New cooking library excites all five senses
Hyundai Card Cooking Library in southern Seoul offers some 10,000 books related to food and cooking. / Courtesy of Hyundai Card
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The latest addition to Hyundai Card’s famous library series hits the bullseye once again with a cutting-edge space for the global trend, gastronomy.
The Hyundai Card Cooking Library, located near Dosan Park in southern Seoul, opened Friday, is going to be a hot place where people can enjoy and experience all things food.
Lee Mee-young, vice president of the company’s brand division, said the four-story library aims to organically connect diverse experiences of cooking gratifying the five senses.
The library has a deli on the first floor, a library on the second and third floors, kitchens on the third and fourth floors and a greenhouse-themed dining space on the fourth floor.
The building, designed by Choi Wook of One O One Architects, who also designed the company's Design Library, aims to maximize the sensory experiences of cooking.
“Hyundai Card wanted to create a space where people read books, smell savory food and see cooking at the same time. So I thought of old-fashioned houses where the smell of cooking rises up,” Choi said.
Tim Mutton, CEO of British studio Blacksheep which designed the library's interior, said the studio had three values ― time, tactility and craft ― for the designing the space.
"The quote which inspired us to design the Cooking Library was 'Out of water came life, out of life came love.' We want the guests to experience the love and art of cooking," Mutton said.
Mutton said working with the Cooking Library was like a dream come true as the studio specialized in food-and-beverage experience. "What is important for us in designing interior is to respect the architecture," he said.
The library reflects the spirit of a European factory through details such as woodblock flooring reminiscent of a butcher's cutting board and terracotta reminiscent of kitchen pots and utensils.
Visitors to Hyundai Card Cooking Library can cook in the two kitchens.
Ready to cook
The library has about 10,000 carefully-selected books all related to food and cooking.
It boasts a collection of award-winning books, which includes all the winners of the James Beard Award and the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award, two of the most prestigious awards given to food-themed books.
The books are categorized by region, ingredients, techniques and other sub-themes and are to provide in-depth knowledge on cooking.
“Gastronomy has become a global trend and people are interested in cooking, but the interest lacks depth. So we provide these books to give more profound information and inspire people to cook,” Lee of Hyundai Card said.
To encourage guests to cook by themselves, the library offers two kitchen spaces. Currently, the Self Cooking program is underway and visitors who are interested in recreating a meal from a cookbook can choose from the prepared kits to actually cook them.
The Self Cooking kits are chosen by the library for relatively quick and easy and seasonal recipes such as buttermilk chicken tacos with onion and radish salsa.
The library plans to offer more professional cooking classes and private dining services at the Greenhouse later this year.
The Ingredients House offers samples of various spices and other ingredients used for cooking.
Artistic touch
A David Shrigley sculpture at Hyundai Card Cooking Library
Another thing to watch for is contemporary artwork installed at the library.
A small terrace sticking out of nowhere from the wall, complete with fallen leaves on it, is European artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset's "Mind over Matter." "A terrace is a private space but also exposed to the public, just like cooking," a Hyundai Card official explained.
Three pieces from Rirkrit Tiravanija's "HOW TO COOK A WOLF" series are on display on the third floor. Tiravanija is known for using cooking as a means of contemporary art and the library thought her artwork, inspired by M.F.K. Fisher's food essay "How to Cook a Wolf," goes well with the venue.
British artist David Shrigley's sculptures, commissioned for the Cooking Library, are installed at the restroom booths.
The Hyundai Card Cooking Library opens from Tuesday to Sunday. Only Hyundai Card holders can enter the library and admission is free. For more information, visit library.hyundaicard.com/cooking.