Michelin star chef Pop-up store owner grows into star chef

This is the fifth in a series of interviews with chefs at Michelin star-awarded restaurants in Korea ― ED.

By Yun Suh-young

Three years ago in March 2013 this reporter first interviewed chef Lee Jun, who at the time was running a small pop-up pasta restaurant in an alleyway in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul.

Lee wasn't well-known at the time, except maybe among aspiring students who had read his books about his journey toward becoming a chef, including the records of his days at the Culinary Institute of America.

Three years later, we met again, this time at the Michelin one-starred restaurant "Soigne," tucked away in a quiet residential neighborhood in Banpo-dong, southern Seoul. Lee is the owner-chef of Soigne which has become a foodie's hot go-to destination now. Soigne was opened just six months after Lee ended his experiment with his second pop-up store, Jun the Pasta, in June, 2013. Three years after its opening, Soigne was awarded with a star last month by the Michelin Guide's first Seoul edition.

"The pop-ups were experiments to ultimately open Soigne," said Lee during an interview with The Korea Times last week. The name Soigne comes from the French word which means "elegantly done." It has been Lee’s nickname since culinary school.

"Soigne was my goal, the reason for all of my past experiments. It became a larger-scale experiment."

Soigne is designed in a format that is rare in Seoul. It has a square-shaped bar type sitting area where customers can interact with chefs and see them cooking inside.

"I want my customers to take away a unique experience from this restaurant. If a chef just serves food and the customer eats and leaves, then the chef becomes nothing but a cooking machine. But that's not what I want. I want my chefs to be spotlighted for creating the dishes that are presented to the customers. So I lowered the barrier between the chef and the customer by designing it this way," said Lee.

"It's the people that matter. Then the customers will trust us and come even when the food changes. That's important because our food changes every three months."

Lee's cuisine is well known for its exquisite storytelling. The concept changes seasonally and the theme is chosen based on whatever Lee is inspired by at the time.

"The baseline is the same though. The structure, combination and proportions may differ, but in the end, there's a story that is told through the dish. My techniques are simple as well because I focus more on harmony. I leave unnecessary garnish out to make it simple but harmonious."

The most difficult part of being an owner-chef was finding the balance between what the customers want and what he wants to deliver as a chef.

"About 80 percent of the time, I do what I want to do. But it's always a dilemma trying to weigh how much I should give in to the customers. For instance, what may be tasty to them may not be what I want to express. Some things can be experimental and philosophical but not exactly scrumptious. When I want to express something but I know customers won't hail over it, that's when I wonder whether I should do it."

Lee is a challenger, experimenter and pioneer in the way he drives his restaurant and presents his cuisine. He strives to be different and to be the first ― doing things that others haven't done before. And that's where he finds meaning.

"Creating a new category that hasn't existed before is important. It sets a great example to others who fear to do it. Creating something for people to enjoy when they couldn't because they didn't know it existed, is huge ― like the impact Apple had on us. I think we should sow when we're young," he said.

"When I was doing pop-up restaurants, no one did it. So I received the spotlight. When I opened Soigne, there weren't many dining places like this. So again, I received attention. I think I was lucky and was riding the wave at the right time."

Part of the challenge was to open in a secluded area which was hard to find. Lee chose it because it was cheap, not thinking about the location itself.

"I became numb to the fear of not having customers since I was doing pop-ups. I just thought something would happen. It may have sounded reckless at the time, but now that I come to think of it, worrying about the location distances you from the fundamentals of cooking," he said.

"I didn't promote through the media. News was spread by word-of-mouth by residents in the community. I think there's a strong community in this neighborhood. It spreads fast."

The bitter reality he faced after becoming an owner-chef was seeing how influential money and power can be.

"It's true that once you're in a management position, you have to worry about finance. Those with money and power are the ones who spend at a fine dining restaurant like this because the culinary scene isn't ripe here yet. But these are not the type of people I want as customers," Lee said.

"I really hope only the people who appreciate and know the value of our cuisine will come to our restaurant. I don't want to think of this as a restaurant. I think we're artists. And artists constantly create and experiment. Selling a steady menu and being afraid of change means you've already become a businessman. I think I'm less of that and more of an artist."

Lee's dream is to become a symbol ― a symbol of hope and of success to young aspiring chefs who are not from prestigious or wealthy backgrounds.

"I don't have any connections in Seoul. My family isn't rich. I never succumbed to commercialism. But I came all the way here by following and standing firm in what I believed was right. I feel proud," he said.

"I want to set a precedent to future generations, that if I did it anyone can. You don't have to negotiate with money and power to succeed. So many young people complain about their situations saying 'I can't do it because of this' or 'that person is more advantaged because of that.’ But I want to tell them that with hard work and passion, they can do it. But that passion has to be intelligent, not irresponsible."

Lee, who opened "Doughroom," a restaurant specializing in pasta, last year, plans to open a third but this time a more casual one, by next month at the earliest.

"It will be something of a pop-up. It will be a chicken project. I started off with pop-up and I'm going back to pop-up: fine dining, middle dining then back to casual."

Then he has other sparkling ideas like collaborating with different genres.

"I don't know when, but if I do, I want to collaborate with a barista or a musician. It'd be difficult but it will be meaningful. I want to do something I haven't done before."