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Tue, March 21, 2023 | 03:05
Features
Si.Wha.Dam, poem, painting, story on food
음식에 관한 관념을 깨는 부부, 시화담 대표부부
Posted : 2013-07-10 17:19
Updated : 2013-07-10 17:19
Kim Ji-soo
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Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about "hansik" or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday.
/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

This is the first in a series of interviews with "power couples" leading in their respective fields. — ED.

By Kim Ji-soo

Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
"White Lotus Flower Water" is organic white lotus flower brewed in hot water, with a lotus flower stalk as a natural straw. It is served as an appetizing drink.
We usually eat to keep hunger at bay.

"Si.Wha.Dam" is one of those restaurants that inspires a deeper enjoyment of dining far beyond the basic need of eating to survive.

The husband-and-wife couple who own and run this 50 seat restaurant, provide customers with a chance to appreciate a life made richer because of food.

Of course, the fare on offer is extraordinary. Not only is each dish tasty and beautiful to look at, there is also a story behind it.

Here is a small appetizer about what you can expect there: the restaurant's name is composed of three Chinese characters, meaning poem, painting and story in the order.

You will have noticed that there is no reference to food in its name.

This is because these three elements coexist with food you are served.

Before an introduction about its proprietor and proprietress, I want you to prepare for the first rule of the house: don't hurry. Sit on a Hans Wegner's sofa with a welcome drink as you are asked and wait for all your companions to arrive before being taken to the privacy of a table in a room.

Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Charcoal-grilled rib eye with rosemary oil / Courtesy of Si-Wha-Dam

Let's start a typical day of the two owners, the people behind this interesting culinary haven.


Oh Chung, 47, and Park Kyoung-won,50, haul out pumpkin leaves from their car in front of the restaurant Si.Wha.Dam in Itaewon, last Thursday.

Pumpkin flowers, white lotus flowers, wood-grown ginseng, Bamboo leaves, Korean angelica leaves, Buckwheat blossoms and wild violets are some of the natural and seasonal ingredients that the couple uses for their fine Korean dining restaurant.

Oh and Park use these ingredients and work with the chefs to add flavor, then put them on matching ceramic plates and accentuate them with a flower decoration or poetry written in sugar powder to make the meal a work of art.

The couple talk constantly as they move around the restaurant, which is how they work together during long hours.

Talk to the couple about "hansik" or Korean food or food in general, their passion and dedication drown out the passage of time.

The outcome of their joint effort is reflected in the restaurant and its four menus titled: "A Line of Poetry": "A Piece of Painting"; "A Pleasant Story"; and "Banquet for Gourmets."

Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
"When Kimchi Meets Pasta"

The items on these menus read like the titles of short stories. Among the 10 items on "A Line of Poetry" menu, there is the appetizer drink "White Lotus Flower Water," a rice-dish called "Time to Empty Your Mind and Fill it with the Scents of White Lotus," and a pasta titled "When Kimchi Meets Pasta," which features squid-ink-filled noodles with kimchi in rose sauce. The dishes taste good, but the presentation takes the cake. For instance, the "Time to Empty Your Mind " choice is a simple rice wrapped in lotus leaf, but it's presented in a round-dark bowl and the rice in the center, to present the image of a lotus flower floating on a pond and a frog sitting by.
Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

"Time to Empty Your Mind and Fill it with the Scents of White Lotus"


The couple's philosophy and passion moved the heart of President Park Geun-hye. Presidential inaugural dinners were usually prepared by hotels that were given an average two months for preparation, but Si.Wha.Dam was selected 10 days before and the menu was confirmed only four days before.


"For 10 days, we worked night and day to prepare for some 200 guests with the thought that we were serving our nation. Gratefully, it was deemed one of the most beautiful Cheong Wa Dae dinners," said Oh Chung, who jointly runs the restaurant with his wife Park, who is the creative food director.

"We came out with a menu that we felt presented Korea's culture and art," said Park.

The inaugural dinner started with a plate of dried fruit as a snack, then a seafood appetizer, baked garlic milk porridge dubbed "Dangun Mythology," "Rice Cake Sandwich," "Multi-colored Korean Kebab," "Spring Flowers Bibimbap," and "Maewha Tea" and Korean snacks.

"Take the seafood appetizer. I wanted to represent how Korea is surrounded by three areas of sea. So I put clean laver from the South Sea, Shinan salt and shrimps from the West Sea and grilled salted pollack roe from the East Sea," Park said.

Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Shimbatda! ("I Found the Wild Ginseng!") features five-year-old wood-grown ginseng and homegrown honey

For the main beef dish of "Multi-colored Korean Kebab," Park used Korean beef marinated in Korean rib sauce decorated with five cardinal colors.


"The five cardinal colors in Korea mean well-being, serenity and blessing, and this is what I wanted to express," Park said.

The "Maewha Tea" made from Apricot flower "that is the earliest to herald spring after enduring a harsh winter, akin to the image of President Park," Park said.

Oh nodded constantly as Park explained how the menu was created. The same dynamics is always at work when preparing a menu. Park seeks out new ingredients, matching stories from Korean culture which results in a creative work that takes design and intuition that chefs find difficult to prepare. The restaurant has seven chefs.

"I open my ears to what she says. I know what she is capable of, and what I do is to make sure that her talents blossom," said Oh, who is CEO of KOOD Inc.

Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Korean lunch box

KOOD also runs several other food chain restaurants most notably the Sinseon Seolnongtang. The meal "Seolnongtang" is a beef bone soup with rice known for its creamy white-color broth. It is eaten simply with kimchi and slices of scallion. Standing on the success of Sinseon Seolnongtang, which currently has 42 company owned chain restaurants, the two have created a unique Korean dining experience.


For them, food is not only about taste; it's how it's presented and what story it carries. The restaurant takes patrons only on a reservation basis. Prices are expensive too. "A Line of Poetry" is the cheapest choice on the menu; this 10 course meal is priced at 100,000 won (VAT excluded). The most elaborate menu is the 18-course "Banquet for Gourmets" at 350,000 won.

"With Si.Wha.Dam, we are not looking for profit. We operate this restaurant with the notion that when we serve fine beautiful cuisine to the world, we are promoting hansik, Korean food," said Park. "When more people grow familiar with Korean food, which is healthy, we are making the world a healthier place. Korean food can do that."

Oh Chung, left, CEO of KOOD Inc. and his wife Park Kyoung-won, creative director at Si.Wha.Dam smile while talking about 'hansik' or Korean food at the restaurant in Itaewon, Thursday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Snacks for summer, decorated with a poetic line in sugar powder

Oh and Park are not concerned about resistance to paying an expensive bill for Korean food.


"The role of Si.Wha.Dam is to present the food, the culture of Korea with poetry, pictures and stories, usually on ceramic plates that you will not see anywhere else. Because of our presentation, it will take about an hour for a whole meal," Park said, which is ideal for the clientele who are introducing a new level of Korean dining to foreign business partners or visitors or enjoy by themselves.

The couple believes that both the private sector and the government could do more for Korean food.

"We should invite top star chefs to stay in Korea to taste hansik, and ask them to reinterpret it with their sense so that they can promote it when they return to their country, rather than give them Korean food ingredients to prepare their dishes for Korean," said Park. Oh said that he also hopes that more Korea food companies pour their passion and assets into fine Korean dining, "for competition will upgrade quality."


음식에 관한 관념을 깨는 부부, 시화담 대표부부

사람들은 보통 배고파서 밥을 먹는다.

이 기본적인 상식을 파괴하는 한식당이 있으니, 시화담이다.

남편과 아내가 같이 소유하고 운영하는 이 식당은 음식으로 인해 생이 풍부해지는 경험을 선사하고자 한다.

물론 시화담의 음식은 보통 한식과는 다르다. 맛은 기본이고 보기에 아름답고, 이야기가 있다. 식당이름 시화담의 세글자는 눈치 빠른 독자는 알겠지만, 한편의 시, 그림, 이야기를 의미한다. 식당이지만, 식당명엔 음식에 대해 한 글자도 들어가지 않는다.

이태원 시화담은 그런곳이다. 입장하면 아이보리 색깔의 소파에서 일행이 다 올때까지 매실 주스를 마시면서 기다린다. 그리고 일행이 도착하면 방에 입장한다.

이 시화담의 주인들인 오청 대표, 47, 와 박경원 이사, 50, 를 지난 목요일날 만났을 때, 그들은 차에서 호박잎을 내려놓고 있었다. 호박잎, 연꽃잎, 인삼, 두릅, 유채꽃, 제비꽃들은 이 식당에서 쓰이는 재료들이다. 이 재료들을 갖고, 오대표와 박이사는 식당의 일곱 세프들과 일하면서 풍미를 가하고, 어울리는 도자기 그릇에 매칭하고 꽃, 시, 그림 또는 이야기로 화룡정점을 그린다.

이들 부부는 대화를 계속 하면서, 24 시간 같이 지내면서 같이 일한다. 싸움을 안하다고 오대표는 자신있게 애기한다. 이 역학의 결과물은 시화담의 메뉴에서 오롯이 보여진다.

시화담 이태원은 한줄의 시, 그림 한폭, 즐거운 이야기, 미식가들의 만찬이 있다. 열가지 아이템에서 18까지 음식들을 제공하는 이 메뉴들을 하나하나 보면, 그 이름들은 무슨 단편소설 제목과 흡사하다.

에피타이저 음료로 나오는 “백연꽃물”은 연꽃도 식용이 가능한 것을 보여준다. 주전부리, 스프, 샐러드후 나오는 “마음을 비워 연향으로 채우는 시간” 은 도자기 그릇으로 연못을 표현, 그 중앙에 연잎에 싸인 밥을 놓고 개구리도 장식으로 한 식사 중간지점에 나온다.

음식에 대한 이런 정열은 박근혜대통령에게도 전달되어, 시화담은 박대통령의 취임식 만찬을 준비했다. 취임식 10일전에 선정되고, 4일전에 메뉴가 확정되어, 200인분을 밤낮가리지 않고 했다.

“국익을 위해서 일한다고 생각했고, 그 결과로 청와대 만찬중 가장 아름다운 만찬이라는 칭찬을 들었다,” 오대표와 박이사는 말했다.

대통령 취임 만찬에 올린 메뉴는 주전부리, 단군신화 죽, 증편 샌드위치, 색동야채산적과 매화차가 포함됐었다.

“색동야채산적을 할 때, 갈비양념에 재운 한우구이와 우리조상들의 우주관을 반영한 축하와 안녕을 기원하는 의미를,” 표현하고자 했다고 박이사는 말했다.

오대표는 박이사가 말할 때 열심히 끄덕이면서, 본인은 항상 듣는 입장에서, 조력자로서, “이 사람의 재능이 꽃피우도록” 노력한다고 했다.

이 부부가 시화담을 운영할수 있는 것은 모태역할을 한 신선설농탕 의 든든한 뒷받침일것이다. 오대표 부친때부터 운영하여, 현재 수도권에만 42곳의 직영점이 있습니다. 설렁탕이 대중을 위한 것이, 시화담은 고급 한정식을 지향한다.

오부부에겐 음식은 단지 먹는 것이 아니다. 어떤 면에서 시화담 이태원동의 메뉴가격에서도 그것은 나타난다.  가장 저렴한 100,000원대에서 350,000 원대까지 있다.

“시화담을 할 때 우리는 이익을 목표로 안합니다. 한식이 세밀하고 아릅답고, 건강하다는 것을 세계에 알려서, 세상사람들의 한식과 더 친숙해지는 것을 원한다. 친숙할때 더 자주 먹을 것이고, 한식은 건강하기 때문에 한식을 전파하는 것은 인류를 건강하게 만드는 것이라고 생각해요,” 오 대표와 박이사는 입을 맞춰 애기했다.

오대표와 박이사는 다른 기업들이 한정식에 더욱 매진해서 자체경쟁을 통해 한식이 더욱 발전되길 원한다고 말했다.
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