Korean chef brings taste of Spain to Seoulites

Kim Mun-jung

By Kim Hyo-jin

True to its name, Tapas Gourmet, one of the few Spanish restaurants in Seoul, has captivated the palates of local gourmets.

A restaurant with the ambiance of a traditional Korean home, in an old part of Seoul, Seochon, actually serves the most genuine taste of Spain, its guests and food critics say.

“I tell people not to call me a chef,” Kim Mun-jung, the 39-year-old who runs Tapas Gourmet told The Korea Times in a recent interview.

That might be funny to hear from someone who cooks at the kitchen of a top-ranked restaurant in Seoul and has published two books about cooking. She says, though, that she is merely a fan of Spanish food.

Kim’s genuine fondness for the cuisine, however, doesn’t come out of thin air. She spent about 12 years in Spain, immersing herself in cooking while she was there.

The first Korean to graduate from Hofmann Culinary School, she opened a one-table restaurant in Barcelona in 2007, called Casa Gourmet.

The restaurant, run with a guesthouse, became famous through word of mouth while receiving accolades from guests from around the world. The fame brought her an opportunity to publish her first book, “Spain is Delicious.”

“I really loved cooking just for itself,” she said. “But seeing guests expressing their gratitude and happiness with my food was an unexpected extra joy.”

Following her first book, condensed with her knowhow in making home-style Spanish food and her own gourmet life in the country, in 2013 Kim published her second book, “Casa Gourmet” named after her successful restaurant.

Her new life in Spain did not actually start off with the dream of being a cook, according to Kim.

The one-time stockbroker flew to Barcelona in 2002, leaving a secure life behind, simply drawn to its food and the vibrant atmosphere of Spain.

Just after a four-month language course, she entered the school of hotel management and tourism at the University of Barcelona (CETT), with only a vague idea of what she was going to do.

But her natural-born talent in cooking soon became noticeable. She placed second in a nationwide cooking competition, adding her signature touch of neat presentation. She even ranked top in a school competition, beating all the graduates who majored in cooking.

She received recruitment offers from many engaged in the local restaurant business, one of whom was renowned Spanish chef Joan Roca, head of the one of the world’s best restaurants, El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona.

“My new life in Spain was somewhat amazing. It was like witnessing the phrase, ‘knock and it shall be opened unto you,’” she recalled.

Though Kim spoke humbly of her good fortune in Spain, the success in her life came with persistence and dedication.

Kim tried out her own recipes for every dish at the restaurant, often falling asleep with cookbooks at her bedside. Hoping to deepen her background in Spanish food, she even earned her master’s degree in Mediterranean Diet and Cultural Studies at the University of Barcelona.

Equipped with a cultivated sense of Spanish taste, Kim now continues her life as a chef in Seoul.

“Some guests whom I served in Barcelona still visit Tapas Gourmet. I don’t actually have a particular dream as I’m just satisfied doing what I love, but if I wished for one thing, I would like to please my guests with consistency in taste,” she said. “Food is all about memory, and as I cook I appreciate that fact.”