We don’t usually think of food as being “beautiful” or “adorable,” but the recent gala dinner “Experience the Art of Korean Cuisine” at the Willard Hotel was a showstopper. Oohs and aahs echoed around the room as each dish was produced, each a work of art, with harmonious, balanced colors and forms. The food on the intriguing, flower-bedecked plates and bowls was delicious, too. The chefs, food, flowers, special dishes, and place settings were all flown in from South Korea.
The hosts who welcomed us were Han Duk-soo, the ambassador of the Republic of Korea, and Yim Sung-joon, president of the Korea Foundation.
The sumptuous Willard was the perfect setting, and although the Willard itself sets a splendid table, for this dinner the Korean chefs took over. The hors d’oeuvres buffet offered an outstanding variety of blossom-shaped food and pencil-slim, meat-wrapped vegetables. A favorite: small white globes impaled on a spray of tiny green blades (looking much like very thin spikes of rosemary), the whole tied with a minute red bow. The globes, to be nibbled off the herb, were redolent pine nuts; these little bouquets were adorable.
Young pianist Cho Sung-jin performed for the appreciative audience. Dubbed “Korea’s Chopin,” he won the 6th Moscow International Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists when he was only 14.
In his address, General Colin Powell spoke warmly of American-Korean friendship and paid a heartfelt tribute to Korean food, saying that he wrote of his admiration for it in his autobiography. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York also spoke of Korean-American relations and of the Korea Foundation, which South Korea established in 1991 to enhance the country’s image around the world.
That night, the South Koreans certainly did just that.
The hosts who welcomed us were Han Duk-soo, the ambassador of the Republic of Korea, and Yim Sung-joon, president of the Korea Foundation.
The sumptuous Willard was the perfect setting, and although the Willard itself sets a splendid table, for this dinner the Korean chefs took over. The hors d’oeuvres buffet offered an outstanding variety of blossom-shaped food and pencil-slim, meat-wrapped vegetables. A favorite: small white globes impaled on a spray of tiny green blades (looking much like very thin spikes of rosemary), the whole tied with a minute red bow. The globes, to be nibbled off the herb, were redolent pine nuts; these little bouquets were adorable.
Young pianist Cho Sung-jin performed for the appreciative audience. Dubbed “Korea’s Chopin,” he won the 6th Moscow International Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists when he was only 14.
In his address, General Colin Powell spoke warmly of American-Korean friendship and paid a heartfelt tribute to Korean food, saying that he wrote of his admiration for it in his autobiography. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York also spoke of Korean-American relations and of the Korea Foundation, which South Korea established in 1991 to enhance the country’s image around the world.
That night, the South Koreans certainly did just that.
