In New York ‘s dining landscape, opening a restaurant can take time. Often, much more time than initially anticipated. Opening Oyatte, chef Hasung Lee’s first restaurant, was five years and five city locations in the making. The fine-dining concept landed on 39th Street after numerous locations fell through, taking over a space that was previously home to a Michelin-star restaurant. Lee opened the eatery in partnership with Hand Hospitality, which has backed popular chef-led restaurants including Jua , Atoboy and Lysée . Lee connected with founder Kihyun Lee while working as chef de cuisine at Atomix , which led to a conversation about opening a restaurant of his own. “ I didn’t feel I was ready, and I told him, ‘I’m gonna go to French Laundry’ — so if he can wait for me another two to three years, then let’s talk about it later,” says Lee.  You May Also Like The chef, originally from Korea, has worked across top restaurants in the U.S.…