By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
Eating well has become an important issue these days, but it isn't necessarily as easy as it sounds.
The general manager of the Grand Hilton Seoul, well known as a gourmet, said eating well begins from knowing well.
``Eating well doesn't mean having expensive dishes,'' Bernhard Brender said during an interview with The Korea Times. ``You have to first know yourself to eat well.''
Diners should first know their health condition, which will allow them to enjoy the right foods in the right quantity, he said.
Brender also believes that the right quality of dishes comes not only from good ingredients and their combination, but also from good presentation and a pleasing environment.
``You can't enjoy your food when you have it with enemies,'' he said smiling.
His belief and passion toward good foods comes from his 45 years in the hotel business, which all began from his career as a chef.
His experience and passion have recently garnered him the best honor of the Red Ribbon from La Chaine des Rotisseurs, a Paris-based international gastronomic organization.
The award gives him the position of president of its Korean based chapter.
The organization is devoted to promoting fine dining and preserving the camaraderie and pleasures of the table, and each member country holds their own dining meeting every two months in a different restaurant as a social gathering to enjoy quality food and wine, and to share their expertise with other members.
``We believe we are cultural ambassadors. We share our experiences over a nice meal and wine,'' he said.
As the 62-year-old German hotelier worked as general manager for several of Seoul's five-star hotels, including the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill, the Westin Chosun Seoul and the Millennium Seoul Hilton, he has also gained particular affection toward Korean dishes and dining culture.
He received an honorary citizenship in 2005 for his contributions as a long-term foreign resident from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
He believes Koreans have very healthy foods with ingredients from good soil and finds the coordination at the table quite impressive.
``They sit together and have galbi (Korean prime beef ribs) in front, and they coordinate for the dish, which is good,'' he said
But he advised that a balanced diet is necessary no matter how good each dish is. ``Kimchi is the best side dish in the world, but you need to balance your diet with it.''
As a general manager and top member of La Chaine, he expressed his wishes to help customers to eat well by improving services and the quality of dishes at restaurants in his hotel.
He also believed the improvement also involves the process of ``knowing better'' and ``giving more information'' to customers.
``I always tell chefs to know where their items come from and to tell guests what ingredients are in the dishes,'' he said.
As part of his efforts to give information about dishes to guests, he gets the restaurants at his hotel to put calorie tags on their menus.