W Korea / Toward a Higher Point

Publication : W Korea

Date : April 2017

Title : Toward a Higher Point

Being awarded with the Michelin Star is considered the most favorable factor in the success of a restaurant. It will be flooded with reservation calls once you win it. However, there is a restaurant which decided to move out just two months after receiving the Michelin Star. It is Bicena, which is moving up to the 80thfloor of Lotte World Tower in Jamsil. I met with President Lucia Cho and Chef Ki-soo Bang to hear about the full account behind this bold decision.

President Lucia Cho

Moving into the Lotte World Tower is an extraordinary decision. In what context was the decision made?

We were offered with a partnership with favorable terms. Just in time, we were also thinking about relocation of venue and new concept of branding at that moment. Every time when I open a restaurant, I feel like the venue itself makes the choice to come to us. It must be hard for Chef Ki-soo Bang to adapt to a new environment, but I’m sure that he will eventually make a leap forward. I also believe that this person will stick to Korean food until the end.

What is going to remain and what is going to change?

Everyone knows that we’ve moved to a higher and fancier place. So we will lose our charm if we only boast about it. I want Bicena to be a place where chefs feel free to reveal their personal strengths. A good restaurant is a place where you can see the self or ideas of a chef reflected clearly.

As a manager (president), how do you establish your relationship with chefs?

If a chef is the celebrity, I am the manager of his agency, and if I am a movie director, he is the main character of my movie. I am the one who creates the environment for the chef to do whatever he wants to do by fully mobilizing resources. I always ask Chef Ki-soo Bang about what he wants to express in this market, as a young Korean cuisine chef in his 30s. Such clear characteristics and changes make the restaurant something interesting. Chef Bang only has domestic experiences here in Korea, and I think it is important for him keep his color.

You are in charge of not only Bicena but also GAON.

If GAON is a small and research-oriented place which focuses on traditional Korean cuisine, Bicena is more flexible and opened to new attempts. It is a ‘new classic’ rather than a mere freewheeling. Winning Michelin 3-stars at GAON, of course, is a great achievement. However, we shouldn’t stop there. Accommodating more reservations and eliminating complaints on prices aren’t enough. The most important task left to us seems to be fostering trustworthy pupils of the chefs. David Chang of Momofuku, Corey Lee of Benu, Rene Redzepi of Noma… All of them are from Thomas Keller’s French Laundry. As the team grows, the chef can develop a brand that aims the world market. I believe the real business starts there.

It is said that it’s more difficult to keep the stars than to receive them, but you are making changes in the venue and even the menu. What do you think will happen in 2017?

First of all, I told my team to put our goal on moving on to two stars. But even if we lose a star, I don’t want our chef to be burdened with responsibility and suffer too much blaming himself. Now we became a restaurant with a wider kitchen, more machines and better materials, so as a chef, it is like playing with better toys. I want the chef to think of it as his home and have fun here.

Becoming a hotel restaurant too, seems like a big change both symbolically and practically.

It is a very high-end and high-rising hotel. This fact might have built some kind of a barrier in the mind of the customers. As an attempt to lower the barrier, we plan to include at least one dish that is common and liked by everyone in the menu. What we are trying now is cold noodles. Generally, Korean restaurants in hotels have been focusing on royal cuisine. However, we chose to go on a different path with our chef’s creative yet serious dishes. We also hope our guests to feel the classic excitement of going out to the hotel to eat.

What kind of changes do you notice among customer groups as fine dining gets more popular?

Experience makes you sophisticated. There are a lot of people who come to the restaurant only to evaluate and confirm, but there are people who really enjoy the experience at the restaurant. It's rewarding when those people come.

Everyone seems to have a different view about 'globalization of Korean food.' How about you?

For me, it is being successful in the things that I can do. If Bicena and GAON become really successful as a brand and advance into the global market, it will inspire many people. We are attempting to try new projects like collaboration with foreign chefs. When it comes to Korean cuisine, we usually talk about tradition and spirit. But I think the first thing we need to do is to get rid of this closed-mindedness. How to approach the general public in a polished, easy and fun manner is what counts.

Chef Ki-soo Bang

You were born in 1983. How do you feel about becoming a chef with Michelin Star at such a young age?

I don’t think of it as something more than a reward for the hard times I’ve been through. I was exhausted when staffs left the kitchen saying that Korean cuisine is hard and demanding, but not lucrative. I’m grateful to be able to introduce my dishes to more people now, and I’m thinking about the ways to treat my guests better.

It is said that keeping and adding the Michelin Star is much more difficult than receiving it.

A cook is always tested, not only when Michelin evaluation team visits but also at any time. Customers don’t visit a certain place anymore once they are disappointed. Teamwork is important when I myself cannot reach and finish every single plate that is served. So I often tell my staffs to do it with your heart.

A kitchen at an ultra-high-rise building must put you into huge restrictions. I was surprised to hear that you have no access to gas here.

If the conditions are insurmountable, it would be the chef’s job to use his imagination and do his best in the situation. If it is hard to make the savor of stir-fried dishes, try to steam or boil it for a long time to preserve the scent and flavor. This way, we will be able to come up with calm yet various dishes.

What will change?

Accessibility changes as space is high on the floor and being a Korean restaurant in a six-star hotel adds a symbolic meaning. If Bicena used to be an example of a comfortable Korean restaurant which changes menus and introduces local food from season to season, it will try to come up with menus that will show more of its hidden charm after moving. Traditional Korean dishes are usually served at once, but the course meal serves single dish with some term between each other. The main concern is how to serve each dish with the most adequate temperature and timing. And the rhythm and flow of main and sides are another point think about.

How do you feel about being able to use custom-designed table wares from KwangJuYo?

It is a great privilege. I feel like wearing a tailored suit that’s satisfying in every way from their color, texture, function, thickness…and so on.

Korean fine dining is also becoming more diverse. In what position do you put yourself in there?

I am frequently asked with questions like ‘where did you cook?.’ ‘what culinary school did you go to?’ I joined Bicena and have been cooking here for 12 years. I think creative fine dining done by chefs from overseas with diverse experiences is also cool. They combine Western recipes with Korean and come up with creative dishes, but that is not my way. I would like to suggest that Korean cuisine can be more wonderful while being faithful to the basics.

When the Korean version of the Michelin Guide was published in November last year, some people said, "it's the victory of Tae Kwon Cho." It was a because all of KwangJuYo’s Korean restaurants won the Michelin Star, three-star for GAON, and one-star for Bicena. CEO Tae Kwon Cho has been enriching Korean fine dining as a culture with tableware, wine (Hwayo) and food. Now, his second daughter Lucia Cho is leading the Gaon Society, a restaurant business unit of the KwangJuYo Group. The 81stfloor of Lotte World Tower is so high that we can see Gyeonggi-do from there. Staffs were busy getting used to induction ranges instead of gas ranges, because the height of the building made it impossible to bring in gases to the kitchen. Bicena will begin its new chapter as a Korean restaurant of Lotte Hotel’s luxury brand Signiel on April 3. It is three weeks prior to the grand opening, so the building was still filled with construction dust. But we were able to feel the excitement of the staffs waiting for the guests with the yellow flowers displayed there.

(Top) President Lucia Cho and Chef Ki-Soo Bang of Bicena

(Bottom) Chef Bang says that being able to use table wares from the KwangJuYo Group, designed with desired texture, design and function, feels like wearing tailor-made suits.