Les Toques Blanc hes chef's association in Korea is an association for people that work in the hospitality industry. It used to be exclusively for hotel chefs, but now they have many others as members from those that work at food and ingredient companies, hospitality companies, cooking schools, and restaurants big and small. The meeting last night we honored Mr. Ashley Cheeseman of the Grand Hilton Hotel with an honorary membership and we heard news around the room about what other chefs are working on in Seoul. It was also a bit of a sad meeting as well, because the long time president, Remo Berdux, announced that he will be stepping down from his post after May to take a position at the InterContinental Hotel in Cairo. Last night's meeting was at the JW Marriot Hotel and the chef, Andreas Kampf, really shown with a variety of courses. First course was a tuna sashimi that was speared with a stalk of green rice and served over ice lettuce and seaweed salad. Second course was ...

I'm proud to announce that the MAP has been revamped, updated, and organized. In addition to providing excellent news and information on Korean food, it's our goal for this website to be an excellent resource to answer the question: "Where should I eat today?". So before the next time you head out to eat, check the map for something in your neighborhood. On the map we only list our favorite places, so everything there comes highly recommended. And it doesn't only have restaurants. Bars, cafes, and even some activities are there as well. In the future this map can be found on the link on the right side of this homepage, and at the bottom of most restaurant reviews. Each link has a brief summary of our review, and a link to our full review. icons are sorted by color. The cuisine is indicated by the picture, and price by color. Also bars, cafes, bakeries, and activities have unique colors. $ = BLUE | $$ = ORANGE | $$$ = RED | $$$$ = PURPLE Cafes/Bakeries = TEAL ...

Yesterday, I decided to walk from my home in Itaewon across Banpo bridge to Gangnam. Here is some of what I saw. Dan

Hallo, my name in Indigo Montoya.. Wait, that isn’t right.. I guess I should have given away Girl Scout cookies, because only one person took a stab at my questions and they didn’t get a single one right! Oh well, at least I know that next time Thin Mints are the way to your hearts. That said, I should probably finally introduce myself to you dear readers as you have been so patient over the last few months. Hi, my name is Laura, I live in Columbus Ohio and I am the chef/owner of Ajumama- a Korean street food truck that will be hitting the fair roads of my beloved Midwest city in late April. We aren’t going the taco route, we have PLENTY of taco trucks here in Columbus, in fact, there was a mention on Serious Eats about them. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/12/best-tacos-in-columbus-ohio-trucks.html That said, the last thing we need here is another thing wrapped in a corn tortilla. What we don’t have is a lot of kimbop, dukkboki, or hoedukk. We have some wonderful Korean restaurants th...

I love Greek food. I mean one of my first jobs was as a dishwasher at a Greek Restaurant working for the Veriopolas Family. Here I learned how to behave like a good Greek boy. After I learned that, I was allowed to make salads and hang out in the kitchen. At this restaurant I had my first Gyro and it was good. The pita, the tzikiki, the meat, the veggies were all perfectly united. It's a gyro that is quite hard to match and I have had many around the world. So... El Greco is a new establishment over by Gyeonidan. It's a little bit hard to find since it is off the main road and down an alley. It's a small place run by a foreign guy (I think he is Australian because of his accent.) The place has about 8 seats inside. They serve beer and mainly gyros but they had some other sandwiches on the menu. Since it was my first visit, I got a gyro and a Greek beer. The owner was friendly and cordial and 15 minutes later I got my massive gyro. The pita was plush and looked fresh baked a...

Here is a fast recap of food observations I have made in the last few days. / Acai berries and juices are at Costco. The super fruit is available frozen and in juice form. / Paris Baguette is now serving wine at some of their cafe locations. This one is over by Sinsa Station exit 4. / Paris Baguette (and other monster corporations like CJ) are under attack in the Korean media for undercutting local bakeries and forcing them out of business. This came to light as there have been recent reports of small business owners committing suicide because their businesses have failed. / Yum Thai in Sinsadong still has delicious food. Their Penang beef is thick and outstanding and so is their Tom Ka Gao (I think that is correct, their coconut chicken soup). They are looking for English speaking staff. If you know anyone send me an email. / JeJe Coffee in HBC has 1 kilo bags of coffee for those that want to special order. It is quite good. / Set the Table in Insadong has good Korean food in a fancie...

My mother likes to send me fun little e-mails and this one was particularly interesting. I love gadgets. I have gadgets that I buy and later I don't know what to do with, but if it is interesting and fun- there is a good chance that I will buy it. Here is a list of some fun things for the home and kitchen. Dan