Last month when reporter Anne Devineaux came to Seoul and asked for advice on Korean food I was ecstatic to help. I made a few recommendations (but not all of them) and I think she did a great job on her report on the state of Korean food. Here is the story. You can see the video report on their website (link below). I was especially happy since she wanted to interview my good friend and business partner, Jia Choi.  The South Koreans are keen for the world to develop a taste for their country, and they’re using food to do it. Now there are culinary tours for overseas visitors in Seoul. It is designed to shine the spotlight on South Korean cuisine, which to many western eyes is something of a mystery compared to that in neighbouring Japan or China. Jia Choi is a Korean food expert who organises them. “In western culture, you have appetizers, and then main and then dessert,” she explained, “but in Korea, we just serve all everything in one table, and you design your meal. So...

I have been meaning to put this up for some time because I think the Korean Food Foundation did an excellent job with this commercial and I think it really shows off what Korea has to offer in terms of culture and cuisine. Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G

Korean Food Globalization Team's Year End Conference My company was invited to the Korean Food Globalization Team's Year-end conference to see all the work that had been completed by different organizations this year. These are companies and universities that had been funded by the Hansik Jedang (Korean Food Globalization Team) to create products or do research on the topic of globalizing Korean food. The standout this year was CJ Food's "Rice & Nice" Microwaveable Rice dishes. The product was extensively researched (I know because I helped find the focus groups) and I feel their initial offerings: Spicy Chicken, Bibimbap, and 5-grain Rice is what the western market will like. The packaging is eye catching as well. I'm not a big fan of the name "Rice & Nice," because it sounds cheesy and Asian cutesy; but that's something that can be worked out by the marketing team. The products taste good and its something I could see taking off. ...

Me and Marja Vongerichten It's been a great year for Korean food and next year looks to be even bigger. Let's first talk about the good. 1.      Korean Tacos. This was the year of Korean tacos when bulgogi tacos and dakgalbi burritos became king. Roy Choi and his crew at Kogi turned kimchi into a gourmet topping. There were also copycats all over the place and I think the trend will continue. 2.      Korean-Gyopo Chefs gain respect: Roy Choi, Sang-hoon Degiembre, Corey Lee, and Rachel Yang, and Akira Back were featured in many news stories. And we can't forget David Chang who was nominated as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people list. Corey Lee's new restaurant in San Francisco, Benu, has a 2-month wait. 3.      The Korean Bibimbap Commercial. I love the dancing, the colors, the juxtaposition of dancers to Bibibimbap. It totally works. 4.      The Jean-George and Marja Vongerichten's upcoming show on Korea...

My buddy Zenkimchi was invited to speak at the intellectual forum, TED, and in this video he talks about Korean food and how to promote it overseas. I agree with many of his points and I feel that my work with O'ngo Food Communications has been doing a lot of what Joe is talking about in this video. I feel the best way to get people to enjoy a different culture's cuisine is through experience. Joe, great video. Dan