Cycle 15 – Item 196
19 (Fri) July 2024
Shrimp & Fluke Ceviche in Mustard Oil
4.0
-Samseong, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with the Family, Mom + Dad, Dad’s brothers and their families
Jenny’s Apron is a restaurant. Fundamentally European (French, Italian) fused with Asian elements (Korean, Japanese). The owner/chef Kim Jung Hyun (presumably “Jenny”) was the winner of Master Chef Korea, Season 4. By reservation only, minimum party of 8 (up to 12), (currently) 150,000 won per head.
My mother was introduced to Jenny’s Apron through her bridge club friends, whose higher brackets of income and levels of sophistication remain a point of simultaneous passive-aggressive pride and shame (see generally 14.047 Dimsum Hahaha).
Also a cooking school. Offers 1-day classes, each on a specific theme with a range of courses, which are eaten as a meal at the end of the class. This July, for example, offered classes on Korean (e.g., braised pork, abalone fried rice), Vietnamese (e.g., spring rolls, banh mi), and Western (e.g., Swedish meatballs, Toowoomba pasta). Prices ranging from 150,000-160,000.
I am tempted to sign up for a cooking class.
Today is my father’s “80th” birthday. Technically 79, but birthdays in Korea are calculated according to “Korean age” (everyone is 1-year-old at birth, supposedly to account for the time in womb) (everyone also gains a year on New Year’s Day, regardless of the actual date of birth, so everyone born in the year 1945 turned 80 on 1 January 2024) (I was born on 28 December 1972, at which point I was already 1; 4 days later, on 1 January 1973, I was 2).
The food was sublime. Every dish was carefully conceived, yet with a sense of confident nonchalance, as if the chef had just made it up on the spot, based on what she had on hand – i.e., like they do on Master Chef (incidentally, I hadn’t known about the Master Chef thing until researching the place while writing this post). Impeccably fresh ingredients – what might’ve been the my first encounter with freshly shaved truffles in Korea. Expert craftmansship. Gorgeous plating, including the plates. Exquisite textures. Perfect balancing of flavors. The ceviche wasn’t necessarily the best dish, but proudly represented the excellence of the spread. One of my favorite meals in recent memory, perhaps one of my favorite meals of all time.
In addition to the dishes on the menu, the chef also served us freebies, including a couple sharing platters of yukhoe (see below), as well pasta and fried chicken for the kids (in case they didn’t like the grown-up food, which they did, so the extras were unnecessary, but very welcome, if only to feel very well taken care of). Don’t know if she always does this for everyone or just when she’s in a good mood.
At meal’s end, we were so impressed that we booked the place for FIL’s 80th birthday lunch in a couple weeks – stay tuned.
The new trend is birthday cake made of ddeok (rice cake) (see also 15.078 Sashimi Whatever). Personally, even though I’m not a huge fan of ddeok per se, I do prefer it over sweet European pastry. But at this early stage, a major drawback is accessibility – the cakes are available only by reservation in specialty shops at high prices. The cakes also get crusty after a short while, so leftovers don’t really work.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)
(See also HANSIK)
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also BOOZE)