At The Pass with Hyun Jung Kim

At The Pass is a weekly series showcasing Toronto’s best chefs. You won’t find any celebrity chefs featured here. Perhaps you already know these fine cooks, but maybe not. They’re not famous - yet. But it’s time these talented, passionate, hard-working chefs got a bit of the spotlight. Meet Hyun Jung Kim.

 🕒 5.5 min read

Currently 

Chef/Owner, Core Korean Kitchen and Core Bubble Tea  

Formerly 

George Restaurant and Globe Bistro. I also briefly worked at Scaramouche, C5, The Chase, Sidecar, and Mercatto.

Favourite dish to make right now

Korean Fried Chicken. 

Last cookbook purchase 

Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish

Have you read it/tried any recipes

I rarely try a recipe from cookbooks. I use cookbooks for inspiration and as more like a guideline, to learn certain techniques and gain knowledge. I did not try any exact recipes from the book, but it certainly helped me understand the science and methods behind baking bread better when I used to bake fresh sourdoughs for the restaurant every day.

Name one dish or ingredient you’d like to see gone from menus

Any dish with unnecessary high food waste and unnecessary high labour.

And one dish or ingredient that you’re excited about right now and would like to see on more menus

I am opening a bubble tea shop inside the restaurant, so I am excited to learn anything related to bubble tea right now. 

Also, since I changed the concept of the restaurant to Korean from seasonal Canadian Bistro during the pandemic, I am always trying to learn and find a way to introduce not-widely-known Korean flavours in unique ways to our menus.

Just like many French or Western kitchens use many Japanese flavours/techniques/terms, I’d also like to see more widely Korean flavours/techniques used.

Scallops. “A dish we used to serve when we were seasonal Canadian Bistro.”

Biggest influences

Chef Lorenzo Loseto from George Restaurant for his passion and commitment to excellence, attention to details, and he is just one of the hardest working people I know.

If you could eat at any restaurant in the world

Alo in Toronto –  been meaning to try for a while, looking forward to dine there hopefully soon, and Noma in Copenhagen.

Last thing you ate

Sazanka Sushi Platter (46 pcs) from Miku.

Three must-have ingredients always in your fridge

Butter, Onions, Eggs.

Guilty pleasure

Medium Double Double.

Top 3 favourite Toronto restaurants

Kibo Sushi House, Canoe, Cluny Bistro & Boulangerie

Top 3 favourite Toronto bars

N/A, I rarely drink.

Go-to drink  

I rarely drink, but I like sweet wines/beers.

Japchae. “After pivoting to a Korean restaurant during the pandemic, serving authentic Korean classics and fried chicken.”

One habit you have in the kitchen that you should lose, but can’t seem to shake

Trying to do everything by myself.

And one habit you have in the kitchen that will inspire young chefs

Hard working. I rarely take a break when I work, and am constantly moving to get things done. I am not saying don’t take a break, and work and life balance is very important, but plan ahead and utilize the time wisely. 

Hidden talent

Making staff meal in a short period of time.

Best career advice you ever received

“Do it once, do it right,” by my former sous chef Ed Yu. As simple as it sounds, it is very hard to follow all the time. Take your time to get things done right, instead of doing it twice or even more. 

Worst career advice you ever received

I can’t think of anything at the moment, but I’d say stay away from the negative minds and focus on the positive things.

Your advice for a young cook starting out in the business

Be open-minded. As a young cook myself, all my focus was on working at fine dining restaurants cooking French or Western style food, but cooking is so much more than that and there are so many different things you can do. 

As you gain more experience in the industry, you will meet with many different opportunities in different fields. Be open minded, learn as much as you can, find what you love, and find what works for you.

---

In order to support chefs during this time, the monthly At The Pass series is now WEEKLY. Know someone in Toronto or GTA who should be featured? Submit their name for consideration. And yes, you can nominate yourself.    

For breaking news, updates, interviews + much more, follow Toronto Restaurants on Instagram and Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter.