Moveable feast

Clockwise from top left: Sous-chef Yoon Dae-hyun, head chef Lee Jun, sous-chef Kim Doo-chan, patissier Kim Jin-bo, and sommelier Park Jong-geun. / Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-young

In Seoul’s cut-throat restaurant sector, experimental ventures are rare these days due to dwindling disposable income among consumers and relentless rent hikes inflicted on proprietors by landlords.

Eateries are playing it safe, striving to survive rather than impress, and, except for a few flashes of color in areas such as Itaewon, the city’s dining choices are becoming increasingly predictable and bland.

So where can people savor new culinary delights in this increasingly uniform market? Foodies could do much worse than trying out temporary eateries popping up in unexpected places, where young chefs are infusing an experimental edge to cuisine in the capital.

Young, innovative chefs driving

new trend of pop-up restaurants

By Yun Suh-young

As a concept, it could easily be dismissed as another half-baked temporary trend, but a small number of pop-up restaurants in Seoul are proving to be sophisticated, purpose-driven and deliciously fulfilling.

Embraced with equal enthusiasm by restaurateurs and their customers, these intriguing, temporary eateries, which are swiftly set up and put into operation, are beginning to appear around the nation’s capital.

Pop-up restaurants first appeared in London during the mid-2000s and soon spread to other major dining destinations such as New York. They could be an important contribution in Seoul where a flagging economy and extortionate rents continue to give momentum to a wave of restaurant bankruptcies that is drowning creative cooking.

The young chefs behind the new ventures here include those behind short-lived, two-day ventures at Gallery Guha in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam, where they served Japanese and Italian food. They represent a new branch of excitement on the somewhat stale Seoul food scene.

The element of surprise in pop-up restaurants is intriguing ― customers enjoy the fact that menus frequently change in these temporary eateries, even during the course of a day. And they don’t always know where and what the chefs will be cooking next.

Pop-up restaurants didn’t arrive here until a group of chefs led by 30-year-old Italian food expert Lee Jun tried it last year. Then, food bloggers and Twitter users went bonkers suggesting that the new style of serving food is here to stay.

Beaming from the success of a 40-day pop-up restaurant last August, Lee and Co. are now working their magic at a former dessert parlor in southern Seoul where they will be cooking through the month of June. They named their latest pop-up venture, Jun the Pasta.

Jun the Pasta

“Six months is pretty long for a pop-up restaurant. But we had very positive reactions last season, so we decided to run it for longer,” said Lee.

Some pop-up restaurants operate by chefs renting premises that have existing business licenses for a few months before shutting up the shop to make way for new owners or previous tenants.

Interior of Jun the Pasta

Lee said that Jun the Pasta, located in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, is the successor to his first pop-up eatery in Buam-dong, northern Seoul. He chooses to refer to the short-term businesses as “projects” and calls the current one “Season 2,” as if it were a popular television drama series. This hints at Lee’s commitment to stick with the pop-up restaurant format for the foreseeable future.

“Season 1 in Buam lasted for six weeks. We began in August and faced so many difficulties. Typhoon Bolaven hit the peninsula that month and so we saw very few customers,’’ he said.

“Also, we weren’t able to promote ourselves the way we needed to. Customers who came to the restaurant that used to be there were surprised to see us. They asked what happened and we had difficulty in explaining why we were there ― and just for 40 days.”

Business was underwhelming for the first two weeks before word got around. Then, “people suddenly started flooding in,” Lee said.

He explained what attracted him to the short-term eatery.

“The biggest reason I began the pop-up was because I wanted to try out different dishes. I wanted to experiment with food. To do that, we need to change the menus every so often but in a permanent restaurant, we can’t do that,” said Lee.

“This is more like a project so I can feel free to change without having to think whether I will be criticized for it. I’m eventually planning to run a restaurant of my own, but until then, I want to try out different menus.”

The three chefs, Yoon Dae-hyun, Kim Doo-chan, and Lee Jun (from left) roll out pasta manually from a pasta machine. / Korea Times photos by Yun Suh-young

Finance was also an important factor. It was a realistic choice as he didn’t have the financial capability yet to start up his own restaurant.

“I was in New York until 2011. I first got to know of the pop-up concept then. It was a very unusual concept even in a place like New York. I became interested and always wanted to try it out,” he said.

Lee graduated from the Culinary Institute of Art in 2009 and has worked at Lincoln Ristorante, an Italian restaurant headed by Jonathan Benno and at Thomas Keller’s restaurant, Per Se, a luxury American eatery many rate as the best in New York. Lee regards Keller as a mentor.

“I learned from him that I should go ahead with what I think is right in order to succeed as a chef. He is a perfectionist who can give up 95 percent for the 5 percent. He thinks more about the customers. But what impressed me was that he cares about the staff,” he said.

Lee also cares about the chefs, especially those who are stripped of opportunities to explore their ideas.

“There are many great chefs who aren’t given opportunity to display their talent. I want to create a space for talented young chefs to manifest their talent, away from a strict organizational structure. Chefs working in hotels for instance, they can’t create their own work,” he said.

A crew was naturally formed as young, passionate chefs joined the project. Four others are involved in Jun the Pasta: two sous-chefs, a patissier, and a sommelier.

Kim Doo-chan, 24, got to know about Lee through a friend, joined Season 1 of the project and has remained since.

Kim Jin-bo, 25, is a patissier who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Australia. He joined the project because he only wanted to make desserts.

“I wanted to make desserts only but with my little experience in the field, I couldn’t get a job. When I got to know Lee, I asked for work. He readily accepted me,” said Kim.

Park Jong-geun, 30, the sommelier, gave up his job at a wine company to join the team. When Lee was running Jun the Party, a former party project, Park helped choose the wines. Since then, he has become a permanent member of Season 2.

“I was able to give up my job because this was so much more fun. Communicating with customers and suggesting wines that best fit their style is exciting,” said Park.

Yoon Dae-hyun, 28, is the newest member who joined as a sous-chef. He worked at a Korean fine-dining restaurant but wasn’t satisfied when he felt he was “working” not “cooking.” He contacted Lee after reading his book, "New York Recipe."

Menus at the pasta pop-up are created very democratically.

“We’re not world-renowned chefs but our passion for food is great. Here, it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong. If there’s a great idea, we put it into action.”

They change the menu one or two times a week and take dishes off the menu if they’re not positively received.

They also make their own pasta.

“We make pasta every two or three days. It takes hours to finish. Some take two days. But that’s what differentiates us from others. There are so many types of pasta but in Korea, restaurants only serve two or three. We make it in whatever shape or form we choose,” said Lee.

The variety of pastas there is an eye-opening experience for customers accustomed to the usual spaghetti, linguini and penne.

What’s also unique is that they don’t serve pickles. They stick to this principle because they say it dilutes the taste of the pasta.

“Korean restaurants give out pickles for free in the same way they serve kimchi. But it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Taste-wise, they don’t pair well with pasta,” said Lee.

“Some customers don’t understand at first, but they get with it when we explain. I hope more customers who appreciate our values and our experimental thinking will come.”

His next plan is to create a dining bar like some in New York.

“I’m planning a space where we can interact more closely with customers. I want the cooking and eating space to be without boundaries.”

Full of hopes and dreams, these young chefs will leave behind their passion even when they pop-out of their current space.

One only hopes more young innovative chefs like this inspired bunch will emerge to shake up the restaurant businesses here.

Sinsa-dong, 543-11, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

02-512-0158

The staff speak English