Readers, Today I have a special for you. Here is a story on La Bocca by Lauren Grasch. She is a foodie from NYC and I think she did a great piece on the restaurant. Here are some pictures of the food as well. http://www.seouleats.com/search?q=la+bocca I hope that Lauren will continue to contribute to Seouleats. Dan P.S. Here is the full version. Imagine that you are an Italian chef thousands of miles away from home, visiting Seoul to see the World Cup in 2002. You discovered much to your dismay, that you cannot find your favorite cuisine. This cuisine rep resents your heritage, and your culture. This cuisine is in your blood. While most people would enjoy the rest of their stay, eat plenty of other foods that Seoul has to offer, this wasn't the case for this chef. In fact, instead of bidding "Ciao" to Seoul, Santino Sortino did just the opposite. He decided that Seoul deserved to experience and revel in the traditional Italian food that was such a huge part...

La Bocca. In Itaewon. It's a Cafe, Italian Pastry, Deli and Wine Bar. Does it suffer from the Korean bibimbap factor of trying to mix too much into the pot? Unju and I went to La Bocca in Itaewon last week. The menu looked very impressive. I mean real prociutto and salami with high quality cheeses...; it sounds like heaven. The bread was perfect. The crust cracked and there was a plush density to the loaf. It's a wonderous combination of air (yeast) and earth (grain). It's the perfect carrier for the meats and cheeses. The eggplant sopped up the flavors of vinegar and oil. The argula added a piquant green, the bresoala was marbled and cured like it should be- a small amount of it had enough flavor to fill the entire loaf-, and the gorgonzola cheese added the right amount of mystery. The interior was contemplative and well thought out. For dessert we had the Tre Chocolat e Zucca. Pumpkin Cream with 3 different chocolate mousses. You had me at Pumpkin. Yum. Oh, and the dark c...

Article and pictures  by guest contributor Laura Hamm and David Simon If you are a lover of truly cheesy, creamy, thick, tangy, cheesecake… then you’re probably well aware of how difficult it can be to buy a satisfying slice in Seoul, or anywhere else in Korea. Perhaps you’ve experienced the familiar disappointment one too many times. You see cheesecake on the menu, or at the bakery, and the idea of that velvety deliciousness you know so well plants itself firmly into your brain until you can’t resist. You eagerly order your indulgence… only to push your fork into it’s pastel surface and realize that it’s far more ‘cake’ than ‘cheese’, and again you feel duped. We can empathize. However, do not lose hope completely… it IS possible to find the real thing in Seoul. On the ultimate quest to search for the best cheesecake in Seoul, two true cheesecake lovers sampled some delectable options and have decided to share their knowledge here with any other kindred seekers. Outback Steak...

Got Currywurst? Picture from: http://www.konnopke-imbiss.de/ Dear Seoul Eats Readers, I like getting letters from people and I try to answer them as soon as possible. Often I can help, but other times...well...I ask you for help. I just got this letter from a reader, Tiffany, and she is looking for Italian Style Cannolis and Currywurst. She had asked about plaintains a long time ago, but I failed... (Does anyone know where you can get plaintains?). I assume that La Bocca has cannoli's, but currywurst is much harder- I have no idea. Dan Here's the letter: Hi Dan, I wrote once about plantains in seoul, and unfortunately I noticed that no Seouleats reader was able to respond to. This time I'm hoping I'll have better luck with this question. Well, actually... it's two. I've recently come back from a tour of Europe and fell in LOVE with the food. There are two things that I've been craving for and I wonder... does Seoul have them? What better pe...

Hold the Gnocchi Written and Photographed by Jonathan Bates My friend invited my partner and I to her birthday this past weekend, which was to be held at an Italian restaurant named Sortino’s. Needless to say that I was less than excited when she told me it was in Itaewon as it not being my favorite area and offering little more than overpriced and mediocre-grade “western” restaurants among other things. Nevertheless, we put on our winter gear and hit the streets of Itaewon, eager for some good Italian food. I must confess that I was doubtful of having truly great, let alone good, Italian food in Korea as I was raised in a house with my grandparents who were “Off-the-boat” Italians. I knew that my friend had good taste and a knack for the finer things in life so I was hopeful that she wouldn’t steer a group of festive partygoers into utter disaster. She didn’t. Getting to the restaurant (which we found with ease), we told the hostess we were with “Harry Potter” (yes, my friend ...