Westin Seoul Parnassus brings premium hansik pop-up with 'Banchan Sorcerer' chef

Westin Seoul Parnassus will host an autumn hansik pop-up with Chef Kim Si-yeon — known as the "Banchan Sorcerer" on Culinary Class Wars Season 2 — from Nov. 16 to Nov. 22, the hotel announced Thursday.

The pop-up was designed to let guests enjoy a wide range of seasonal Korean dishes prepared with traditional cooking methods at the hotel's buffet, timed to the autumn harvest. The event puts banchan at the center, highlighting the seasonal flavors and care that go into familiar Korean home cooking.

Kim is a hansik specialist who rose to prominence on the Netflix culinary survival show Culinary Class Wars Season 2. Kim built a career at Onjium, a Michelin-starred Korean restaurant, and at the South Korean ambassador's residence in the United Kingdom. Kim currently leads menu and product development as team head at Onharu, a brand that draws on research and development experience at Onjium to bring traditional Korean food culture into everyday life. Kim reinterprets seasonal ingredients and traditional techniques through a contemporary lens, conveying the flavors of each season and region through banchan — the heart of Korean food culture.

The pop-up features seven autumn hansik dishes curated by Kim. The welcome course, bam tarak-juk, is a smooth, nutty porridge made by blending chestnuts, milk and rice, then topping it with strained chestnut garnish. The abalone tteokgalbi with grilled king oyster mushroom namul wraps abalone steamed with Cheongju and green onion leaves in a tteokgalbi mixture containing braised burdock, then grills it and serves it alongside king oyster mushrooms seasoned with perilla oil.

The banchan selections also showcase Kim's skill in combining ingredients. The Gaeseong radish namul gently cooks radish in perilla oil, then tosses it with bean sprouts, vegetables and julienned dried persimmon for a sweet-and-tangy finish. The deodeok and pine nut dressing combines deodeok, lotus root, cucumber and chestnuts with abalone and shrimp, dressed in a sauce of roasted pine nuts and pear juice. Rounding out the lineup are spicy seasoned blue crab, perilla seed kimchi jeon and fresh-cut cabbage salad with plum doenjang.

Alongside this, Kim will take part in two live service sessions during the promotional period, demonstrating the preparation of the abalone tteokgalbi with grilled king oyster mushroom namul and interacting with guests on the spot.

Reservations for the On:Table X Banchan Sorcerer Autumn Hansik Pop-up can be made by phone through On:Table or online via Catch Table or Naver reservations.