Miele Guide: Cast Your Vote for Asia's Best Restaurants!

Last week, an email invite to vote as a member of the special jury for The Miele Guide landed in my inbox, so I thought I'd have a Skype chat with uber-cool foodies Aun Koh & Sulyn Tan -- who are the embodiment of the Little Cream Life -- about their ambitious project to produce the definitive guide to Asia's best restaurants. While waiting for Sulyn's computer to start up ("Vista!" explained AK for the lag), we chatted about his recent meal at el Bulli and reminisced about the days of Commodore and Atari. When Sulyn finally joined us, Aun explained how the whole project started:


Aun: Both Su-Lyn and I have spent almost a decade each working in publishing. Many of those years have been dedicated to (1) food and restaurants; and (2) covering thr growth of Asia's lifestyle markets. The Miele Guide is something that we've wanted to do professionally for a long time. In 2002-2004, Su-Lyn was the editor in charge of Wine & Dine, and also thus ran its restaurant guide.

LCL: it's quite ambitious to do a pan-asian guide. was it hard putting together the shortlist?

Sulyn: The challenge was in first tracking down the best people to help us put it together. We really wanted to work with journalists who are currently keeping tabs on the restaurant scenes in their home cities/countries; people whose primary focus is to check out restaurants.

LCL: how many restaurants did each journalist recommend?

Sulyn: We ended up working with 84 of Asia's top restaurant critics. Each one was invited to nominate the 20 restaurants they felt were the best in their city/country.
In addition, when voters go online, they still have the option of adding in restaurants they feel are missing.

LCL: did you contribute to the shortlist?

Aun: Nope. We only invited full-time restaurant critics, plus a few others who are considered "local authorities". We actually don't fall into these categories. For Singapore, the panelists were Wong Ah Yoke, Geoffrey Eu, Jaime Ee, and Daven Wu, all of whom cover restaurants professionally.

LCL: any chefs?

Aun: Nope. Full-time restaurant critics! We did have a case in which a Contributing Editor (in Japan) suggested a panelist who is both a respected food writer and a respected chef. We said no but have invited this person to vote as part of the Special Jury. It was very important to have only critics creating the shortlist. Our Special Jury, on the other hand, is made up of regional freelancers, other media, foodies, chefs, hoteliers, restaurateurs and others from related industries that have some authority and know the region's restaurant scene.

LCL: y did you choose to follow the zagat model as opposed to the michelin model?

Sulyn: Actually, we're not following the Zagat model. While the public is invited to vote, we won't be consolidating their comments into our reviews. Each restaurant guide book company has its strengths. Zagat is strongest in the United States. Michelin is strongest in Europe. And while Zagat has had a presence in Asia for many years, its ratings and reviews are not considered significant benchmarks by Asian foodies and critics. Michelin’s own foray into Tokyo, while a success from a sales point of view, has garnered a lot of criticism from some of Japan’s most respected food critics and writers, and even Tokyo’s own mayor. Each guide book company also has its own process of evaluations. Zagat, being American, is entirely democratic. Its results are based on a popular survey. Michelin, on the other hand, likes to employ secrecy, depending on a small army of appointed tasters. Each of those systems work well in their own backyards, so to speak, but in Asia, we have decided it is important to look to other systems in order to best determine what our region’s best restaurants are. I think it will be the readers that at the end of the day decide if we have done our jobs properly, i.e. whether we have put together a guide that most accurately reflects what is happening in Asia’s restaurant scene. Most importantly, we want this guide to reflect the tastes of Asians, and not become an imposition of our own taste judgements on the region’s restaurants.

LCL: i think in Asia, there's the added complication where most international cities have a multi-cuisine focus when it comes to the best restaurants and a lot of great restaurants happen to be western imports. so i think it will be interesting to see how many robuchons or nobus make it onto this asian list
and how many local-grown restaurants make it. for example, a gau gee noodle shop or even a tsui wah hongkie fast food joint

Sulyn: you make a very good point. essentially, we want to create a system that allows for more than just the imports to be lauded in Asia. That said, it is a restaurant guide. So, a hawker stand would not be considered a restaurant.

Aun: we are setting specific guidelines as to what is a restaurant. None of the restaurants that we have allowed into the shortlist are "stalls", so to speak. That said, each panelist was allowed to push the definition of "restaurant" a little, if within their local context what they consider a restaurant is a little outside the box. For example, Naughty Nuri's in Bali is a restaurant to any critic in (and probably voter) in Indonesia. But a hawker stall in Newton Circus clearly is not. When the final results come in, we will look carefully to see if non-traditional restaurants were nominated and then make a decision on a case by case basis.

LCL: were the critics asked to recommend restaurants on food quality alone or also dining experience?

Sulyn: critics were asked to propose restaurants they consider to deliver a complete experience of excellence. In some contexts, whether there are table cloths and a stool for your handbag is irrelevant. For others, the ambience is part of the whole experience. We asked them to judge the restaurants as their fellow citizens are likely to judge them.

LCL: do you think that local "Asian" restaurants might suffer a little in the rankings since sometimes those serving good food have a habit of neglecting the "experience"?

Aun: It is up to the panelists, public voters and Jury members to make those decisions.

LCL: thanks guys, as a final question, i'd still like to get one of your fave restaurants...can be outside of asia if you don't want to compromise the objectivity of Miele Guide

Aun: Su-Lyn would like to qualify our answer: Le Cinq for a chi-chi affair and L'Atelier de Robuchon for everyday eating. Both in Paris. :)

Sulyn: I meant I'd be happy to eat at pretty much any L'Atelier in the world. It is impressive that they are pretty consistent wherever they are.

LCL: wow, so no el bulli

Aun: El Bulli is amazing and a really incredible experience, but I don't think I would call it a favourite. A "favourite" is the kind of place you could go to regularly -- and crave regularly. Don't forget, though, our guide is a determination of Asia's best restaurant not the public's favourite restaurants, which are two different things.

LCL: ciao! thanks for the chat! have a great weekend! i am going for sham tseng roast goose tmr night. can't wait to break this fast from good food!!!

Aun: We'll be dining at The White Rabbit 3 times over the next 3 days.

Everyone is eligible to cast their vote for the 10 best restaurants in Asia until 31 July 2008.

MOCA China

MOCA China, Hong Kong's very own Museum of Contemporary Art, is slated to open this fall on the top floor of Causeway Bay's DNM. Last night, they held an art auction dinner at JW Marriott. RT snapped up Paul Rusconi's pink Kate Moss for HK$18,000. He was ecstatic when he found out that another work by Rusconi featuring Tom Cruise and Kate Moss had sold at an auction in New York this past May for US$19,000.

All in all, last night's auction of artworks by the likes of Anothermountainman, MALEONN, Eddie Hara and Hou Yanyan raised nearly HK$2 million for the burgeoning museum, which hopefully will contribute to making Hong Kong's art scene a bit more vibrant. Word has it that a retrospective of Brenda and Kai-bong Chau's fun and flamboyant outfits is in the pipeline.

Espresso Thinking Series: Travel & Hospitality

Early this year, I received an email from DH at The Disruption Consultancy (a brand consultancy that's part of the TBWA network) asking for 45-minute to chat about travel industry trends over coffee. They were working on the positioning and branding an integrated resort in Singapore and needed some industry context/background info. Because I was still in Vancouver, DH, her colleague BF and I didn't actually meet up until more than a month later.

We met one February afternoon at Caffe Vergnano. We had a very interesting chat about what luxury travellers want and what they might want next, where they get their information and how they make their travel choices. It wasn't immediately relevant to their project, which was more mid-market, but our discussion focused on the shifting landscape within the travel industry. Where traditionally travel agents held much more sway on travellers' choice of destination, today that influence is shifting to hotels & resorts themselves (which are doing a much better job communicating directly and building relationships with guests), new media (blogs, travel community sites, even photo-sharing sites, hotel marketing and booking sites) and new services (concierge services and travel planners such as ourselves). Today's travellers are more sophisticated, demanding, fickle and with very different needs from previous generations' travellers (wifi, phone chargers, iPod docks are just a few of the new things we expect hotels to have in addition to 24-hour room service, pool, spa, gym and remembering the type of pillow we like to sleep on).

Fast forward four months later, TDC has launched a cute concept to share ideas, build networks and of course aid in their business development: Espresso Thinking Series. Over espresso and breakfast at Caffe Habitu, they present tidbits from their research as well as case studies demonstrating how they apply their findings to create innovative branding solutions and initiatives for their clients. I was surprised and grateful to DH for mentioning Little Cream Book as an example of new influencers of travellers in their presentation.

I found the presentation interesting. Here were just a few notes I jotted down:
1. ZMET -- one of the research techniques mentioned. ZMET stands for Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique and delves into how consumers' subconscious reacts to brands and how it affects their purchasing decisions.
2. Bin-sights -- another one of their research techniques. It's very hands-on and involves going through people's rubbish. One very interesting and relevant insight gleaned from going through a guestroom rubbish from a particular hotel client was the prevalance of medications, prescription or over-the-counter. We live the espresso lifestyle, and the fast-paced life of living out of hotel rooms, running for the next plane and eating processed airline food takes a toll on our systems. It's hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle on-the-road (I would know. I've just manged to get through an 11-day detox that would be utterly unmanageable if I were travelling.). So 24-hour room service menus should include options for people on alkaline or low-sodium/sugar/carb diets or perhaps the minibar could include energising or detoxing tonics. In addition to free transfers or room upgrades, hotel might offer loyal guests health/wellness-boosting services or products. This, of course, has implications beyond hotels as seen rise in popularity of spas, yoga retreats, detox holidays and medical tourism. Even airlines have to contend with the health issue of deep-vein thrombosis.
3. What a brand needs to be -- There was a slide with a bunch of words describing what a strong brand needs to be, such as "innovative". As I was looking at this slide, I realised one very important word was missing -- inspiring. All the great brands, and by great, I mean brands that we decide to buy not out of a rational decision-making process (i.e. good value for money, best-in-class etc.), but out of love. And love for a brand (think Apple or Amex or Obama) is created when the brand inspires. It inspires people to see more, do more, be more, risk more, hope more, believe more, love more, which of course, leads people to talk about, buy and consume more.

Which is why I love travel and helping others embark on their own personal journeys; because each journey holds the promise of rebirth and rejuvenation. It's a chance to see, experience or get to know something or someone for the very first time...perhaps all over again. In so doing, we rediscover who we really are and discover who we can become.

The next Espresso Thinking Series will focus on financial services.

The BR Experience

"I have a proposal for you," BR announced over the phone. "But I'm not going to tell you what it is unless you say yes. All I'll say is that it will be an interesting experience."

I was in the middle of lunch at Ise, probably enjoying a heart-warming bowl of beef udon, when the call came. BR was calling to thank me for the copy of World Changing I gave him over a year ago (he had thought I had lent it to him and wanted to buy me a replacement copy, but I've learnt early on not to loan out books unless they're books I never want to see again.). "I have nothing else to offer you in return, except for an experience."

I've known BR for years and he's an all-around great guy -- do-gooder, yogi and chef. He's the one I turned to for inspiration when I made a resolution to do yoga 6 days a week for a month. So I was sure the experience he was proposing could not be anything bad. And of course, being the Chief Experience Officer of my company, I was naturally baited to accept.

And what was the BR experience? It turned out to be a 10-day detox (actually, it's 11 days. the program starts counting from Day 0)! Now if BR had just asked me to go on an 11-day detox that included 2-days of fasting and drinking a disgusting meal replacement shake, I would have immediately said no. I would have come up with a million and one excuses not to do it. Afterall, over the years, I had made several half-hearted attempts. In fact, last year, I even spent a weekend in Phuket trying to kick-start a detox. I came back thinking that I enjoy food (whether it be a ham & cheese sandwich from Robuchon, a hearty breakfast of crisp waffles or french toast with strawberries and sausages or crisy bacon from Pressroom, Vietnamese pho bo, Korean bulgogi or bibimbap, Peking duck, all manner of Shanghainese...you get the idea, it's a very long list) and coffee a little too much to ever get through a whole week without them, let alone 11 days!

So before the BR Experience even started, here was lesson 1: The secret to convincing someone to do something you know they don't want to do is to spin or package it in a way that makes it seem appealing or at least intriguing, which involves a bit more ingenuity than mere sugar-coating.

BR had managed to convince two others to join in on his little experience. After comparing travel schedules, we settled on 8 June as Day 0. In between agreeing to embark on the detox and the start date, I had trips to Japan and Seoul, where I indulged in and ingested all manner of "toxic" foods:

My favourite artery-clogging, fat-filled salted caramel eclair from Fauchon in Takashimaya. Note the elaborate packaging just for the one eclair -- in the center are two ice packs positioned to keep the eclair cool and from moving around in the box. Japanese really know how to package.

I returned from Seoul three days before Day 0 (It was a Sunday, but I would actually suggest starting on a Friday. The toughest days are the first few, so they should fall on a weekend. The fasting days actually aren't that tough, because the body is already feeling much better and used to the reduced food-intake.). Despite my attempt to reign in my unhealthy eating habits so that my system wouldn't go into shock on Day 0, I ended up having at least half a box of popcorn while watching SATC on Thursday, a scrumptious Chinese feast on Friday at the newly-opened Ovologue and a salted caramel tart at the Robuchon tea salon on Saturday. I did manage to prepare for the detox though. Braving torrential rainstorms, I made my way to IMI (Integrated Medicine Institute, founder Graeme Stuart-Bradshaw designed the detox program.) and ThreeSixty to pick up all the things I needed for the next 11 days:
- Fast & Be Clear meal replacement
- Omega 3, 6, 9 oil
- Supplements: Spirulina, Fiberblend and Kyodophilis
- Ginger Honey tonic (tastes great as a hot tea)
- organic blueberries (a low-sugar fruit)
- Biotta Breuss juice (predominantly beetroot juice, definitely an acquired taste even for someone who normally likes to eat beetroot)
- organic carrot, apple, celery juice
- organic lemons
- lots and lots of water

At first glance, the program looks a bit complicated to follow. But basically, there are four phases -- pre-cleanse (day 0), initial cleanse (days 1-4), liver flush (day 5), intense cleanse (days 6 & 7), re-orientation (days 8-10). Through each phase, you substitute one more meal with the rice protein shake until you get to the intense cleanse phase where all you're drinking is the rice protein shake. Meals consist mainly of vegetables with a small serving of chicken, fish or brown rice. No other meat or poultry or shellfish allowed, no carbs (except brown rice), no coffee, sugar, alcohol, drugs (even Tylenol), tobacco etc. Over the course of the detox, I had most of my meals at Ise or Harakan where I would have either grilled silver cod or mackerel served with a large green or seaweed salad. I drank lots of hot lemon water whenever I had to meet someone at a coffee place.

Unfortunately, the rice protein shake is disgusting, especially if you get the cherry flavour (pineapple, i was told, is more neutral tasting). In fact, I was so disgusted with the shake that I ended up substituting the Master Cleanse lemonade (7 tbs lemon juice, 7 tbs Grade B maple syrup and 1 tsp cayenne pepper to a litre of water. You're supposed to drink 2 litres of this a day with unlimited water and zero solid foods) for days 6 and 7. The Master Cleanse drink, as you might imagine, is quite delicious. I got a little less protein and a few more calories from the Master Cleanse drink (7-800 for the day as opposed to 500 for the three servings of the rice protein shake), but I think the overall effect was the same, which was to give the digestive system a rest and allow it to rid the body of toxins.

The first 2.5 days were the hardest. I felt groggy and sluggish and got a headache on Day 1. But on the morning of Day 3, I woke up feeling much fresher. I found that even on the groggy days, the fog would lift if I did some cardio like swimming, running or kickboxing. For me, kickboxing was a most effective substitute for the caffeine/sugar buzz. From Day 3 onwards, the experience took a turn for the better. I would wake up earlier feeling refreshed and alert. I no longer felt sleepy or lethargic after lunch or in late afternoon. By Day 5, I noticed I could concentrate better. At no point during the detox did I feel hungry. That is not to say that I didn't crave food. When I got an email about an event at El Taco Loco, I wanted tacos. When I was posting pictures from my Seoul trip, I wanted to go eat at Iroha or Kaya. And of course I still missed my morning ritual of having coffee, even though I wasn't actually craving its taste.

What I missed the most, though, was the enjoyment of sharing meals with friends. So much of socializing in Hong Kong revolves around eating (gossipy Sunday brunches, brainstorming lunches, long chatty dinners) and drinking (whether it be an afternoon coffee or evening Champagne cocktail). I had a couple of dinners with understanding friends where I would watch them eat, but it's definitely a lot less fun. The upside is that I feel much more energetic, with more mental clarity. And of course, I lost 2.6kg (the program says that most women lose 2.5kg, while men can expect to lose 3.5kg).

I'm not sure I would have been able to get through the whole experience, resisting all temptations, without the support of friends. I had a huge amount of support from BL & AW, who ate similarly healthy lunches with me even though they weren't on detox. It's much easier eating healthy when everyone else at the table is eating healthy. PT kept me motivated and my mind off food during the two fasting days by supplying me with Seasons 1 and 2 of ALIAS on dvd. Everyone had to put up with my incessant "I wish I could have..." whining and whinging. Most importantly though, I have BR to thank for this "interesting (and instructive) experience". He checked up on me with daily pep calls.

I'm not sure that I'm about to give up coffee, cupcakes or my other culinary indulgences, but I'm certainly going to be more thoughtful about what I eat, striving, for example, to balance each portion of protein or carb with double the portion of veggies and fruits. And now I know that sleepiness or a lack of focus and concentration isn't necessarily about a lack of sleep or over exertion. So when I next feel like my mind and body are under-performing, I can always come back to the BR experience and do an 11-day system reboot.

Art & Seoul

Samcheong-dong
I had tried to set up a meeting with Bahk Seon Ghi, but he was in Europe so I had to settle for a meeting with his gallery, SUN Gallery.

My meeting wasn't until noon, but I decided to have breakfast in Samcheong-dong since MC had recommended that I try sujaebi, a soup with pasta, at Samcheong-dong Sujaebi (apparently, this place is known for this local dish). But by the time I saw the restaurant from across the street, I was craving my usual latte and remembered that JC said I'd probably prefer the cafes serving waffles and French toast instead. And wouldn't you know it, on my side of the street, was Cafe 62-16 by TeaStory. I wandered in ready to order their crepes, but unfortunately, their crepe maker was not working. So I had their brunch waffle instead, which came with bacon, egg, sausage, salad on top of a green tea waffle. With a cup of skim latte, it was the perfect comfort breakfast on a wet and chilly morning.

After breakfast, I strolled down the street with its quaint shops, sleek galleries, restaurants and lots of cute, little cafes like Cafe 62-16. It reminded me a little bit of the small streets in Daikanyama. On a sunny day, it would be prefect for a Sunday morning post-brunch stroll. Being a bit under-dressed for the weather, I walked briskly towards SUN Gallery to avoid the eventual downpour. Christine was already there. We went through Bahk's portfolio. She had just visited his studio a week or so ago and she seemed quite smitten with him. She kept insisting that I should meet him next time I'm in Seoul. "It's a shame you can't meet him this time," she said, "because you'd be good friends. He's very friendly." He showed me pictures of his studio, which is about an hour or so outside of Seoul. There were pictures of individual pieces of charcoal laid out meticulously on the floor. He gets huge amounts of charcoal delivered every day.

After going through Bahk's works, she offered to take me around some of the other galleries nearby. Again, there was that Seoul hospitality. We walked over to Kukje Gallery's New Space where they had an impressive show on of Anselm Kiefer's works. The gallery also owns The Restaurant, which is next to the main gallery facing the street (whereas the New Space is in a building behind SUN Gallery). Christine joked that The Restaurant has to be expensive in order to support the galleries when they don't manage to sell any art. Next stop was Hakgojae, which had an exhibition of stunning wall installations of oil-on-canvas paintings by Choi Insun. Choi's canvases are seductively tactile. The paints are layered on so heavily in places, giving them a sculptural quality. As we were leaving, the owner gave me a monograph of the artist's works and an umbrella; as it had really started to pour. Yet more soul-warming, Seoul warmth on a cold day.

Kim Joon & Nancy Lang
We were scheduled to meet Nancy Lang in front of the Insa-dong Starbucks at 6pm. "You won't miss it," said RK. "It's the only Starbucks with its name in Korean (스 타 박 스)." Nancy is incredibly spunky. Her outfit that day made me think of Harajuku girls. She had on black patent leather pumps with knee-high black socks and a black-and-white checked Heidi-ish dress. She was just missing the pigtails.With her long, jet-black hair down, she looked like the darker Asian twin of a yodeling Swiss Heidi. One of her Taboo Yogini works was on show at a nearby gallery. At the entrance to the building, a couple of ladies were handing out flyers to the restaurant downstairs. One of the ladies spoke to Nancy and then Nancy beamed, "They just gave us a discount, so we should eat there. It's traditional Korean food."

We went up to the gallery and she explained the symbolism behind her work. A lot of it has to do with the women's intuition and power, on the one hand, and their vulnerabilities on the other hand. There was a reason for each visual element in the mixed-media works. She explained that she often put a Louis Vuitton bag in, because she loves Louis Vuitton handbags. That's probably why LV commissioned her to produce a work for one of their events. On this particular day, she was carrying a Gucci canvas bag with pink leather trim. "It's raining," she explained. "I don't want to ruin my Louis Vuitton bags."

Kim Joon joined us for dinner in the basement restaurant. Nancy ordered the traditional meal with lots of little dishes and limitless re-fills. I can't remember how many dishes we had, but there was beef, pork, fish, along with several vegetable dishes, glass noodles and pancake. I requested a bibimbap, because RK had forgotten to order it the night before and I just had to try this in Seoul.

Kim Joon doesn't really speak English, so Nancy and RK did most of the translating. His works, I learned, were not photographs at all. I had initially thought that he shot real models and then digitally layered the patterns on top of their skin. It turns out, everything is a digital creation; no photography involved. His works are an exploration of the social, cultural and psychological meanings behind tattoos. As we were finishing up our meal, Kim Joon suggested we head over to his place to see some of his works. Once again, I was surprised by the show of hospitality. On arrival, we were greeted by his beautiful wife and absolutely adorable and precocious 18-month-old daughter. Kim Joon's works are mesmerising, but his daughter is the masterpiece.

It was great seeing how locals live, but even more interesting to see how an artist lives. I always imagine messy studios, but because all of Kim Joon's recent works are done on computers, his "studio" was more like a study. And his house seemed like any other house, complete with garden. It was very comfortable, homey and normal.

Leeum Samsung Museum of Art
The final art stop of the trip was the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. Everyone raves about this musuem. It's got a great collection housed in great buildings. My favourite is Rem Koolhaas' Samsung Child Education & Culture Center. Museum 1 is designed by Mario Botta, while Museum 2 is designed by Jean Nouvel. This is an instance where the architecture doesn't try to steal the spotlight from the artworks (Miho Museum is a case where the architecture overshadows the collection). I loved the fact that the first piece greeting me at the entrance of Museum 2 was an Anish Kapoor -- a burgundy-coloured, concave mirror. The most fun, though, was an installation by Park Kiwon in the Koolhaas building. The piece, entitled Vacuum, is a room with all its walls and ceiling covered with industrial grease with the ground covered in inflatable square cushions. The museum has an audio guide that tells you about each piece as you stand in front of it. It's a well-done guide, well worth the 2,000won.

Seoul: Full of Hospitality

Seoul has never been high on my cities list. For roughly the same flying time, I could be in Tokyo. But when EO asked if I'd like to meet Korean artists Kim Joon and Nancy Lang, my interest in making a trip to Seoul was finally piqued. Even then, because of countless people's accounts, I was not that enthusiastic about the city itself, so I only stayed for a couple nights last week. Turns out, Seoul exceeded my expectations.

The first thing that struck me on arrival in Incheon, as I was looking for the SK Telecom counter, was Baskin Robbins. It kind of gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling of familiarity, even though it's been decades since I last had a Baskin Robbins ice cream (their bubble gum ice cream used to be my favourite). But the superficial sense of familiarity fades quickly in Seoul. Basically, it's the moment you hop in a taxi and try to go somewhere. It seems South Korea and Japan have a similar addressing system, where numbers are used to determine the "coordinates" of a building within an area. The problem is, nobody (aside from the people actually occupying the building) knows where the building is just by looking at the address.

I had a list of places I wanted to check out, complete with addresses and phone numbers. It took Grand Hyatt concierge nearly half an hour just to mark the rough, not exact, locations of 10 Corso Como, Boon the Shop, Spa Lei and a Korean BBQ restaurant in Sinsa-dong on a map. There seems to be a general lack of knowledge on the concierge desk. Turns out, 10 Corso Como and Boon the Shop are just a block or so away from each other in Cheongdam-dong.

Finally, armed with printed maps, I hit 10 Corso Como first. The Seoul outpost of this Milan concept store opened early this year. Those who have visited both say that the Seoul shop is better. It’s a beautifully-designed and conceived shop. Their fashion sections are a little more limited because Boon the Shop already owns the distribution for many of the major brands, but it's mix of coffee table books, fashion accessories, design furniture, exhibition space make it a great place to wander around. The cafe serves great paninis and lattes as well.


I got my first taste of Seoul hospitality when IL suggested I call her if I wanted to visit Boon the Shop. She wanted me to meet her friend IK who is the creative director for the shops, so I called IL while I was still in 10 Corso Como. I had wanted to meet IK for info on the retail scene in Seoul. She called me back to say that IK was in a meeting (I did end up meeting him the next day over coffee at 10 Corso Como when I learned that the two shops are actually distant cousins. 10 Corso Como is owned by a textile subsidiary of Samsung Corp. Shinsegae, which owns Boon the Shop among other things, used to be a part of Samsung. And because BTS owns most of the coveted labels, 10CC ends up having to buy from BTS.), but he had arranged for JH, one of the buyers to show me around. I fully expected IK to be busy, but I did not expect for him to arrange for someone else to play shop guide, especially on a drab, rainy day. JH picked me up from the 10 Corso Como's cafe. First, we walked to Boon the Shop Men, which was just around the corner, to have a quick look and pick up umbrellas. The 3-storey men's shop carries casualwear (Libertine, Comme des Garcons, DSquared, etc.) as well as suits in an cosy space.

Boon the Shop Men

Boon the Shop Women

The women's shop is much grander with its vaulted entrance lobby. I was very excited to see, hanging from the lobby ceiling, a charcoal spiral staircase installation by Bahk Seon Ghi, the artist I had most wanted to meet on this trip, but who, unfortunately, was in Europe.

The Bahk lobby installation.
You can't really see it here, but it is a spiral staircase out of individual pieces of charcoal.

Before she left me, JH had suggested I check out nearby Space Mue, another multi-brand fashion shop (Chloe, Balanciaga etc.). Of course, I had no idea where Space Mue was. So as I exited BTS, I walked into Vecchia e Nuovo (a branch of the same coffee shop in Westin Chosun, which is also owned by Shinsegae), a cute little cafe to ask for directions. The manager replied that she didn't know the shop, but that if I waited she would look it up on the internet. As I was waiting, I couldn't help but try their green tea cupcake. The cake part was very nice, but the icing was a tad too sweet. The manager gave me directions to the Gucci shop and then told me to ask the staff at Gucci for better directions; as Space Mue was nearby. As I was leaving, she even gave me a green tea cookie. Truly impressive service! But that wasn't to be an isolated incidence.

The green tea cupcake that I just had to try. Next time, I might go for the chocolate though.

I never did find Space Mue. I made it as far as Gucci, but the shop was already closed. After a bit more wandering around, it was time to look for the dinner venue. I hopped in a cab and handed the map to the driver. The driver looked at the map and said it didn't make any sense so I ended up calling the restaurant. I got dropped off and was pointed down a lane. Of course, I couldn't find the restaurant. I stopped off at a Family Mart, a bar, a shop, getting a little closer each step of the way. Finally, I ran into a guy who actually walked me to the correct lane.

IL had picked the restaurant; Sanbong Harogui (산봉 하로구이; 657-17 Sinsa-dong; +82 2 5462229) was her favourite Korean BBQ restaurant. RK, host of Talk Around on Arirang and who was instrumental in setting up the meet with Kim Joon and Nancy Lang (she's his co-host on Talk Around), explained that the restaurant was more like an izakaya where people go for drinks and then order some BBQ dishes as a snack. But we managed to make a very satisfying meal out of it while RK tried to teach me hangul (Korean alphabet). It's a great feeling when you can finally make some sense out of squiggles that previously meant nothing. The beef dishes were wonderful, but my favourite was the dumplings (mandu 만두). At one point, RK looked at my plate and exclaimed with a shocked look, "You ate both of them?!" Well, he was the one who put the two tennis-ball-sized dumplings on my plate in the first place. And they were delicious!

Real charcoal makes the meat even tastier!

After dinner, we were off to meet relatively recent newlyweds JP and MC for some Champagne in Garosu-gil, a really cool street to hangout with lots of little wine bars, cafes, boutiques etc. Of course, I had to ask them for their favourite restaurants. Here's their list (I didn't get a chance to try any of them, but definitely on my list for the next visit):
1. Tani in Cheongdam-dong, behind the Prada shop
2. Episode in Sinsa-dong on the northeast side of Dosan Park (the lanes along the eastern and southern sides of the park are lined with cute, little shops, restaurants and cafes. Hermes has a store here and, according to IK, it is a must see as their gallery space usually has interesting exhibitions).
3. Miss Park in Cheongdam-dong
4. Hashi behind Prince Hotel
5. Seasons in Cheongdam-dong

On my last morning, I decided to have breakfast at The Shilla before popping over to the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. And what greets me as soon as I walk into the lobby? Another Bahk Seon Ghi installation! This time, it's made of out crystal. I had the perfect breakfast for a cold, rainy day -- a very refreshing drink of ginseng with milk and honey and a bowl of wonton noodles.