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.
Paradise City teams up with Michelin three-star chef to elevate Korean cuisine
A poster of Paradise City's culinary collaboration with Kang Min-goo, owner-chef of a Michelin three-star restaurant Mingles / Courtesy of Paradise City
By Lee Hae-rin
Paradise City, an integrated resort complex on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, will host a gala dinner next month in collaboration with Kang Min-goo, the owner and chef of the Michelin three-star restaurant Mingles, the hotel announced Friday.
The gala dinner will be held at Art Paradiso, a luxury boutique hotel within the complex, on June 13. The event is themed "Sarasae," a Korean word meaning “new and new.”
Lim Byung-jin, bartender at Bar Cham — ranked among Asia’s 50 Best Bars — will also participate. He will act as the event’s owner-bartender of Korean traditional liquor, serving welcome cocktails and curated drink pairings throughout the evening.
Limited to just 45 guests, the dinner will feature a 10-course meal curated by Chef Kang, accompanied by six paired drinks selected by Bar Cham.
The hotel is offering a special package that includes accommodation for two and tickets to the gala dinner. The package features one night in a suite at Art Paradiso, early check-in, valet service and admission to Cimer, Paradise City’s K-style spa destination that blends European-style spas with the traditional Korean sauna experience known as "jjimjilbang."
Also in July, Paradise will open Paradise Culinary Lab, its F&B platform in downtown Seoul, and introduce Mingles’ fine dining know-how into the hotel industry.
The Paradise Group signed an MOU with Kang earlier this month to elevate and globalize Korean fine dining, aiming to enhance its cultural value amid the growing global popularity of Korean culture and to foster the next generation of K-food talent.
Kang has gone through relentless innovations in exploring Korean food. In March, he published "Jang (The World of Gastronomy made with soy sauce, soybean paste and red pepper paste)," a research book on Korean traditional food ingredients.
His Korean contemporary restaurant, Mingles, was a contestant in the Michelin Guide since its first Seoul edition in 2017 and became the only three-star establishment this year.
Paradise Hotel Busan will also expand its collaboration with Kang by hosting a gala dinner at its Italian fine-dining restaurant, La Scala, in July.
Paradise plans to introduce new and experimental Korean food through Sarase and develop it into gourmet tourism products.
"This event is a meaningful collaboration between the world's top-notch modern Korean cuisine and beverages at hotels," an official from Paradise said, "We will bring Korean fine dining to Korea's representative travel content."