Dinner by Kimchi Korean banquets pop up at Bar Clarine

Peter "Kimchi Pete" Jo has stepped down from his role as beverage director for Belles Hot Chicken but he hasn't left the building; he's taking over the (currently unused) Bar Clarine space for a six-week run of weekly-changing Korean banquets, Dinner by Kimchi at Bar Clarine, on Thursday and Friday nights and noodle bowls on Saturday afternoons.

It's a concept built around banchan; at least seven little bowls of pickled and fermented condiments that Kimchi Pete is making – radish kimchi, spring onion kimchi, sesame leaf kimchi, pickled radish, bean shoots in vinegar and chilli paste, this list goes on.

The front-of-house pro (Jo has also worked at Berta and Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney) will take some cues from his Korean-born parents, who owned one of Sydney's first Korean grocery stores in the '80s, for his first foray into the kitchen; dinners may feature bossam, a spiced, braised pork dish or doenjang jjigae, a soup of zucchini, shiitake and and tofu.

If you're keen on dinner there are two sittings each night for about $35-$40 a person. Seats for the upcoming Thursday and Friday will be released the Saturday before – first come, first served and strictly no menu changes.

On Saturday any leftovers end up in a soup ($15); that bossam pork is headed for a non-traditional ramen with an onsen egg and a Korean roasted seaweed called kim. Soup seekers can walk on in; doors open from 1pm Saturdays until sold out.

A short list of natural wines will be available, but no beer.

Dinner by Kimchi at Bar Clarine, 150 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, from Thursday, April 28. Reservations via email: peter.h.jo@gmail.com. See Jo's Instagram account @kimchi_pete for extended hours and menus.