Ms. Kwak’s was not the take-it-or-leave-it approach of 32nd Street, and she kept at it. She wrote “Dok Suni: Recipes From My Mother’s Korean Kitchen,” which was one of the few Korean cookbooks in English when it came out, in 1998. At her second restaurant, Do Hwa, she and her mother led customers deeper into unfamiliar ground.

Each of the restaurants stayed open for about two decades, which is a very long time in New York. If you want a metaphor for how effectively Ms. Kwak paved the way for restaurants like Atoboy, Soogil, Danji and others whose chefs weave Korean cuisine into new patterns, consider that one of them, Oiji, moved into its address on First Avenue right after Dok Suni’s moved out.

What Ms. Kwak is doing in Park Slope isn’t all that different from what she has done all her career, except that by now South Korean comfort food has become comfort food for New York in general.

Haenyeo does pay more attention to seafood than Dok Suni or Do Hwa did, though. Ms. Kwak hasn’t gone pescatarian on us. She still serves impressive pork and beef bulgogis with ssamjang and lettuce, and the pan-fried dumplings are filled with high-fat ground beef seasoned with kimchi, garlic and soy. But her menu’s orientation has shifted slightly toward the ocean. This is good news, because the seafood at Haenyeo has a sparkle and sweetness you don’t always find in the smoke-filled rooms of 32nd Street.