Hailed by the New York Times as “the leading interpreter of Korean food in New York,” Hooni Kim has defined Korean food in America with his two restaurants, Danji and Hanjan.
Born in Seoul and raised in New York City, Chef Kim grappled with his own identity as a Korean American while working in the French kitchen of Daniel and the Japanese kitchen of Masa. Even as he sought to incorporate the flavors of his heritage into his own cooking, the White Castle sliders and Buffalo wings of his youth made playful appearances in experimental “fusion” dishes that illustrated who he was as a Korean American chef. It wasn’t until Kim earned a Michelin star for his first restaurant, Danji, and began to visit Korea several times a year that his expression of Korean food began to evolve.
Today, Hooni Kim’s food is an authentic assertion of the food he tasted in the countryside markets and restaurants of Korea. As he states in his cookbook, “I do not believe in watering down the unique flavors of traditional dishes because of the misconception that Korean flavors have to be muted in order to appeal to the American palate.”
With his first cookbook, My Korea: Traditional Flavors, Modern Recipes, Kim has written a powerful culinary legacy and an essential collection of recipes that epitomize his views on traditional Korean food, current interpretations and future extrapolations.
Join Chef Kim for a virtual conversation with James Beard Award-winning food writer, Cathy Erway. They will discuss Kim’s own evolution as a Korean American chef and the journey that led him to write his first cookbook, a deeply personal love letter to the food and land of Korea.
HOONI KIM
Chef Hooni Kim was born in Seoul, Korea but has resided in New York City for over 30 years. He attended University of California, Berkeley, and International Culinary Center, and trained at Daniel and Masa before opening his own restaurant. Chef Hooni Kim was recognized as an ambassador of food and culture by the Korean government in 2011. He divides his time between New York City and Korea, where he is the founder of Yori Chunsa, a nonprofit that trains orphans to become cooks. His long-awaited debut cookbook, My Korea: Traditional Flavors, Modern Recipes, was published by W. W. Norton in April, 2020.
CATHY ERWAY
Cathy Erway is a James Beard Award-winning food writer and the author of The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island and the memoir The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove. She hosts the podcast Self Evident, exploring Asian American stories, and Heritage Radio Network's Eat Your Words.
GASTRO OBSCURA
Gastro Obscura's mission is to inspire wonder and curiosity about the world through food and drink. Its articles and videos explore what food and drink reveal about the places where they’re made and the people who make them. And In partnership with chefs, historians, and other experts, Gastro Obscura helps travelers and curious people experience culinary wonders firsthand.
GREENLIGHT BOOKSTORE
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