'Happy and healthy life is my motto'

Chef Mikhal Ashminov poses with a medicine ball used for BOOTCAMP training at the Sentinel One Box in Hannam-dong, Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Emerson K Partners

By Yun Suh-young

After suffering from poor blood circulation five years ago, Mikhal Ashminov decided to start working out. His health problem was caused by too much time spent standing due to his job and not exercising enough. The Bulgarian owner chef of Zelen, a Bulgarian restaurant in Itaewon, Seoul, came to Korea in 2002. He worked at the Sheraton and Westin hotels for three years until he decided to open his own restaurant in Seoul’s foreign district. Since 2006 he had managed the restaurant with success. Hard work may have paid off, but it took its toll on his health.

"My shin was all blue because I was always standing. I worked standing and ate standing. I'm a really busy guy. I worked 14 to 16 hours a day, so I couldn't find time to go to the gym. Then a friend of mine, who is also a Bulgarian chef, had the same problem and had his calf removed. I got so scared," said Ashminov during an interview with The Korea Times.

"A doctor told me to put my legs up for an hour before going to sleep and advised me to go to a gym. It was around that time that I met the guys who opened this gym. One day I was passing by the area (because I had a restaurant in Hannam-dong) and saw these guys who said they're opening a gym. I thought it was going to be a regular gym. I had no idea what CrossFit or Bootcamp was. But they persuaded me to join. With the trouble with my legs, I wanted to be fit."

So in 2011 he joined the Bootcamp program at the Sentinel One Box in Hannam-dong, which is a functional training program that exercises the whole body using weight resistance.

"I'm not a big gym guy. I don't like being a muscle guy. But the Bootcamp is cardio exercise and gives you so much energy. The exercises require so much legwork and a lot of core training and squats. Now my blue shin is almost gone," said Ashminov.

"On my first day, I had an intensive workout for an hour. The first week was painful but after one week, you can start feeling the change in your body. Since then, I have always come in at 5 p.m. because we had break time in the restaurant between 3 and 6 p.m. Then at 6 p.m., I went back to the restaurant," he said.

"This was a big change for me because I had never listened to the doctors who told me to go to gym, even after I had a motorcycle accident and got hit by a car and landed on my shoulder. But the gym has kept me balanced."

Ashminov has become a celebrity chef in Korea, better known as "Mikhail chef" since his appearance in "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator" on JTBC in 2014.

"Suddenly people came to me for autographs and photos and people were screaming when they saw me. That was scary. The show's popularity has subsided now so it's better," said Ashminov.

Before his appearance, he enjoyed a more anonymous life here despite making appearances on various TV shows. His first time on TV was for Arirang in 2006, followed by appearances on MBC, KBS and SBS.

“I think I did really well for my country in promoting Bulgarian food,” he said. “The Bulgarian president came to say hello to me last year."

His restaurant Zelen means "green" in Bulgarian. He says the motto of the restaurant is "happy and healthy life."

"Bulgarian food in general is healthy. It's in our culture because we're Orthodox Christians and there are so many strict things. For instance, 200 days are non-meat days so we need to get protein from many different ingredients," he said.

"I don't use many things that aren't healthy, like sugar. Food is so sweet in Korea, and the drinks have so much sugar in them. But they don't realize how sweet the food is they're eating. So through shows, I'm sending the message to all Korean people to eat healthy. I try to make healthy good tasting food."

In order to lead a healthy way of life, eating good food is just as important as working out, he says.

"If you work out, you need to know how to eat as well. I hate diets; they’re the worst thing you can do. You need to eat regularly and properly. That is good for your body and mind."

The chef is a fan of cheese, tomatoes and eggs. "I can eat them every day," he says.

"I like seafood as well. From Korean food, I like soups and stews such as gomtang (beef bone soup), jjigae (stew), and jiritang (fish soup)."

He closed his Hannam-dong restaurant and now operates only the Itaewon restaurant. He has no plans to open another one, saying "it's a suicide mission."

"I'm satisfied with what I have. I'm importing wine now, Bulgarian wine. I'm the only person importing that in Korea," he said.

He’s also decided to live a more relaxed life. He took his hands off the kitchen and spends more time for himself.

"I don't work in the kitchen anymore. Now I promote the restaurant and hang out with customers. And work out, of course."