Serosugil establishing itself as a gourmet getaway

Garosugil ― the tree-lined, shop-packed street in Sinsa-dong, Seoul ― has been a hotspot for years.

After the initial wave of businesses set up shop on the main thoroughfare, a profusion of establishments, boutiques and other businesses branched out into neighboring streets flanking both sides of the main street.

At first, the whole mass was referred to as Garosugil, then it got so big that the side streets took on a name of their own ― Serosugil.

With practically every nook and cranny taken up by an enterprise, one might think that Serosugil is already at maximum capacity, but a new crop of eateries and cafes are proving that theory wrong. Apparently, there is always room for more.

Take one sweeping look down those streets, new establishments are still springing up everywhere, with construction for foreign food chains like the prominent Italy-based Konopizza well underway.

Konopizza Korea vice president Kim Say-gyu summed up the impetus behind opening the first South Korean outlet of the global pizza cone franchise on the side streets, not the main avenue of the area, when he said: “Garosugil is morphing into a fashion street, Serosugil into a cafe and food spot.”

“Food and beverage (businesses) are going into Serosugil,” he added.

Kim envisions a sort of dual-division, with fashion at the forefront of Garosugil and Serosugil manning the gastronomic side of things.

Yoon Jin-sook, who is handling PR for the newly-minted restaurant-gallery-shop complex S+, voiced a similar opinion.

“Garosugil has some restaurants but it is more of a shopping stop.”

Yoon explained that S+ opened in Serosugil to give customers the sensation of escaping to a quiet, peaceful hideaway.

Oh Si-jung, who recently opened juice bar-and-dessert cafe Le Pure in Serosugil, also cited the tranquil vibe of the area as a reason behind why she chose to open yet another establishment (her cafe chain 5Cijung’s Sinsa-dong store is also in the vicinity) there.

Quieter is right.

If Garosugil ― with its mix of boutiques, outlets, fashion stores and eateries ― is teeming to the nines with human traffic on most any given day, Serosugil moves at a significantly slower pace and requires more footwork on the part of the visitor when navigating the lattice of narrower and more intricate streets.

“Being harder to find, isn’t that both a strength and weakness for Serosugil?” Newly-opened Lay Bricks Coffee Roasters’ food manager Kim Se-hyun said.

Kim said he heard that there were a lot of people who liked making the effort to find new eateries and cafes, and it helps that there are a slew of newbies to give these adventurous souls more to discover.

Here’s a look at four of the latest additions

Lay Bricks Coffee Roasters

A roastery-cafe run by a bunch of dudes, Lay Bricks’ surprise specialty is their brownie.

Made from Valrhona chocolate, the baked treat is dense, incredibly moist in the middle and so decadent and intense that it demands a strong brew to take the edge off its addictive, velvety richness.

“The chocolate is chopped into chips and strewn into the middle of the batter,” Lay Bricks food manager Kim Se-hyun revealed the secret to those lovely, chocolate chunks nestled in the center of the brownie, which is served topped with whipped cream.

Sandwiches, including a cheese panini paired with honey dip, are also on the menu.

Having just opened in mid-September, the crew is still busy tweaking their “blend,” making it easy to catch Kim Joo-won roasting beans in-house, filling the big, rustic cafe with fragrant, sometimes chocolately, sometimes smoky, aromas.

“We’re doing 10 batches a day,” said roaster Kim, after stirring through Brazilian beans with a wooden ladle.

Lay Bricks is open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. Coffee-based drinks cost 4,000 won to 6,300 won, sandwiches and desserts cost 6,000 won to 9,500 won. For more information call (02) 545-5513.

Le Pure

Pressed juice bars have been attracting serious buzz in America thanks to high profile celebrity regulars who have been downing those liquid concoctions.

At Le Pure, Seoulites can give cold-pressed juice a try.

Though Le Pure owner Oh Si-jung was not aware of the celebrity trend when she opened the juice bar-and-dessert cafe about two months ago, she had heard about the method of juicing, where using applied pressure to ingredients plays a key role in differentiating it from other methods.

Oh said that pressing prevents the “destruction” of nutrients, thereby helping maintain their integrity, echoing what many fans of cold-pressed juice say about this method.

Le Pure’s juices are primarily fruit-based but there are also veggie-fruit combinations like their tart and sweet spinach-apple-lemon juice and red cabbage-grapefruit-apple juice.

The juices are also incorporated into the establishment’s housemade ice cream and sorbets. Luscious, creamy silk puddings and other sweets are also available.

Opening hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Pressed juices cost 6,800 won to 9,300 won (juices cost 1,000 won less if purchased to-go). For more information call (02) 5454-508. 

Colamercato

Housed in the four-story cultural space S+, Italian wine bar-and-restaurant Colamercato spans two impeccably designed floors.

Pasta, pizza and tapas form the backbone of the establishment, including a particularly hearty-yet-daintily-portioned beef tripe stew that would make for a pleasant nibble with a glass of red wine.

Since it opened in late October, Yoon Jin-sook, the manager handling its PR, revealed that the restaurant has been attracting tourists, thanks to hallyu star Jang Keun-suk.

“He tweeted about it and then tourists from China, Korea and Japan saw it and retweeted,” Yoon said. “They come and sit where Jang Keun-suk sat and order what he ordered.”

Colamercato is open from 11 a.m. to midnight (with a 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. break). Appetizers cost 7,000 won to 21,000 won, pizza 15,000 won to 24,000 won, pasta 15,000 won to 21,000 won. For more information call (02) 543-6321.

Konopizza

The Italy-based pizza cone franchise is hitting South Korea.

According to Konopizza Korea vice president Kim Say-gyu, the first outpost is slated to open in Serosugil in late November.

Denise Zucco, general manager of Pikono Srl (which Konopizza.com Srl is a part of), stated that they believe their conveniently portable, cone-shaped pizzas have the potential to be “very well accepted” by the South Korean market.

Considering the fact that South Korean customers have already dined on cone-shaped crepes and pasta-filled waffle cones, it requires no stretch of imagination to see how pizza cones could easily fit into the market.

For more information visit www.konopizza.kr.

Directions

To get to Garosugil, go to Apgujeong Subway Station Line 3. Walk from Hyundai Department Store to Hyundai High School, turn left and cross the street.

To Le Pure

Turn right at the first intersection at Starbucks. Walk straight for one block. Turn left and walk three blocks. Le Pure will be on the left, on the second floor.

To Lay Bricks Coffee Roasters and Colamercato

Walk for several blocks to the 7-Eleven convenience store down Garosugil, towards the side near Sinsa Subway Station. Turn left. Walk two blocks to Lay Bricks Coffee Roasters. To get to Colamercato, turn left into the street where Lay Bricks is located. Colamercato is past Lay Bricks, to the right.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com).