▲ This file photo shows chefs at the JFWF. (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- The 2023 Jeju Food & Wine Festival (JFWF), which touts itself as an iconic gourmet festival of the province, will be held for 10 days all across the island from May 11.

Launched in 2016, this non-profit gourmet event gathers a slew of highly acclaimed chefs from home and abroad, along with the island’s flagship restaurants. It was initially organized with the aim of revving up Jeju as the center of gastro adventure in East Asia.

By working together with culinary college students studying on the island, the festival has been contributing to fostering future chefs and also donating all proceeds as scholarships for college students majoring in cooking.

For this year’s festival, about 30 top chefs from home and abroad, including those who have earned Michelin stars, will be lending their hands to share their know-how and recipes with the students. In addition, around 200 flagship restaurants located all across the island will be offering benefits for visitors.

About 70 people, including college students who aspire to become the next chefs and hoteliers, will also be participating as volunteers.

In the meantime, the festival will also be spruced up with diverse programs, including the declaration of 200 Jeju Gourmet Spoon restaurants, Master Chef Classes, Jeju-Seoul Chef Collaboration project, Taste of Jeju, and Gala Show Dinner.

Moreover, several Web 3.0 technologies will be incorporated into the event to offer even more diversified experiences. Chef Kim Hee-eun and Yoon Dae-hyun, who co-manage the Michelin-star restaurant Soul Dining, will be created into meta-human chefs by using artificial intelligence technologies and explaining their dishes. While the two human chefs cook in the kitchen in the background, the meta-human chefs will be standing at the forefront to offer customers details.

CSR brand manager Son Hee Jung will also be attending the fest as a meta-human sommelier to provide further explanations on wine. Meanwhile, J-point, a blockchain-based restaurant payment system, will be introduced to the visitors. Those who visit one of any flagship restaurants will be able to pay with this cutting-edge system only by downloading the app.

On the other side, robot baristas will be making and serving cups of freshly brewed coffee.

 

▲ This file photo shows chefs during the JFWF's cooking competition. (Yonhap)
For the Jeju-Seoul Chef Collaboration project, head chefs from Jeju Island and Seoul will be joining hands to develop new recipes for special menus. Those one-of-a-kind menus will be simultaneously offered on the island and the city so that those living in Seoul can enjoy the identical menus even without having to visit the island while Jeju residents enjoy them at home.

Meanwhile, the Jeju Gourmet Spoon 200, during which 200 meticulously selected Jeju restaurants will be named, is expected to be held for 10 days from May 11. Among the 200, around 30 flagship restaurants will be offering special menus during the event.

The Master Chef Class will be serving as a venue for highly acclaimed chefs who have earned Michelin stars to demonstrate cooking and share recipes that they have found by using ingredients from the island.

For the Taste of Jeju event, chefs from 12 restaurants representing the island will be gathered to introduce various tastes of Jeju by cooking with Jeju seafood, meat, and vegetables. During the main session, which will be held on May 13, visitors will also be able to taste and drink diverse alcoholic beverages along with performances.

“Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the JFWF had never stopped as we must carry out our mission of fostering a representative gourmet festival for Jeju Island, which now stands as a flagship stop for gastro adventure,” said Chung Moon-sun, chairman of the executive committee of the JFWF.

This event is sponsored by Jeju Island, Jeju Tourism Organization, Dongwon F&B, Korean Air, Hyundai Motors, Haevichi Hotel & Resort, and CSR Wine.

Tickets for the festival are available for purchase on the Naver portal (http://booking.naver.com) and Tamnao (http://www.tamnao.com).

Further details can be found on the official website (https://jfwf.kr/) as well as the festival’s Instagram account (@jejufoodandwinefestal).

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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