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| ▲ This photo, provided by Park Woong-chul, shows chef Park Woong-chul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
LONDON, Feb. 21(Yonhap) -- In London, England, a South Korean chef has been awarded one Michelin star, which is the most prestigious restaurant guides.
The restaurant “Sollip” in London, run by chef Park Woong-chul(38), with his patissier wife Ki Bo-mee, won one Michelin star in the latest 2022 Michelin Guide.
It is the first time that a South Korean chef has received a star from the Michelin Guide in Britain.
There are 164 restaurants with one Michelin star across the UK this year and only 19 of them were newly awarded stars. There are only 194 restaurants winning Michelin stars in England even when combining Michelin 2-star(22) and Michelin 3-star(8) restaurants.
Sollip stands out as it is not a Korean restaurant. Sollip’s food is introduced as “Classic European with Korean accents” in the city.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Park Woong-chul, shows "Sollip." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Sollip, which is located down a little side street near the London Bridge with about 20 seats, has been open for just over a year but its name has already been listed on the Michelin Guide.
Michelin said, "Their cooking combines techniques and flavours from their homeland with a French style to create dishes that are polished, poised and unique."
Park said, "My dream as a chef has come true," adding, "It’s basically French cuisine, but it contains my identity as I trained in both Korea and England as a Korean."
He majored in the department of food service and culinary at Woosong University and learned French cuisine at the London culinary school Le Cordon Bleu London and worked in the UK, the United States, and Korea.
Park mentioned, "Since I mainly use high-quality and fresh British ingredients and add Korean ingredients to add some colors, customers say it tastes familiar but also new to them,” adding, "In particular, bread made of scorched rice is very popular because of its unique scent and texture."
Moreover, in France, mayonnaise is usually used in steak tartare, which is similar to Yukhoe, but Park rather adds fried red chili paste that has been aged for more than 6 months.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Park Woong-chul, shows Gamtae sandwich. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Park applied truffle cheese sandwich to make a dish using Ecklonia cava and British cheese, and he was inspired by the Korean food Baekhwaban and add pine nut milk and perilla oil to the appetizer dish made of white vegetables.
Chef Park married his wife in Le Cordon Bleu London and worked in England for 2 years on a working holiday.
He then came back to Korea and worked at the Haevichi Hotel in Jeju, and returned to England with two children, saying, "I want to expand my horizon."
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Park Woong-chul, shows chef Park Woong-chul and patissier Ki Bo-mee. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Sollip was initially scheduled to open in mid-March, 2020, but it ended up opening in August due to coronavirus lockdowns of the UK government.
Park expressed his ambition to promote Korean food culture and ingredients by building up brand power of Sollip in the future.
The chef said, "Korean food is unfamiliar in London and it is difficult to obtain high-quality Korean food materials," adding, "It is sad we have to call kelp, Korean perilla, and matcha by Japanese names when we also have them in Korea.”
Park said, "I would like to introduce our intimate Korean food culture of eating Tteok-kkochi on the street, tilting soju glasses together, and crying and laughing together."
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