komäd

ECCK CONNECT

Taste of europe

komäd

March 4, 2022

komäd is a restaurant that specializes in contemporary Nordic Cuisine located in Hannam-dong, Seoul. In recognition of the unique and authentic food it serves, komäd was listed in the 2022 MICHELIN Guide South Korea. The ECCK met with chef Kyungpyo Ko, the owner-chef of komäd to hear stories of himself and the restaurant.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Kyungpyo Ko, the owner-chef of komäd. After gaining some work experience in Australia, Sweden, and Hong Kong, in 2020, I opened my own restaurant, komäd, which specializes in Nordic Dining in Hannam-dong, Seoul.

(Courtey: Chef Ko)

We heard that you spent time abroad (Australia, Sweden, and Hong Kong). What made you become a chef in foreign countries, where culture, food, perspective, and lifestyle are different from those of Korea?

After graduating from the Korea Culinary Arts Science High School, I decided to apply for the Working Holiday program to Australia as I wanted to broaden my perspective, look for other opportunities and find what I should do with my life. This experience eventually led me to taking a direction of making Nordic food as a Korean in foreign countries. I could say that it was a springboard for me to me to feel and understand food as a chef, not simply making and eating a certain menu, but observing why a certain dish was made, the reason it was consumed by people from various areas, etc.

My journey after Australia was to Frantzen, Stockholm. I thought that one should know the culture and the life of the place by heart if he were to make food originated from that area. At first, I was insecure about myself as the chefs I worked with were younger than me, full of enthusiasm, and had so much to learn in them. However, soon I realized what I was worrying about was meaningless and worked together as a team with one goal. I became part of the team. This taught me an important lesson on ways to build teamwork when running my own restaurant.

After that, I moved to Hong Kong where I opened and worked as a Sous-chef of a restaurant called Frantzen’s Kitchen. As I overcame some of the obstacles and saw customers enjoying the food, I was able to think deeply about the Nordic cuisine. Seeing European food ingredients get localized and new Hong Kong food get created by it and consumed by many was so impressive, I was able to incorporate such concept as the foundation of komäd, when I came back to Korea.

Tell us about komäd

komäd is a contemporary European dining restaurant with a Nordic theme. It is the first Nordic dining restaurant in Korea with distinctive features. We utilize various ingredients and cooking methods, not to mention the unique food storage culture of Korea, fermentation, and Nordic methods. We aim for a comfortable and enjoyable dining experience which adds value to every one of our customers.

(Inside the restaurant. Courtey: Chef Ko)

Does the name komäd have special meaning?

Working as a Korean who uses Western ingredients to make Western dish, I have always had a lot of thoughts and questions for myself; How can I keep my essence as a Korean while working abroad? Such experience influenced me in naming my restaurant komäd. ‘Ko’ represents Korean and my surname, Ko, and by mixing the word Nomad, the name komäd was created in the sense that it is a restaurant that contains various things.

komäd was listed in the 2022 MICHELIN Guide South Korea

I am very honored that komäd was able to be included in the 2022 MICHELIN Guide South Korea. It is a pleasure to be rewarded for the hard work and efforts I have put into and to have more and more customers enjoy my food. In line with that, I know that I must work extra hard to make all of them leave the restaurant with pleasant experience and satisfaction.

The very basic and key value of a restaurant should be to provide delicious food and an experience that will not let down the customers who chose and spent their value time and money on komäd. I assure that this will always be the value of komäd and that whenever visited, customers will have a pleasant time with us.

(Courtey: Chef Ko)

To some, contemporary European dining and Nordic cuisine might be somewhat unfamiliar. What are some of the characteristics of komäd’s menu?

Actually, a few customers have occasionally asked similar questions. I usually tell them ‘Butter’. Butter was a food the Vikings needed on long voyages. As a high-calorie material that does not deteriorate too much, it could be said as a must for them in a way. Similarly, dairy products are essential to komäd. Pretty much all our menu items contain dairy. This takes me to taking about acidity, another important factor of our food, which holds the weight of dairy. With the proper cooking methods such as fermentation, etc. komäd’s menu are prepared light yet buttery for customers to fully enjoy.

If you were to recommend one dish, what would it be?

63.5`c Oyster. This menu has been prepared since the early days of komäd. After cooking at 63.5 degrees for one hour, the oysters are prepared cold, with cream made with juniper berry, picked shallots and finger limes. This menu, prepared at the beginning of the course, contains the deep rich taste that dairy products can give, the freshness of seafood, and the sweet savoriness that pickles can give.

(Kyungpyo Ko, the owner-chef of komäd. Courtey: Chef Ko)

Before we conclude, any messages to the readers of ECCK digital magazine?

Dear readers of the ECCK magazine, this is Kyungpyo Ko of komäd. I am more than honored to share my stories and introduce my restaurant komäd to you. For the past couple years, our lives were somewhat monotonous due to COVID-19 with many restrictions. However, it seems that we are almost at the end of this pandemic. I hope that once the situation clears, we would be able to enjoy our lives even better via interaction with the world outside of Korea.

About komäd

📞+82.02.6080.1929 Instagram: @komad.seoul

address

20, Daesagwan-ro 31-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea, 04401