Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Seoul hosts 'contactless' culinary event this week
A poster promoting the Taste of Seoul culinary event that will be held across the capital from Nov. 11 to 15. /Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul residents can enjoy gourmet meals from 10 famous restaurants and two hotels through delivery or drive-thru services, as part of the city government’s “contactless” culinary events that will run from Nov. 11 to 15.
The city government said, Monday, it is launching “Taste of Seoul” with a large number of famous restaurants as well as small-sized local restaurants and star chefs participating.
Taste of Seoul will comprise of two categories: “Restaurant Week” celebrating Seoul’s gourmet food, and “Comfort Food Week” dedicated to Koreans’ favorite foods to lift their spirits.
One notable program is “Seoul Restaurant@Home,” in which people can select special dishes from a choice of 10 restaurants and two hotels and have them delivered to their home. Those making reservations the day before the desired date can get the food at any time and any place they want through the Zero Delivery Union service, Seoul City’s own food delivery app charging low commission fees for small-sized delivery companies.
The two participating hotels — Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas hotel and Seoul Dragon City Hotel — will also hold a donation event whereby dishes ordered from the hotels, will also be delivered to medical staff at designated hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
For the Restaurant Week, the city government has also published a brochure titled, “100 Seoul Restaurants and Bars,” which introduces different restaurants in Seoul picked by culinary experts. Beyond introducing Seoul’s food, it serves to promote the capital’s charm as a tourist destination.
In addition, a cooking class will be held virtually for hallyu fans abroad, the city government said. Chef Cho Hee-sook who runs the Korean Cooking Studio, and Chef Kang Min-koo who runs Mingles restaurant will teach epicures, social media influencers and hallyu fans in Rome and Brussels how to make Korean dishes.
Chef Cho will host a cooking class using soy sauce at 11 a.m. (Central European Time) Friday for participants in Rome while Chef Kang will hold a class using red pepper paste at 1 p.m. The next day, the same programs will be held for applicants in Brussels, Belgium.
Besides local participants in Rome and Brussels, anyone can watch it live on the VisitSeoul TV channel on YouTube.
Comfort Food Week is an event that offers relatively more simple food than that featured in Restaurant Week.
In September, the city government surveyed 10,000 people online about their favorite food. In the survey, tteokbokki (rice cakes with red chili pepper sauce) topped the list, followed by fried chicken, kimchi stew, pork belly, and samgyetang (chicken and ginseng soup).
The city government will collaborate with 100 mom-and-pop eateries selling these foods and will provide a take away system to the restaurants that have not previously offered delivery or take away services. Residents who use the restaurants will be given coupons allowing them to eat there once more.
It will also run a “wheeled restaurant” program from Nov. 13 to 14 to deliver lunch to those who have been selected, and in the evening, people can enjoy meals while exploring Seoul’s main tourist routes on a city tour bus.
“The goal is to make Seoul a representative city of gourmet food that surpasses New York and Paris through the first Taste of Seoul, event,” said Joo Yong-tae, general director of the tourism and sports division of the city government.
Visit tasteofseoul.visitseoul.net for more information.