january bites...

 

Welcome to Seoul in the City!

I would like to thank my avid readers and followers since 2009! I'm absolutely blessed with all the encouragement and continuous support that inspires me to keep up with my journal.  I will abide with my fellow partners, and hope that 'my love affair' with food, travel and design will never cease...

As my first official post for my new site, I would like to re-introduce one of my favorites-coffee bangatgan-커피   방앗간 in Samchungdong.  It's a treat when I go to this spot, since it's a bit far for me. Their novelty: to leave your mark, you can write notes or doodle on their custom napkins, and just tape it anywhere in the cafe...literally. 

Whenever I go back, I try to look for the notes I left behind the previous time...but never can find it! Perhaps it blew away...or someone loved my note and snatched it away? hahaha...

The photos below will make you hungry...such a tease...Enjoy:)

 

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some of my favorite things...


 





amazing hand drip coffee at 'cafe may' in garosugil


For my readers out there, you may have noticed that I have so many 'favorite' spots around Seoul...but I wanted to blog about a few spots that are truly dear to me, and love taking my close friends to! I was tempted 'not' to blog about this for a while...but oh what the heck! Sharing is caring :) This is to my fans out there...perhaps I'll bump into you at these spots one day!

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insadong-revisited




After spending an afternoon at Changdeokgung Palace near Insadong, I decided to drop a visit to one of my favorite areas in Seoul-Insadong. Something about this place always warms my heart.  The galleries, the street food vendors, traditional tea houses as well as the amazing Korean restaurants that won't kill your budget! For 5,000-6,000 won, you can eat until your stuffed! Now that's my kind of meal :)

This day was spent to pamper Sarah...I found the mandoo place that I so craved for all these years!  'Sadong Myunok - 사동면옥' is a famous mandoo (Korean dumpling) restaurant that my cousin took me to 4 + years ago, and couldn't find it a few months ago. But this day, I just couldn't leave Insadong until I found it. Their mandoo soup totally hit the spot, then picked up a 'hoduk' on my way to a tea house.
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sydney international food festival

One of the main reasons why I am in Sydney in October, is to participate in all the activities at the festival. The highlight of the fest was the chef food showcase, where the best chefs from all over the world, presented their favorite recipes, held panel discussions, signed autographs, as well as taking photos. The ticket to attend a program for one day was $285! However, it was so well worth it! Unlimited coffee, lunch (I had sushi!), cupcakes, dumplings, wine, and fruit were provided all throughout the day. I really didn't know what to expect from a 9:30-5:00pm program schedule, where all the food demos were held in one room. I enjoyed every segment, every food demo, and most of all, actually meeting these chefs in person! I think I was the only one in the room from the U.S., and during one of the panel discussions, I mentioned I was from Chicago. Then people started coming up to me about how they would love to go to visit 'Alinea'! I soon found out most of these chefs have been to Chicago, specifically to visit Alinea and Charlie Trotters. Of course I had to give my plug on other Chicago favorites. My 'Chicago' connection has never sparked so much interest from these chefs, when I was asking for their autographs. I was able to get 3 more minutes of their time, more than the others that were eagerly awaiting to shake their hands. Woohoo for me! Edward Kwon was one of the chefs that I definitely had to meet! He is one of the top chefs from Seoul, who has a restaurant and his own cooking show. During his segment, I think all the Koreans from Sydney came out of the woodworks, just to see him. I had a chance to meet him after his demo, I presented him my business card and discussed Chicago, (spoke to him in English the whole time, he's quite fluent!). I also had a great discussion with one of the top food critics of Paris-Sebastien Demorand. He is a fan of Rick Bayless, and loves Chicago. Even though I gave him my contact info, I forgot to get his...and ever since I have been pounding my head for that. Here are the chefs I met at the Chef Showcase (all from just one program, there were 6): Sergi Arola (Madrid-www.sergiarola.es/) Alexandre Bourdas (Paris-alexandre-bourdas.com) Cheong Liew (Adelaide-www.thegrangerestaurant.com.au) Edward Kwon (Seoul-www.edwardkwon.com) Justin North (Sydney-www.becasse.com.au) Alvin Leung (Hong Kong-www.boinnovation.com) Peter Gordon (London, NZ-www.longrain.com) Sebastien Demorand (Paris) Matt Preston (Host of the Master Chef Australia) chef sergi arola from madrid chef sergi arola from madrid fresh dumplings during our morning break at the showcase fresh dumplings during our morning break at the showcase chef alexandre bourdas and food critic sebastien demorand chef alexandre bourdas and food critic sebastien demorand prepared by chef bourdas-snapper with oyster, local vegetables, seaweed and lemongrass prepared by chef bourdas-snapper with oyster, local vegetables, seaweed and lemongrass lunch time at the showcase...very nice! lunch time at the showcase...very nice! chef edward kwon (left) and one of his assistants (right) chef edward kwon (left) and one of his assistants (right) 'chilled chicken with ginseng'-a deconstruction of the traditional korean dish-sam gye tang, prepared by chef kwon. absolutely amazing! 'chilled chicken with ginseng'-a deconstruction of the traditional korean dish-sam gye tang, prepared by chef kwon. absolutely amazing! chef peter gordon, chef alvin leung, and sebastien demorand chef peter gordon, chef alvin leung, and sebastien demorand
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