Millennium Seoul Hilton revamps restaurant menus with new chef

Bernhard Butz, 53, is the Millennium Seoul Hilton’s new culinary director. / Courtesy of the Millennium Seoul Hilton

By Kim Se-jeong

The competition in Korea’s hotel industry is intensifying. New hotels spring up every so often in Seoul to cater to locals and the rising number of tourists, especially the Chinese.

Hotels are making significant, creative efforts to stay afloat; to win guests, the Millennium Seoul Hilton is betting on its food and beverage, appointing a new culinary director.

According to the hotel, Bernhard Butz, 53, was a perfect fit. It was looking for a professional who can bring fresh ideas into the hotel’s deli, bar and five restaurants.

Almost two months into the job, Butz this week unveiled his first innovation — the Namssants.

The Namssants is a cross between a croissant and a sweet roll and is named after Mt. Nam, which is adjacent to the hotel.

The Namssants is a cross between a croissant and a sweet roll and is named after Mt. Nam, which is adjacent to the hotel. The hotel is in the process of getting a patent for the pastry’s recipe. “I was looking around the shops and thought you need something that you can only have in Seoul,” the German chef said during an interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday. The idea for the Namssants stemmed from the cronut, a pastry that is a cross between a donut and a croissant and was invented and went viral in New York City in 2013. “I played with the dough with my team members.” Hopes are high for the success of the Namssants. The hotel’s Cilantro Deli, where the item will go on sale, organized a free tasting event on Thursday for the general public.

Every month, the new culinary director tries to add a new element to each of the hotel’s restaurants.

Butz, who was born in Germany, has extensive experience in Asian cuisine that spans 25 years.

In Korea, he has worked at two prior to the Millennium Seoul Hilton —Two Korean hotels are also on the list of hotels he had worked — Korea Marriott Hotel in Busan, which no longer exists, and JW Marriott Hotel Seoul. He is looking to open a Pan-Asian culinary venue in which he will showcase his Asian specialty dishes.

Every month, he tries to add a new element to each of the hotel’s restaurants (the hotel has Japanese, Italian, French and Chinese restaurants.) In the month of June, for example, he is introducing eel at the Japanese restaurant “Genji,” scallops and mussels at the French restaurant “Seasons,” lobster at the Italian restaurant “Il Ponte” and Sichuan pork ribs at the Chinese restaurant “Taipan.”

Sichuan pork ribs at the Chinese restaurant “Taipan,”

Under his direction, the menu at the Millennium’s will feature traditional dishes with a twist.

“I would like to go back to basics with a twist,” he said. “I believe fusion is confusion. (I want to) make food simple, authentic and tasteful. I want people to walk away and say ‘I had a good meal.’” And one way he creates a twist is by allowing diners to create their own menus. “Set menus would be easy, but we’d like to give guests the option to choose.”

The Sweet Tooth Terrace at the hotel’s Cafe 395 is another one of his endeavors, where he plans to attract guests with a variety of desserts and drinks. “A glass of wine after dinner, ice cream during summer, Malaysian iced coffee? We have spaghetti ice cream too. This is a place where you can sit in the evening, enjoying something different.”

Lobster at the Italian restaurant “Il Ponte” and eel at the Japanese restaurant “Genji.”

With all these changes, he hopes to achieve on goal — to make the Millennium one of the top three dining destinations in town. Currently, it is a somewhat distant dream, as people in the city are more drawn to restaurants in busy districts and perceive hotel restaurants as very expensive.

“We will try to open up more, by serving food that is good and understandable. And acceptable in terms of price for everybody. Let’s see if it works out,” Butz said.

Scallops and mussels at the French restaurant “Seasons,”

Every month, the new culinary director tries to add a new element to each of the hotel’s restaurants. Clockwise from left top are Sichuan pork ribs at the Chinese restaurant “Taipan,” scallops and mussels at the French restaurant “Seasons,” lobster at the Italian restaurant “Il Ponte” and eel at the Japanese restaurant “Genji.”

The Namssants is a cross between a croissant and a sweet roll and is named after Mt. Nam, which is adjacent to the hotel. The hotel obtained a patent for the pastry's recipe.