second location with not only a restaurant operation but a commercial kitchen and kimchi packaging.

Justin Ko, managing partner, said Son of Egg was looking for a commercial kitchen to prep food for its restaurant on Madison Avenue in Albany — and to launch the brand’s packaged kimchi operation. In the process, the team decided to open up a second Korean-American quick-bite restaurant at the chosen spot in Rensselaer.

“We’re like, ‘Oh, Rensselaer looks like it needs more businesses to come in and revamp the area.’ So we’re like, ‘OK, let’s take on that task and start up a new restaurant,’ Ko said. “The city has mentioned that we are at ground zero, basically, of businesses coming in and just being able to see the community change. It’s very noticeable in the next five to 10 years. I think that’ll be awesome to experience and just be a part of.”

The space in Rensselaer at 483 Broadway is 3,000 square feet — for comparison, the kitchen in Albany is 700 square feet, Ko said. The deal was an off-market transaction, and the space was previously home to Baking You Crazy. The landlord is Noah Smith of Great Neck, and Ko said they worked with Clair Francis Bee III, principal at Acre Real Estate Associates.

Ko said he spent nearly a year clearing the space and got a rent break during that time. The deal was finalized in November.

When the Son of Egg team began looking for a kitchen space, they weren’t able to invest much money — the Albany restaurant had just opened in April 2020 — so the fact that the Broadway space in Rensselaer had kitchen equipment that was good enough to use was a plus, Ko said.

The location will also have a liquor license to serve Korean liquor, soju and rice wine.

Son of Egg’s new packaged kimchi business

The original plan was to use the money made from the commercial kimchi operation to pay off the new kitchen investment, but the process of getting the product retail ready — including lab testing for a nutrition label and shelf-life testing — took longer than expected, Ko said.

“I personally thought it was a great opportunity in front of us because kimchi is getting so popular. I was like, ‘We should really capitalize on this and just try what we can,'” Ko said.

Son of Egg’s recipe has been developed over more than two decades to appeal to a wider range of people.

“I think our recipe is very unique because we use zero to barely any processed sugar, so we use fruits for our sugars. And instead of the traditional napa cabbage, we just use regular cabbage. And my family’s been in the US since ’99, so it’s about 23 years upcoming and we kind of understand what the American palate is now kind of like, so it’s not traditional,” he said.

The kimchi retails at $8 for a 16-ounce jar, and a 32-ounce jar is in development. Honest Weight Food Co-op has verbally committed to carrying the kimchi, Ko said.

The Rensselaer location is currently offering a limited menu, including Korean corn dogs, bowls and sandwiches. It’s currently in its soft opening phase.