Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Four Seasons Hotel Seoul receives 'Two Bottles' award from Gambero Rosso
Four Seasons Hotel Seoul's sommlier Yoo Ji-sun pours wine at the hotel in this undated provided photo. Courtesy of Four Seasons
By Lee Hae-rin
Four Seasons Hotel Seoul’s modern Italian restaurant, Boccalino, received the "Two Bottles" award in recognition of this year's selection of top Italian restaurants by Gambero Rosso, Monday.
Gambero Rosso, a leading Italian magazine and publishing group in the food and wine industry, showcases the finest Italian restaurants and their wine selections around the world every year.
The 2024 award list for restaurants in Korea was unveiled during the 10th edition of the annual Italian Wines Roadshow in Seoul at the Ambassador Seoul Pullman Hotel, Monday, which was joined by Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto, Gambero Rosso general manager Luis Salerno and senior editor Marco Sabellico.
On a scale of one to three, the evaluation consists of five categories with respective culinary symbols: “Bottiglie” (bottle) and “Bicchieri” (glass) for wines, “Forchett” (fork) for fine dining, “Gamberi” (shrimp) for bistros, and “Spicchi” (pizza slice) for pizzerias.
Boccalino, which already received the Two Forks award from Gambero Rosso in November 2018, attained the Two Bottles rating for its expertly curated wine list and exceptional service this year.
Marco Riva, Director of Food and Beverage at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul said, “We are delighted to receive recognition for Boccalino’s wine list from the esteemed Gambero Rosso. I would like to extend my gratitude to Yoo Ji-sun, our director of beverage, for her significant contributions in curating and managing this impressive wine list.”
Four other restaurants received the prestigious recognition this year.
On fine dining, Sicilian restaurant Ciuri Ciuri from Seoul’s Mapo District and Paolo de Maria from Seodaemun District received Two Forks. Spacca Napoli and Al Choc, both located in Mapo District, were named Two Pizza Slices and One Fork, respectively.