Nanro Foundation, the research institution devoted to Korean cuisine, has held the launch of NANRO NEXT — a program to cultivate the next generation of talent that will drive the global growth of hansik.
NANRO NEXT is a new fellowship program that Nanro has designed to discover and develop rising talent in Korean cuisine.
The launch, held on October 30 at Dresden Green, a fine-dining restaurant in Seoul’s Cheongdam-dong, was attended by roughly 30 experts across fields — including Choi Jung-yoon, Chair of Nanro Korea & USA, and Junghyun Park, President of Nanro USA and owner of the New York Korean restaurant Atomix. Dinner was prepared by owner-chefs Choi Hyun-suk of Choidot and Park Ga-ram of Dresden Green.
The evening included a presentation of the NANRO NEXT program and an introduction of its inaugural class of fellows. Over the coming year, Nanro will select 20 fellows across Korea and the United States who will help lead the global industrialization of Korean cuisine. Those selected receive a year of structured education, mentoring and cross-border exchange.
The advisory committee is chaired by Kim A-rin, CEO of BeMyGuest. The mentor team includes Chef Kim Hee-eun of Soul and Chef Jung Ji-sun of TianMiMi. The council of advisors features Cho Hee-sook of Hansik Gonggan, Ven. Jeong Kwan, and Lee Sang-hoon, head of TPG Korea, among others.
“Through NANRO NEXT, I hope promising talents from Korea and abroad will together open up new possibilities for hansik,” said Kim A-rin, chair of the NANRO NEXT advisory committee.
· Original (Korean): realfoods.co.kr
