Restaurants

As far as I am concerned Korea is the ‘it’ country in Asia right now.  How do I know? All my Japanese friends told me so.  They are enamored of Korea. Why? Because this country has been open to the west for only 50  years and they are rapidly keeping pace with the most advanced countries.  There is a real spirit of curiosity, entrepreneurship, artistry as well as a respect for a deep culture. They are a unique people.  Their language is different from Chinese and Japanese. Their dress and beliefs are distinct.  I was intrigued and met intriguing people.

Firstly, we have a dynamic alum, Suji Park, who became my mentor and tour guide in all things Korean. She packed so much into our 24 hour day. (Will Boze from FCI and my daughter Olivia were with me.)  We started by wandering into a small Korean café at 10 am, gulping down delicious soups, noodles, omelets and cast iron fired pots of meats.

When we finally pried our way from the table we hit the streets- they were colorful and retail oriented and not surprisingly full of street food.  Not only was the food for sale on the street but it was being made on the street. My favorite vendor had a Tommy gun look-alike perched on a covered flat bed truck.  It churned and chugged and every 45 seconds spit out a rice cake with a puff of smoke trailing.  What fun!  Of course we had to try it.  We bought a dozen.  They were so delicious we carried them to Japan.

Down the street we saw a man in white making blanc de blanc, incredibly thin white noodles.  He was  a magician.  Between his hands he swung this sugary thing up and down, up and down and voila  strands appeared, hundreds if not thousands of them. When they were the right size he placed them in small mounds for sale. They were a bit too sugary for me but Olivia was addicted.

When we finally got to our luncheon destination, I felt I was in a movie. The surroundings were vintage Korean. We were going to try temple food. Sanchon was the first restaurant in Korea to offer to the public the food of the monks. In short, monks are vegan. Minimalism was not the style though. At first we were brought  a large round wicker basket filled with small bowls of various greens and root vegetables.  Then more and more bowls followed.  Whenever I asked what things were, basically the answer was, “mountain vegetables”.  It was early spring (Korea enjoys roughly the same climate as New Jersey.)  The vegetables tasted of fresh greens with hints of minerality.  Nothing lush.  Crisp and clean. Oh by the way, temple cuisine does not use garlic or onions….they are bulbs that might cause arousal!

We met the famous monk, Kim, Yon-Shik a.k.a Monk Jungsun, who made it his mission in life to bring the food of the temples to the people. He was smiling and polite. We were seated at the back of the restaurant near his work area.  His desks were covered with art paper and literally hundreds of bottles of nail polish. What was a monk doing with nail polish?  He was painting portraits of the Buddha!  And they were superb.  If you don’t believe me, you can go to Paris next January and see his exhibition!  These paintings were not miniatures either.  Some were yards long.

Monk, food, art… don’t stop there. Monk Jungsun is also a jazz pianist.  I was astounded.  My Japanese friends were correct.  Korea is fascinating.

Now to the highpoint of my stay-I was going to meet alumnae. We stayed at the lovely Seoul Hyatt hotel with it’s grand view of the city.  The service and décor were serene and modern. When our alum arrived for a cocktail there was genuine excitement.  They were doing very interesting projects (Suji herself has 5 restaurants!).  Some were bloggers, others working for small shops.  All of them pleaded for  The FCI to have a greater presence in Seoul.  I am in!  I love the place, I love Koreans and I can’t wait to go back.