Five Korean chefs to host dinner for New Yorkers
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Choi Hyun-seok, from left, Jang Jin-mo, Yim Jung-sik, Tony Yoo and Kang Min-goo pose during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap
By Yun Suh-young
Five top Korean chefs will be heading to New York next month to host a series of dinners in collaboration with Michelin-starred restaurants.
The chefs who will be promoting Korean food to Americans are Kang Min-goo of Mingles, Tony Yoo of 24 Seasons, Yim Jung-sik of Jungsik, Jang Jin-mo of AND Dining and Choi Hyun-seok of Elbon The Table. They will present three gala dinners from June 9 to 11.
The event is organized by The World's 50 Best Restaurants produced by U.K. magazine Restaurant, together with Korea's food magazine La Main. The event, dubbed "Korea NYC Dinners," includes the gala dinners, a food conference and an after-party that will be held at Jungsik New York on June 13.
"There are many talented Korean chefs who can globalize Korean cuisine but I realized that they didn't have many opportunities to reach out globally," said Jang Eun-sil, editor-in-chief of La Main and the event's organizer, during a press conference in Seoul, Monday.
"I hope this event will be a stepping-stone for Korean chefs to stand on the global stage."
The first gala dinner will be presented on June 9 at Michelin two-star restaurant Blanca. The meal will be prepared by chefs Jang Jin-mo and Choi Hyun-seok in collaboration with Carlo Mirarchi of Blanca.
On June 10, a dinner will be offered at Blue Hill, a Michelin one-star restaurant, and the dishes will be prepared by chefs Kang Min-goo and Tony Yoo, with Dan Barber of Blue Hill.
On June 11, all five Korean chefs will collaborate at owner-chef Yim Jung-sik's restaurant Jungsik. Jungsik received two Michelin stars in 2014, three years after Yim opened the restaurant in Tribeca, New York, in 2011. Yim is the first Korean to receive two Michelin stars.
On June 12, the chefs will discuss Korean fermentation in "50 Best Talks," a food conference.
"This is a very meaningful event, because it's difficult to gather a team of chefs like this even in Korea, but we're doing it in New York," said Kang.
"Whenever I go overseas, the question that I receive the most is 'What is Korean food?' But I had never really been able to answer properly. But while studying Korean food, I discovered its unique characteristics, charm, power and potential. I want to share this with New Yorkers through this event in a presentation that is familiar to them."
Kang's modern Korean dining restaurant Mingles was ranked 15th on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants earlier this year, the top rank given to a Korean restaurant.
"When Korean food is introduced overseas, it's very coherent, but this time we want to show a variety of Korean foods using Korea's different sauces," said Jang of AND Dining.
"I want to show how much potential Korean ingredients have."
Celebrity chef Choi Hyun-seok said he was glad to have an opportunity to promote Korean food.
"I travel overseas a lot and I always realize that Korean chefs cook well,” Choi said. “But Korea felt like a wasteland in the gastronomic world.
"I'm going to present Korean food in various ways. Because I'm trained in Italian food, I'm going to incorporate Korean sauces such as ganjang (soy sauce) to Italian food.
"I think Korean food should be approached in diverse ways because we can't really designate what Korean food is. It doesn't consist of one particular type of dish or way of presentation. What is important is to familiarize it to foreigners so that they can search for it on their own."
Fermentation was chosen as the theme of the food conference because it best reflects the characteristics of Korean food, according to the organizing staff.
"I think fermentation is the most traditional element of Korean food,” said Tony Yoo. “I could relate to the topic as a chef cooking vegetarian Korean cuisine. I hope chefs from across the world also understand the difficult concept of fermentation and relate to it."
The five chefs, who recently visited Ulleung Island to seek unique ingredients, will be taking their local ingredients to New York to present to global diners.
"Korea has a strong vegetarian food culture of eating a variety of vegetables, either in raw form or in the fermented form of pickles or kimchi,” Kang said. “I hope to share this during the fermentation conference.”