K-Town Up Close

Details: Wednesday, April 17 , 2013 | 6:30 PM

About the Speaker Title: K-Town Up Close
About the Speaker: 2013-04-17 18:30:00
Event Name: Members/Conference Attendees $10 | Non-Members $20 | Young Professionals' Network and Explore Korea members, and above attend this program for FREE with registration
Event Time: ../tickets/2013/2013_04_17__K-town_up_close_ticket.html
Event Link: <img src="images/headshots/2013_04_17__K-town_up_close__Hae-Wha-Pak.png" alt="Hae-Wha-Pak" height="131" width="100" />Hae Wha Pak is the owner of Kunjip, an always-packed, authentic Korean restaurant “full of fabulously fiery food,” which opened in 2001 to great reviews. Prior to Kunjip, she owned a deli and worked at two other Korean restaurants as a manager and waitress after immigrating to the U.S. in 1989. She is well known to visitors of K-Town and has been involved in its rich history for over two decades now. She got her entrepreneurial start in Korea, where she owned and managed two restaurants.   <img src="images/headshots/2013_04_17__K-town_up_close__Christina-Jang.png" alt="Christina-Jang" height="131" width="100" />Christina Jang established herself as one of the next generation of K-Town restaurant owners when she successfully bought an old K-Town restaurant, revitalizing its image and menu before reopening in 2009 as the New Wonjo. Although there are more than 100 dishes on the menu, Wonjo, open 24 hours a day, is justifiably famous for its barbeque cooked over hot coals. Prior to owning her own restaurant, Ms. Jang worked at Kunjip for almost ten years. Ms Jang has a BFA from Chung-Ang University, a BA from Fashion Institute of Technology, and a MBA from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. <img src="images/headshots/2013_04_17__K-town_up_close__Jinbae-Park.png" alt="Jinbae-Park" height="131" width="100" />Jinbae Park, Ph.D., currently teaches aspiring designers as a professor of Interior Design at Fashion Institute of Technology, while continuing his work as an independent interior designer and a restaurateur. Combining his food and interior design backgrounds, Park has completed numerous up-scale restaurant projects, most notably “Le Club de Vin,” “Min's Club,” “Jungle Jim Bar & Grill,” and “FRAME gourmet eatery.” He is a consultant to businesses in the field of design, marketing, and hospitality management, and currently is a consultant to the Korean Cuisine Globalization Committee. Park has authored multiple books on design and has been a frequent contributor to design periodicals and magazines. Dr. Park has a B.A. in Economics from Yonsei University, a M.S. in Interior Design from Pratt Institute, and a doctoral degree in Architecture from Yonsei University.     Culinary programs are generously sponsored by SK <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/C_TQRiFkBRsZHpG-dFc0A42OWVr4ZadasAT4RlMeC0F3Q44yVV5B_o5ar8ASVNKmOjj7HpavSAWtrK7NnMtm_NAXuFHxRROaxpd9d5Pj_5nxS4-T_y3UOMgzhg" height="93px;" width="117px;" />
Custom HTML field content: About the Speakers
Custom HTML field 2 title: <img src="images/headshots/2013_04_17__K-town_up_close__Louie-Elaine.png" alt="2013 04 17 K-town up close Louie-Elaine" height="131" width="100" />Elaine Louie is a staff member of the New York Times who writes for the Dining, Home and Styles sections of the paper.  She won the 1995 James Beard Journalism Award for a series of stories on ethnic foods, including Korean, in New York City, that was published in the Times.   She is the author or co-author of fifteen books on food, entertaining and design.  She is the author of The Occasional Vegetarian (Hyperion, 2011), and Savoir Fare: Stylish Dining for Under $25 (The Little Bookroom, 2008), and is the co-author of The Shun Lee Cookbook (Harper Collins, 2007)
Custom HTML field 2 content: About the Moderator

K-town up close What makes K-Town one of the most vibrant cultural neighborhoods in New York City?

Mother and daughter Hae Wha Pak and Christina Jang, owners of the popular K-Town restaurants Kunjip and New Wonjo, respectively, share the history, successes, and challenges that have transformed 32nd Street from a one restaurant neighborhood in 1979 to the densest restaurant block in NYC today (with thirty-three restaurants!). These two generations of K-Town restaurateurs provide an up-close and personal look at K-Town. They will be joined by Dr. Jinbae Park, designer and business consultant to numerous restaurants and the Korean Cuisine Globalization Committee, who first visited K-Town in 1990 while a student at Pratt.

Elaine Louie, a writer for the New York Times’ Dining, Home and Styles sections and a past James Beard Journalism Awardee for a series of stories on ethnic foods, will be guiding our conversation on Korea Town.

A sampling of some of the street’s specialties concludes the evening!

The ticket price includes the new Korean Restaurant Guide New York.

@ The Korea Society

950 Third Avenue@57th Street

Presented in collaboration with The New School's Center for Public Scholarship and the Food Studies Program's 29th Social Research conference titled Food and Immigrant Life.