Crave__February_2018

Culinary stardom wasn’t part of chef Edward Kwon’s career plan,
but he’s using his unexpected celebrity to make a kitchen career
respected in his native South Korea, and to introduce the
world to traditional Korean cuisine.
Words Iris Wong
Many chefs tell you their aspiration to
cook professionally started early, often
after watching a mother figure whipping
up their favourite childhood dish. But not Edward
Kwon. The Jamie Oliver of South Korea – whose
youthful, camera-ready face has appeared on CNN’s
Culinary Journeys, TVdramasandcookingshows
such as Cheongdamdong Alice and Yes Chef –started
working in a kitchen because it paid US$20 more
thanhisserverjobatthesamerestaurant.“Atthat
time, $20 was not small money,” he says. “A music
CD was around $1.50, so we’re talking more than
10 CDs there. That was a lot of money for me, so I
didn’t hesitate to switch jobs.”
NotonlydidKwonnotexpecttobeachef(“When
I was in middle school, I made tteokbokki for my
sister. She hated it. Took one bite, slammed down her
chopsticks and said it was garbage”), he wanted to
become a priest. That news didn’t go down too well
with his family.
“I was the only son, so if I became a priest, the
generations would be disconnected, and my
grandmotherwasso,soworried,”hesays.After
givinguphisplansforthepriesthood,hewent
through a phase as a delinquent teenager, then moved
toSeoultoworkatarestaurant.Heeventuallywent
to culinary school, where he discovered his passion
for the culinary arts, especially French cooking.
Kwon honed his craft at luxury hotels in Seoul
(The Ritz-Carlton Seoul and W Hotel Seoul-
Walkerhill), San Francisco (The Ritz-Carlton Half
MoonBay),andmostnotably,BurjAlArabinDubai,
where his TV career took off. “I was the head chef at
Burj Al Arab, and back then, Dubai was just opening
up to the world. It’s one of the most expensive hotels
in the world. I guess because I was a Korean guy
who’s not old and worked at a seven-star hotel, the
mediathoughtthatwouldmakeagoodstory.Istarted
appearing on the news and in documentaries… there
were crews filming how I cooked and lived at the
hotel. It became a hit,” Kwon recalls.
Perhaps South Korea’s first globally recognised
celebrity chef, Kwon’s presence in the international
culinary scene may have kick-started changes in
how Koreans, especially from the older generation,
perceive those who want to pursue a culinary career.
“OneofthereasonsIcameback[toSeoul]was
becauseIwantedpeopletolookatusdifferently,”
Kwon explains. “Working in the kitchen in Korea
was notarespectedjob,ascomparedto,say,in
Europe or in the US. Chefs are not just workers in
thekitchen.Theword‘chef’hasaconnotationof
leadership and I want people in the industry to be
acknowledged and respected.”
It was following his move back to Seoul, in 2009, that
he decided rather than localising Korean cuisine