As soon as news of San’s opening broke, there were murmurings of intrigue and excitement within Seoul’s fine dining scene. It is said that every chef and foodie who had heard about San wanted a seat. You could say all eyes were on them. Bookings on Catchtable open at 10am on the 15th of the current month for the following month, but have to date evaporated within minutes. Fortunately I got the opportunity to dine here. Even luckier to have dear friends @ch_dram @siwonhase and @lasagna_freeway for precious company.
Chef Jo Seunghyun (@jo_sanbada) ex-head chef of 3 Michelin-starred Benu in San Francisco, was courted home to South Korea to take up the lead in San’s kitchen. @clee_benu is one of my most admired Korean chefs abroad, so to know that Jo had been colleagues with Lee at The French Laundry and subsequently trusted enough to be Lee’s Chef de Cuisine at Benu, led me to being impressed by Jo before meeting him. And after having met and spoken to Jo, I found him to be a down to earth, soft spoken man. Such an honour, it was.
How about the food? In one word, “spectacular”; despite heaving expectations before I even stepped foot into San’s door.
If I were to be long-winded: I found the first 5 of 15 courses to be good. Things took a turn for greatness when the pink and green “cod milt, mustard sauce” arrived – I don’t fancy this ingredient but the flavours were astonishingly good. “Lightly poached squid, squid ink chojang, minari” came looking like it could be an art piece in a museum, and was bewilderingly tasty. Then we were hit by a procession of “chrysanthemum risotto”, “braised abalone”, “ribeye steak” and an homage to Jo’s hometown of Busan “dwaeji gukbap”, leaving a smile on my face that I could not wipe off. Every plate of food was expertly seasoned. If I were being nitpicky I was almost ready for a curveball to throw me off-kilter.
Truly splendid. Given the chance, I’d be putting my hand up to return faster than you can say “San”. Thanks Jo, @iamxxyuri @_c____d @ju_mmelier and the San team for the amazing experience.
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SAN
As soon as news of San’s opening broke, there were murmurings of intrigue and excitement within Seoul’s fine dining scene. It is said that every chef and foodie who had heard about San wanted a seat. You could say all eyes were on them. Bookings on Catchtable open at 10am on the 15th of the current month for the following month, but have to date evaporated within minutes. Fortunately I got the opportunity to dine here. Even luckier to have dear friends @ch_dram @siwonhase and @lasagna_freeway for precious company.
Chef Jo Seunghyun (@jo_sanbada) ex-head chef of 3 Michelin-starred Benu in San Francisco, was courted home to South Korea to take up the lead in San’s kitchen. @clee_benu is one of my most admired Korean chefs abroad, so to know that Jo had been colleagues with Lee at The French Laundry and subsequently trusted enough to be Lee’s Chef de Cuisine at Benu, led me to being impressed by Jo before meeting him. And after having met and spoken to Jo, I found him to be a down to earth, soft spoken man. Such an honour, it was.
How about the food? In one word, “spectacular”; despite heaving expectations before I even stepped foot into San’s door.
If I were to be long-winded: I found the first 5 of 15 courses to be good. Things took a turn for greatness when the pink and green “cod milt, mustard sauce” arrived – I don’t fancy this ingredient but the flavours were astonishingly good. “Lightly poached squid, squid ink chojang, minari” came looking like it could be an art piece in a museum, and was bewilderingly tasty. Then we were hit by a procession of “chrysanthemum risotto”, “braised abalone”, “ribeye steak” and an homage to Jo’s hometown of Busan “dwaeji gukbap”, leaving a smile on my face that I could not wipe off. Every plate of food was expertly seasoned. If I were being nitpicky I was almost ready for a curveball to throw me off-kilter.
Truly splendid. Given the chance, I’d be putting my hand up to return faster than you can say “San”. Thanks Jo, @iamxxyuri @_c____d @ju_mmelier and the San team for the amazing experience.
1st visit: 22 Nov 2024
Dinner: KRW300,000
@pat2bach 🙏🏻.
#wolf_seoul #wolf_southkorea @restaurant.san
Too small, not enough food, art is cute and all but I’m not tryna eat art, doesn’t move me.