When all of the little plates of pickles and vegetables and whatnot land on the table at the start of a Korean meal, it’s like winning a game show. They are called banchan, and they shower down out of nowhere, like balloons. Fermented daikon and wavy cabbage leaves, pink with chile paste. Pinwheels of soy-stained lotus root. Silvery, crunchy stir-fried anchovies no bigger than paper matches.

If I’m in a restaurant, I pay close attention to these dishes. The better they are, the higher my hopes for the rest of the meal. They serve as a quick reminder from the outset of how varied Korean cuisine can be, how it can pack both nuance and power. And, of course, I like them because at most Korean restaurants they’re free.

It was my strong feelings about banchan that made me suspicious when I first heard that a new restaurant called Atoboy had made them the foundation of its menu. What could this be but another ploy to charge us for something that used to come with the cost of the meal? We’ve lost the battle over bread. I was ready to draw a line in the sand over banchan.

After three dinners at Atoboy (ah-TOE-boy) since last fall and one quick snack at the bar, I’m happy to admit that I was wrong. This is no scam. Junghyun Park, the chef, uses banchan as a starting point, then goes on to build smart, surprising dishes around it.