Korea’s top five chefs head to NYC for W50B gala dinners

Hailed as the five best chefs in the country, Choi Hyun-seok of Elbon The Table, Jang Jin-mo of A&ND, Yim Jung-sik of Restaurant Jungsik, Tony Yoo of 24 Seasons and Kang Min-goo of Mingles will participate in the upcoming KoreaNYC Dinners event in New York City next month.

Organized by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants (W50B) association and local gourmet food magazine La Main, the culinary masters will partner with U.S.-based chefs Dan Barber and Carlo Mirarchi and take part in catering multiple W50B gala events showcasing Korean cuisine from June 9 to 11.

“I think with the five of us combined, we can really introduce a new side of Korean food in New York,” said Kang during a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on Monday.  

“There’s still a lot of people out there who don’t quite know much about Korean cuisine. Whenever I go overseas people always ask me, ‘What exactly is Korean food? And what are the biggest differences between Korean and Japanese or Chinese food?,’” added Kang, whose Mingles restaurant was ranked the 15th best in Asia by W50B earlier this year, as well as being voted the best restaurant in Korea.

“I think for the most part, Korean food has been typecast overseas as just being all about kimchi or barbecue … but I what I am hoping to show people is how Korea cuisine goes beyond that and that it can be elegant,” said Jang.

The upcoming KoreaNYC Dinners will include two W50B collaboration dinners prepared by Jang and Choi at the two-star Michelin restaurant Blanca on June 9, and a dinner prepared by Kang and Yoo at the one Michelin star Blue Hill the following night.

On June 11, all five local chefs will combine culinary forces at a special collaboration gala dinner event at Im’s New York-based two-star Michelin Restaurant Jungsik. Im is the first Korean to receive two Michelin stars, with his Restaurant Jungsik in Cheongdam-dong being named as the 22nd best restaurant in all of Asia this year. 

Following the gala dinners, Im and Kang are also scheduled to take part in a public conference discussing Korean fermentation culture on June 12. On the final night, all five chefs will once again come together for a party hosted at Restaurant Jungsik. 

“One of the things I am hoping to accomplish is to expand the definition of hansik (Korean cuisine) to include more modern interpretations,” Jang.

“Korean food is always evolving, it’s always changing,” he continued. “I would like people (including Koreans) to stop defining Korean cuisine as having to be traditional and embrace the Korean food of this generation.” 

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)