Bakeries and Western-style restaurant chains here are mostly run by big companies. While some say they have made Western cuisine more accessible to customers, others voice concerns they have numbed people’s taste buds with excessive artificial flavors, sugar and prepackaged recipes.

In light of such perception, chef Kim Sea-kyeong is currently a member of a team within SPC Group -- comprised of group officials, developers and CIA graduate chefs -- to offer high quality healthy dishes through the group’s soon-to-be-launched salad bar.


SPC Group is South Korea’s leading food manufacturer and distributor.

The salad bar, Pig in the Garden, is scheduled to open this year in the financial district of Yeouido, western Seoul.

It will resemble salad bars where customers can make their own salad, which have proved to be a big hit in the US. 

“I want to change Korea’s popular dining culture. Quality dishes can be affordable and served in an exclusive ambience,” Kim told The Korea Herald.

The interior of Pig in the Garden is said to have already been completed, and it is in the process of hiring and training workers.

Kim was the first Korean to serve as an executive chef for the Michelin-starred world-class Charlie Palmer Group. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Kim also worked at Claridge’s, a luxury hotel operated by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

“Everything is about finding the right balance between the ingredient, taste and even the interior and workers,” Kim said.

The chef described his dishes as “not heavy,” unlike dishes served at traditional fine dining restaurants.

“It is also the chef’s job to talk and mingle with customers to check how the food is,” said Kim, whose regular customers included US basketball star Kobe Bryant and top sports agent Scott Boras.

Kim said he hopes to introduce a fun cooking-and-dining charity event during which recognized Korean chefs cook for fans, partly with an aim to familiarize Korea with a variety of quality dishes.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)