'I don’t like to compromise': Award-winning Korean chef recognized for innovation

Josun Hotels & Resorts head chef Son Jong-won has been recognized as one of the New Talents of the Year 2024 by France-based restaurant guide La Liste. He is the first Korean chef to receive this honor.

Interior of Eatanic Garden at Josun Palace in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [JOONGANG PHOTOS]

The year 2023 has seen rising global acclaim for Korean fine dining chefs, both at home and abroad.

Included in this mix is Josun Hotels & Resorts executive chef Son Jong-won, named one of the New Talents of the Year 2024 by France-based restaurant guide La Liste in November last year.

“When I first got the call, I was nonplussed,” he told the Korea JoongAng Daily JoongAng Daily in Jung District, central Seoul. “I had to ask again if they were sure they were giving this award to the right person.

“I’m thankful — not necessarily for getting the award, but about the recognition of my efforts.”

Chef Son Jong-won [JOSUN HOTELS & RESORTS]

Son received the award alongside five others and is the only Asian chef in the mix. It is also the first time for a Korean chef to be given the honor.

La Liste annually publishes a list of 1,000 restaurants and hotels around the world and gives out awards, including the Award of Honor, Pastry Chef of the Year, Innovation Award and New Talents Award.

Son currently runs two kitchens: Contemporary restaurant L'Amant Secret in L'Escape Hotel in Jung District and Korean restaurant Eatanic Garden in Josun Palace in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. Both are operated by Josun Hotels & Resorts and have earned a Michelin star under Son’s leadership.

Son’s dishes are often praised for their detail and innovativeness.

“I do like to explore new ingredients, techniques and textures,” he said. “I can also be a bit of a stickler when it comes to creating what I want. I don’t like to compromise.”

What Son described shows through in aspects of his dishes like the mini origami crane folded with seaweed served as one of the single-bites at Eatanic Garden.

“I like to focus on the reasons why it's possible, not reasons why it's impossible,” he said.

Son had somewhat of a belated start in his chef career. He originally attended Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in the United States as a civil engineering major but quit midway to become a chef.

“I yearned to do something that I actually liked,” he said. “I saw my college friends who were enjoying what we were learning at school, versus me who always tried but couldn’t find the joy in it.”

The idea of becoming a chef came by sheer luck. He was walking through Hyde Park in New York City and happened to pass by The Culinary Institute of America. Out of curiosity, he went inside and saw students dressed in neat, white chef aprons.

“I thought they looked so cool,” he said. “I wanted to be part of that.”

Son says he has always loved cooking, ever since he was a child.

“I remember making my menu, going to the grocery store by myself to buy the ingredients I needed, and then inviting my mother and her friends to cook all my dishes for them,” he said. “I never seriously considered it as a real profession for me though. It was always just a hobby.”

He faced “fierce” opposition from his parents when he announced his career switch, but Son was determined to see through his decision.

“I wouldn’t say it was because I was confident that I would succeed,” he said. “My dream was never to be a great chef. It was to live doing what I love.”

His late start in the chef career functions as a point of self-consciousness as well as a positive motivator.

“Yes, I got a late start — but that is one of the things that got me working harder,” he said. “It was wholly my decision, and I knew that I had to work harder than everyone else."

He’s since worked in several world-renowned kitchens around the world, including Copenhagen’s Noma and San Francisco’s Quince.

He took on the head chef post at L'Amant Secret inside L'Escape Hotel in Jung District, in 2018, and the post at Eatanic Garden in 2022.

“I was happy to have the opportunity to finally cook hansik [Korean cuisine],” he said. “It’s always been my goal to cook hansik because it was the food that I grew up eating.

“I’ve also always been interested in Korean patriots, and I like reading their biographies. So I wanted to be someone who could be of help to Korea. I still always strive to contribute positively to Korea’s culinary culture."

He’s on the path to reaching these goals that once seemed grand. But running two restaurants is no easy feat.

Son says that it is all made possible through his colleagues in the kitchen. He is in charge of 20 members of the kitchen team in each restaurant.

“One of the hardest things about running a kitchen is managing the staff, but when they get better and we evolve as a team, it is also the most rewarding feeling,” he said.

Son added that he hopes 2024 will be a year when not only he but also his whole team gets more attention.

“[2023] was full of moments that were more than I deserved. I hope more attention is brought to my team because I believe growth is only possible if we all evolve together.”

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