The London Kitchen with a Korean Soul

Skip to Content Skip to Accessibility Help

Monthly LG I September

The London Kitchen

with a Korean Soul

Explore K-Food, the cuisine whose allure transcends borders, on this global gourmet journey of cultural fusion featuring standout LG home appliances.

Korean cuisine is garnering interest all over the world, and London is no exception, with local chefs adding their own interpretations to Korean food to provide unique flavour experiences. This is the story of one such chef who runs a Korean-British fine dining restaurant in the heart of London, where he seeks to introduce locals to Korea’s unique taste and style.

KOREAN-BRITISH FINE DINING AT SOLLIP

Chef Park Woongchul, the first Korean to earn a Michelin one-star rating in London, has been operating Sollip, his modern European fine dining restaurant infused with Korean sensibilities, for five years alongside pastry chef Ki Bomee.

Today, we explore the home where his daily life meets the inspiration and values that guide him both in his cooking and beyond.

Q. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO OPEN A FINE DINING RESTAURANT AS A KOREAN IN LONDON?

I learnt to cook at different restaurants throughout London, and over time, I felt a natural draw to the city's multicultural food culture. The experience inspired me to open a Korean restaurant of my own that showcased my heritage.

The restaurant name Sollip comes from the Korean word sol-ip, meaning pine needles. Just like the feeling of pine needles that remain unchanged throughout the four seasons and carry a subtle fragrance, we wanted to convey lasting sentiments and refined beauty, both in our cooking and the space itself.

Q. IS THERE A RECIPE THAT CAN PROVIDE THE SOLLIP EXPERIENCE AT HOME?

These days, one of our favourite easy Korean recipes is mushroom sot-bap. We use whatever mushrooms we have on hand in the refrigerator and cook them in a pot with rice. The ingredients are simple, but each mushroom has different aromas and textures, so the flavour combinations are surprisingly complex and rich. Our refrigerator does a great job of preserving their freshness, so I can immediately sense their quality while washing or cutting them and make sure I’m using only the best. The LG refrigerator we're currently using allows us to store ingredients separately without worrying about odours and maintains a stable temperature, so sensitive ingredients like mushrooms can be kept fresh much longer.

We like to keep cooking simple and enjoyable wherever we are. Even quietly cooking rice with quality ingredients at home gives us the harmonious Sollip experience.

A man picking a mushroom from the refrigerator while examining the selection carefully.

Mushroom Sot-Bap

Ingredients

Soaked Rice 320g, Water 280g, Dried Kelp (Dashima) 5g, Assorted Mushrooms (Oyster Mushrooms 10g, Shiitake Mushrooms 15g, Maitake Mushrooms 100g), Seasoning (Mirin 80g, Soy Sauce, Butter 40g, Salt, Black Pepper, Minced Chives), Grapeseed Oil

Recipe

① In a rice cooker or pot, combine the soaked rice, water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 13 minutes.

② Let the rice steam for 15 minutes, then mix in the mirin and soy sauce.

③ Heat grapeseed oil in a pan. Sauté the three types of mushrooms until they are nicely colored. Add butter, salt, and pepper, and continue to cook until the butter turns a rich brown.

④ Spoon the sautéed mushrooms and brown butter over the prepared rice. Finish with a sprinkle of black pepper and minced chives.

Tip! This dish is even more delicious when served with a poached egg or pickled vegetables.

Different types of mushrooms falling into a freshly cooked sotbap.

Q. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO, WHETHER AT THE RESTAURANT OR AT HOME?

Since I'm naturally very neat, I always try to keep my surroundings and belongings organised. I think this tendency is naturally reflected in the food I make and even how I handle work, both at the restaurant and around the house. I especially like to handle laundry right away. I tend to wash items separately by type and purpose, and kitchen uniforms and aprons are particularly difficult to keep clean due to oil stains and spots. Moreover, with children, there's a lot to wash and many different fabric types to sort through.

The washing machine I'm using these days automatically recognises fabrics and adjusts the cycle accordingly, so it gives me one less thing to worry about.

In the past, I often had to deal with clothes getting damaged, even when I took them to a dry cleaner, but now I’m able to keep them looking new all on my own. It’s especially great at handling stains, oil marks, and stubborn odours, so I keep both myself and the kitchen looking clean.

Watching him quietly look around his home after the interview, it became clear that he didn’t see this place as his living space but as another kitchen, where his philosophies and passions melted together with his daily life.

Man loading clothes into a washing machine.

I WANT TO INTRODUCE KOREAN FOOD AS A CUISINE THAT STEMS FROM AUTHENTICITY.

A man and a woman looking at each other while cooking in the kitchen.

When I get home, I’m able to relax and return to being a father, husband, and individual. It's a space where I can spend time with the children and quietly organise or think. It’s in these moments that I’m able to clearly see what kind of life I want and what kind of cooking I want to do within that life.