Eom Tae-jun

The Path

Training at Culinary Institute of America gave Eom Tae-jun a formal base before he moved on to work as chef at Eleven Madison Park in New York City. That path points to a kitchen education built on precision, standards, and restraint — the kind of training where technique is expected to carry the argument, not decorate it. From Culinary Institute of America to Eleven Madison Park in New York City, the line of experience shows a chef shaped by demanding environments and by an understanding that fine dining depends on control as much as expression. Today, Eom is chef-owner of Solbam (since 2021). In that role, he is responsible for both the menu and the restaurant’s overall direction, making Solbam the clearest expression of his point of view. Since 2021, the restaurant has carried a perspective rooted in Seoul, informed by international training, and organized around refinement without losing proximity.

The Work Today

At Solbam, the cooking centers on Contemporary Korean fine dining built around local, seasonal ingredients. That choice gives the food its structure: the calendar determines the plate, and each dish lands with a sense of timing rather than excess. In Eom’s hands, Contemporary Korean fine dining is presented through clarity — ingredients selected for their own character, handled with respect, and assembled so every element has a purpose. The season sets the register, and the result stays alert to texture, temperature, and balance. The role is both culinary and proprietorial: he is responsible for the food and the house that carries it. That combination carries practical weight, because it joins kitchen decisions to the room in which they are served. As a result, Solbam functions as an extension of his sensibility, with the meal and the setting held together by the same exacting approach.

Signature

Eom's signature dishes include mussel extract and abalone and sticky barley. Taken together, they sketch the parameters of his cooking: marine depth, a precise sense of delicacy, and the grounding force of grain. The three dishes point to a chef working in contrast and balance, letting each ingredient read clearly rather than forcing a single note across the plate.

In Their Words “Seoul is the city I cherish the most — an essential ingredient of my culinary journey.” The line is consistent with how Eom’s work reads at Solbam: place is not backdrop, but part of the cooking’s frame. Seoul sits inside the restaurant’s logic, shaping how he cooks, how he leads, and how he defines fine dining in his own room.