Joining NANRO Next as a mentor, Chef Cho Hee-Sook began her culinary career in 1983 at the Korean restaurant Eunhasu at Sejong Hotel, then served as head chef of the Korean kitchens at Novotel Ambassador, Grand InterContinental, and The Shilla — the country's finest hotel restaurants. In 2005 she took the seat of executive chef at the Korean ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C., stepping into the role of Korean cuisine's own diplomat. From 2007 she devoted herself to traditional Korean cuisine research as a food-heritage advisor with the Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation, and in 2017 she opened Hansik Gongbang, her own studio for research and teaching. She earned a Michelin star at Hansik Gongan in 2019, was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2020, and in 2021 became the first Korean chef to receive the MICHELIN Mentor Chef Award — the grande dame of Korean cuisine and, as many call her, "the chef's chef."
Three lines run through her work. First, roots must be deep to hold — an attention to tradition first, and the classical spirit of beopgochangsin, honoring the old to create the new. Second, cooking is not measured in cups and grams but through the five senses — ingredients change every day, so the chef must taste, smell, and listen to the flame to make the right call in the moment. And third, "my recipes are not mine to keep" — an openness that has poured four decades of kitchen knowledge into the next generation. Chefs like Kang Min-Goo of Mingles and Shin Chang-Ho of Joo Ok came up through her teaching, and it is that same seat as teacher she now brings to NANRO Next.
