the backitchen

November 15, 2014 sarah lee

The Supper Club...

One week to prepare, 3 seatings, 6 courses...

Why a Korean gluten free supper club? We wanted to share our interpretation of Korean cuisine. The menu was created from our hearts, offering gluten free locally sourced ingredients. This all happened on a cold January evening. Folks from all over New York trekked out hungry+filled with excitement+was ready to dive into new flavors.

It just felt right...

We wanted to share our childhood food memories with everyone. Things may change over the years, but the food memory always remains. My personal favorite? The 'Quinoa bibim bap' with stir fried anchovy, butternut squash, watercress, red cabbage, quail egg, sesame oil, with a brush of red pepper paste. Our first supper club together was just sensational! So stay tuned for more exciting projects to come:)

Thanks again for all those who came out to support the event, and for those who rooted for us from afar! We could not have done this without you~

With gratitude,

Sarah & Chef Lee

The Backitchen is a food lifestyle + film blog about food journeys.

The pilot unravels traditional Korean fare at a supper club in Williamsburg, offering an all gluten-free menu! It premieres tonight at KAFFNY film festival, Wythe Hotel Cinema and online (click here for vimeo link).

www.thebackitchen.com site coming soon!

the back kitchen-brooklyn

December 26, 2013 sarah lee

For one night only...

Traditional Korean fare meets modern flavors and styling. A Gluten-Free Menu meets a Brooklyn Pop Up. Acclaimed Seoul Chef Wonil Lee meets Seoul in the City’s Sarah Lee.

This collaboration promises an innovative, beautiful, and flavorful dining experience. Don’t miss out on this truly unique interpretation of Korean cuisine!

Come with friends, bring your favorite bottle of wine or spirits, and grab a seat by purchasing tickets in advance! Tickets can be purchased via pay pal or credit card (see link below). Please inquire about dietary restrictions or general questions to sarah.lee25@gmail.com

An all gluten-free Korean menu:

'Pyogo Juk'

Shiitake mushroom cream porridge, topped with dates, perilla seeds, chili oil

'Gochori'

Korean salad made with fresh seasonal greens, tossed with perilla seed dressing, silk tofu, crispy rice bits

'Saewoo Nangchae'

Steamed shrimp tossed in creamy mustard, brown rice, ketnip (Korean sesame leaf) & coriander pesto

'Samhap'

Combination of three: bulgogi beef + two variations of tofu + washed kimchi; tofu cream infused with black sesame and garlic

'Bibim Bop'

Quinoa, stir fried dried anchovy, spinach, butternut squash, watercress, red cabbage, quail egg, red pepper paste

'Gokam mari & Dduk gochi'

Walnut wrapped in dried persimmon, fried rice cakes with yuzu glaze

Saturday, January 11th 2014

There will be 3 seatings, 20 seats/per seating.

Brunch-12:30-2:30pm ($25/person)-SOLD OUT!!!

Dinner 1st seating-5:30-7:30pm ($45/person)-SOLD OUT!!!

Dinner 2nd seating-8:30-11pm ($45/person)-SOLD OUT!!!

Location:

Nha Toi Restaurant in Williamsburg

160 Havemeyer St. (between 2nd and 3rd street)

Brooklyn, NY 11211

*street parking available, nearest metro is L train 'Bedford Ave stop' or J/M ‘Marcy Ave Stop'

Please click here to purchase tickets throughBrown Paper Tickets

farm to table goodness

January 3, 2013 sarah lee

Fresh picked baby carrots from the garden

I guess I can't stop talking about this farm-to-table spot a little ways from Seoul. Bean Table. It's time for a revisit. Need to keep sharing the love...

I had an opportunity to stage for Bean Table my last month in Korea before taking off to the states. Good friend and chef Wonil Lee welcomed me as part of his staff, after some serious convincing. Let's just say, this restaurant is on the top of my list for folks visiting Seoul!

The real deal...

*Authentic Korean flavors + modern presentation.

*Non-GMO soybeans (for those who care about this like me).

*Homemade tofu made with natural sea salt coagulants (this part could get pretty technical if you break it down).

*Fresh and organic produce.

*No MSG or preservatives.

I had a real difficult time finding Korean restaurants in Korea that didn't use preservatives. Dining at Bean Table to me is like eating in my moms kitchen-you can feel and taste the love with each dish. Every bite is well balanced, and the variations of the banchan (side dishes) are seriously endless...

'the back kitchen'-seoul's first pop up!

May 5, 2012 sarah lee

The Back Kitchen Seoul...

Here's the story of two food lovers who met in Seoul through the wonderful world of blogs.
Wanna hear a nutty story behind our first pop up?
So it begins.

Joe McPherson from Zen Kimchi and I randomly discussed doing a pop up in a car ride back in March. We never shared a kitchen before, let alone run a 40 seat pop up! So we decided to make our lives more complicated and fun by setting the date on Seoul's first pop up. Yeah, we're nuts. So what the heck is a pop up you may ask? Well, you may have heard of supper clubs or underground restaurants. Similar concept, but you basically take over a space (preferrably a kitchen space in an existing restaurant), come up with a creative food menu, and feed folks who want to eat your food. Oh by the way, there is money involved. Either a set fee for the meal, or suggested donations. For our pop up, the suggested donation was 35,000 won/guest for a 5 course meal. Uhm, I think this was a steal! hahaha.

ghetto gourmet: dining in the rough, part 5

April 21, 2012 sarah lee

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We had our ghetto gourmet dinner 5 back in January, sorry for the late posting! For this dinner, it was my turn to cook. Let's just say, I think it took some time to get my gears going when I cooked this meal. However, all of our friends were so patient and helpful with making this dinner as smooth as it was! Sid Kim is our guest writer for this post. I met Sid over a few years ago, first when I made a guest appearance on his TBS food program 'Seoul of Asia' (back in the day when I was working for Edward Kwon). Then from what I remember, the next few times we met, it involved wine in social settings. Now we're food buddies. Sid is one of those guys where you just want to give him a big hug when you see him! Always a smile on his face, and for some reason if you're having a bad day, just chatting with him for a few minutes will make you feel better. He's like the big brother you want to have. Not to mention his food palette and knowledge is something else. Perhaps Eunji's amazing cooking has 'spoiled' his taste buds, hahaha.

A bit of info about Sid: He is the director and founder of Wise Education, an educational consulting company that prepares students for entry to prestigious U.S. schools. "I love to eat, travel, eat, write, eat, drive fast cars, eat, ride motorcycles, and eat."

Thanks Sid for sharing your story on this dinner!

o kitchen

September 12, 2011 sarah lee

“What you want is to make things personal. Might not be spectacular, but from there you can say it’s mine. Personal doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s just personal. It’s memorable to you. Your identity: who you are, where you were, where you have been. Everything connects to everything.”

Susumu Yonaguni’s words as I have an afternoon chat over pasta and wine.

This space in a hanok (Korean traditional house) converted to a restaurant, has an energy that words cannot define. Upon entering, you immediately feel like you want to take off your shoes…like entering your own house. There is no host, or a manager with a suit, but a chef that will guide you to your table with a smile.

First impression? Hmm…definitely something different. As you finger through the menu, you will soon notice that there is no front of the house staff! Well, the usual servers with matching uniforms, aprons, or name tags (as this is the common standard in Korea) are no where to be found. The back of the house runs the show…yup...everything from the kitchen to the main floor…creating dishes, washing dishes, to pouring wine and greeting customers. I think I would say this is a first of its kind in Seoul, and my excitement grew even before I started on the wine…

chef im jiho's 'sandang'

July 6, 2011 sarah lee

'Food is art and holistic medicinal science...'

A bohemian artist from his earlier days, Chef Im Jiho learned food medicine through his parents. His inspiration for food and art comes from nature itself. It wasn't until his 40's, did he amalgamate the two worlds, and Sandang (mountain village) was established. Creating a 'natural menu' for Sandang was when the inner artist of Chef Im Jiho came out...

Absolutely no waste in the kitchen...every ingredient is utilized to it's fullest, composted, or given to the dogs...

In their kitchen, you will hardly see any packaged waste (almost everything is made in house), and they take to heart of using every single item. This to me, is what a real chef who participates in 'being green, and defining sustainability' is. It's not just about using natural and organic ingredients, but taking it a step further and living it out. Sandang exhibits the Chef's philosophy and lifestyle that rest upon health & healing through food.

bistro seoul

June 1, 2011 sarah lee

Bistro Seoul exhibits Korea's traditional cuisine with modern inspiration. Located in Samseong-dong, at the Oakwood center next to Coex, Bistro Seoul is a great place to dine for those who are just tuning into learning what Korean cuisine is about! The most fresh and local ingredients are utilized in their culinary creations, and their take on Korean cuisine is promising.

Recently, I had the opportunity to co-produce a short vignette featuring Bistro Seoul for LI T.V. with Dubu Digital Productions. Hyun Choi, the R&D director of Sun At Foods, and who spearheaded Bistro Seoul, explained that their concept is to amalgamate Korean classic cuisine with modern techniques to compose something exceptional.