Seoul Eats

Our amazing wine warehouse sale is happening this Saturday at 12pm-5pm at Vin Vino in Itaewon. Please RSVP now as space is limited. You'll have the chance to try 50 boutique wines from around the World! It's a great opportunity to try some of our new wines, and it's also one of the only times that you can buy a mixed case. Come and join us on the 5th or the 12th. But, RSVP now as space is limited! Send us a quick message on facebook if you'd like to join us or email me directly at loriannwarriner@yahoo.com! Hope to see you there! -Lori

So, a friend of a friend recommended this place in Apgujeong and it's in the very stylish Dosan Park area. In this area you'll also find Wooriga (recommended), Gorilla in the Kitchen (it's alright), and it will soon be home to Jung Shik Dang's new restaurant (I can't wait). So, I had very high expectations for this place (uh, oh, foreshadowing...I'm going to write a review on this place later.) The restaurant has very high ceilings and there is an open kitchen. It's very inviting and luxurious. The meal starts out with apple slices coated with a grain and topped with jujube. The dish was crunchy and...forgettable. It didn't seem like they put too much effort into it. The settings and the restaurant is great. The scroll to the left has the menu which is served coursed-style. The bottle has makgeolli. Here is a dodeok salad. This was very good and it had a creamy, herbacious flavor. Next came the salad with raspberry wine dressing (bokbunja). T

If you are looking for some good bread in the Gangnam area, then I recommend Retro-Oven. It's kind of hidden, so the best way to find it is to go to their website http://club.cyworld.com/retrooven. The chef was trained in Germany, so he makes rustic German style loaves that he has changed for the Korean palatte. The bread is fluffier and lighter than what you might find in Germany, but it doesn't mean the bread isn't good. It is very flavorful and I think it must have to do with the yeast that he uses. The bread has a sour-dough taste that is quite surprising. They make fresh bread everyday starting at noon. They have chocolate croissants and cheese danishes at 12. At 12:30 they start serving hard loaves, pretzels, and olive loaves (recommended). They make the bread fresh everyday and they close when all the bread is gone or at 5pm. They even make their own jam. I'm a big fan of their Laugen Croissant, which tastes like the perfect German soft pretzel. And their

I know a celebrity. AZA. Chef Rachel Yang is continuing her rise to the top ranks in the culinary world and her secret weapon is Korean food. Her restaurant Joule in Seattle has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Gourmet Magazine, Food and Wine, and countless other publications. Over the summer I had the opportunity to go to her restaurant and I still have dreams about her cornbread and gouda dish topped with black truffle dish. Also, her yukgaejang was the best I've ever had. If you don't recall, Rachel was in Korea last May and she did a cooking demonstration for the Tteok Festival.  Rachel did an amazing rice cake pasta dish topped with a soy tempered egg and a Makgeolli Sabayon.  I don't know the results of the show, but I heard that she used many Korean ingredients to make interesting versions of classic Korean dishes. I think that the Korean government should bring this rising star back to Korea to show everyone how they can make Korean food work o

Eddy Ahn: Chef extraordinaire, foodie, and friend invited myself, Joe MacPherson aka zenkimchi  and a couple other foodies to the Hanspoon opening party. You can find about more about Hanspoon at www.cyworld.com/FSCG  and on their Facebook page We started out with a few Makgeolli cocktails. This one was a Makgeolli Pina Colada. Makgeolli pairs very well with different juices and flavorings. My favorite of the evening was a Omija (5-flavor berry) Makgeolli. Here are breads made with Makgeolli yeast. I loved the presentation. Here are some Pork Kimchi Lollipops: samgyeopsal (Grilled Pork Belly) on forks topped with kimchi. It was a wonderful hors d'oeuvre to start the evening. Here is Glass Bean Jelly in rice paper wraps flavored with sesame oil and roasted seaweed. Tangpyeongchae is the regular Korean dish, but it is usually very difficult to eat because the noodles are very slippery to eat with chopsticks. Wrapping them in rice paper is a great way make this dish finger food.

These days in Korea, you will find coffee shops on almost every corner. If you think about it, it's actually quite strange because back in the day, Korea was mainly a tea based culture. According to Professor Jia Choi of Ewha University, the popularity of coffee comes from a mix of different influences. One of the main influences was from Emperor Sunjong of Korea. Emperor Sunjong was the last king of Korea and he would often have western style dinner parties at the palace. They would have western style settings and food. Now this was back in the 1920s, so this was quite revolutionary for the time. Emperor Sunjong and his father, Emperor Gojong, would often drink coffee together. The Japanese found about their affection for this drink and they had a plot to kill the king by poisoning their coffee. Luckily, the plot was uncovered and the King wasn't killed. During Imperialist Korea, whatever the king did became the trend, so many people started to drink coffee because of th

Like on every Friday at 2:30pm, I will be on the Steve Hatherly Show on TBS eFM radio. You can listen in at 101.3 FM.  Today I will be talking about coffee.  Do you know which coffee has more caffeine: dark roast or light roast coffee? Also, how did coffee become so popular in Korea? Listen in to find out. Dan

Seoul's W-Hotel is one of the most luxurious hotels in Seoul. The great thing about the restaurant is how modern and contemporary it is. It doesn't have a stodgy, "old money" feel- instead it feels hip and cool. The open kitchen in the restaurant, "Kitchen" let's you see the chefs at work. Here are my friends Jia and Anna. They are two foodies that know good food. On this night, Chef Ciarian Hickey prepared his contemporary Korean menu. Here is his Yukhwae (Korean beef tartare topped with a quail egg and pear). The meat was so tender it simply evaporated on the tongue. Here is his truffle mandu stuffed with foie gras. I love the taste of truffles. The scent of truffles burrows deep into my subconscious and meanders around. Truffles have a taste that is deep and earthy. I know that it's supposed to be luxurious, but I think the taste is primordial. Here is the chef. He explained all the dishes and told us why the W wanted to do a contemporary Kor