Park Sungbae

The Path

At Onjium in Seoul, Park Sungbae works from Korean noble-class and Imperial cuisine with a hand that favors reduction over display. The point is not to freeze the source material in place, but to keep it usable: studied, pared back, and rephrased for the present. That places Park in a daily conversation with lineage, where precision matters more than flourish and balance carries the argument.

The Work Today

At Onjium, Park Sungbae’s cooking treats elegance as a matter of restraint. The flavors are kept subtle rather than forceful, and the construction stays attentive to the logic of traditional recipes without tipping into imitation. The reference point is the Joseon Dynasty, which lasted from 1392-1910, but the work is not about replication; it is about translating that material into dishes that read as considered, refined, and contemporary. 검이불루 화이불치 — “simple but not shabby, and impressive but not extravagant” — frames the kitchen’s approach. In Park Sungbae’s hands, that saying becomes a practical standard: keep the line clean, avoid excess, and let sophistication show through control rather than weight.

In Their Words “Our cooking is about taking modern interpretations of traditional recipes and lending more subtle and nuanced flavors to dishes inspired by the Korean noble class and Imperial cuisine of the Joseon Dynasty (which lasted from 1392-1910).”