New executive chef lives his culinary dream at Andaz Seoul

Food & Travel

Published: 24 Jul. 2024, 15:48 Updated: 24 Jul. 2024, 18:00

New executive chef lives his culinary dream at Andaz Seoul

[Interview]

Dishes at modern Korean dining venue Jogakbo Kitchen on the second floor of Andaz Seoul Gangnam in southern Seoul [ANDAZ SEOUL GANGNAM]

Over the past five years that Andaz Seoul Gangnam has been open in the capital’s affluent Apgujeong neighborhood, it has woven its way into the lives of locals — and that isn't only the town’s nouveaux riches in Ferraris, swinging designer handbags over their shoulders.

On a Monday afternoon at Andaz’s Jogakbo restaurant, four millennial friends enjoyed a glass of champagne with their brunch, middle-aged Gangnam ladies in linen and pearls walked out of the restaurant from their “weekly meetup,” a group of men and women in formal wear appeared to be in the middle a business meal and a solo diner munched on a steak salad at a corner table with headphones on.

But it's the back of the house — the kitchen — where the restaurant's new executive chef, Kim Hyeong-jin, feels he can spread his culinary wings.

“It’s a new challenge but an exciting one,” he told the Korea JoongAng Daily at the hotel on Monday. “I am having so much fun these days and, honestly, this has been my dream job for a very long time, so I am very happy.”

Andaz Seoul Gangnam's Jogakbo restaurant is comprised of three open zones serving different cuisines. Pictured above is its full-service venue Bites & Wine. [HOTEL HDC/ ANDAZ SEOUL GANGNAM]

The 38-year-old dreamed of becoming a chef since elementary school. He attended one of Korea’s best culinary high schools and received bachelor's and master's degrees in culinary arts. He’s since largely worked at Hyatt properties, including as sous chef at Park Hyatt Seoul before assuming his current position at Hyatt's boutique brand Andaz earlier this month.

He has had excellent teachers and mentors throughout his extensive career, but the most valuable lessons came from his parents who, to this day, run a rather famous hansik (traditional Korean cuisine) restaurant in Gimpo, Gyeonggi.

Kim Hyeong-jin, new executive chef at Andaz Seoul Gangnam [ANDAZ SEOUL GANGNAM]

“I think cooks do what they do because they love seeing their customers satisfied after eating the food that we made, and I witnessed [that happiness] from a very young age, from the faces of customers to my parents' restaurant,” he said.

“I wanted to make people feel like that, too, so I became a chef.”

Kim brings this same warm sincerity to his five-star hotel kitchen. Wanting more people to experience dining at a high-end global hotel restaurant, he has been pushing to add more cost-effective menu items to Jogakbo's palatte.

Comprised of three open and interactive kitchens — modern Korean dining Jogakbo Kitchen, Meat & Co. Steakhouse and full-service kitchen Bites & Wine — Jogakbo is a gastronomic mosaic.

Andaz is one of the few, if not only, luxury hotels in Seoul that offers lunch courses for less than 60,000 won ($43) and dinner courses for less than 100,000 won. The new four-course meal at Meat & Co. Steakhouse a particularly good deal as it includes a 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) T-bone steak flambéed over the table for 120,000 won.

Steak frites are part of the three-course lunch at the hotel's Meat & Co. Steakhouse. The option is priced at 58,000 won. [LEE JIAN]

Kim also used his hansik expertise to bring out the bona fide Korean flavor in the Jokgakbo Kitchen. “As a chef of Korean descent, I really wanted to bring out the authentic details of the cuisine while interpreting it in a modern and trendy manner,” he said.

Those fastidious efforts have translated into meticulously garnished banchan (Korean sides), half a dozen different rice seasonings and stylishly designed traditional Korean desserts like yakgwa (fried honey cookies) dipped in chocolate.

Part of a dinner set at Andaz's modern Korean dining venue, Jogakbo Kitchen, priced at 95,000 won [ANDAZ SEOUL GANGNAM]

The hotel’s innovative dishes come from a young group of chefs at the Andaz Seoul kitchen who are brimming with unique ideas. “It is one of the most youthful and creative teams I’ve ever worked with, and it makes me very excited to be here every day,” said Kim.

Andaz Seoul is also the first five-star establishment in the country to employ an AI robot cook. Andi, who works over the grill at Bites & Wine, cooks up steak, chicken and vegetables “to perfection.”

“We love Andi,” Kim said with a smile, adding that he’d like to see more robots like Andi help out at the restaurant.

AI robot Andi cooks steak over the grill at Bites & Wine. [ANDAZ SEOUL GANGNAM]

Another aspect that Kim truly appreciates about the Andaz kitchen is its dedication to sustainability. Hyatt has built an extensive list of sustainable culinary policies — including swapping its regular eggs to free-range eggs, which has upped the annual ingredient cost to tens of millions of won, according to Kim. But Andaz “boldly invests in such matters” and “everyone in the kitchen is incredibly mindful of the impact of our work on the environment,” he said.

“Hotels are part of communities, and we do our best to contribute to ours.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]