Nanro Foundation (chair Chef Choi Jung-yoon) announced on January 30 that it had held a gala dinner in New York on January 24 (local time) to mark the establishment of its U.S. arm, Nanro USA, and the first outcomes of its global hansik talent program, NANRO NEXT USA.
By setting up Nanro USA in New York, the foundation is pursuing sustained global competitiveness for hansik. Chef Choi Jung-yoon — Korea chair of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and head of Sempio’s Woorimat Research Center — oversees the combined Korea–U.S. programs. Park Jung-eun, CEO of NA:EUN Hospitality, has been appointed president of Nanro USA. Together with Chef Park Jung-hyun, Park has operated New York’s celebrated hansik fine-dining restaurant Atomix, as well as Atoboy and Naro, and has served as a founding member and director of Nanro since its inception. She will play a central role in raising hansik’s profile across the United States, with New York as the base.
With the launch of Nanro USA, the foundation is now running its NANRO NEXT scholarship program in both Korea and the U.S. The program selects promising future talent capable of driving hansik’s global industrialization and provides education and mentoring not only in cooking but also in management, branding and marketing. NANRO NEXT USA in particular focuses on providing hansik education and hands-on experience to young chefs working in the United States, supporting them in understanding hansik’s philosophy and techniques deeply and reinterpreting them in their own way on the ground.
The inaugural NANRO NEXT USA cohort comprises four active New York chefs: Suzanne Cupps, chef-owner of LOLA’s and a James Beard Award nominee; Yuu Shimano, chef-owner of Restaurant YUU, the Michelin one-star omakase counter combining French and Japanese cuisine; Jihan Lee, co-founder and chef of Nami Nori, a temaki bar setting a new standard for modern sushi; and Fidel Caballero, chef-owner of CORIMA, the Michelin one-star restaurant offering a modern take on traditional Mexican cuisine.
Selected as NANRO NEXT USA fellows in October last year, they visited Korea for about two weeks, immersing themselves in traditional hansik culture rooted in jang and fermentation — at Buddhist temples, fermentation research centers, fish markets and conferences across the country.
The January 24 gala was an occasion for the four fellows to present dishes reinterpreting last year’s Korean experiences in their own styles. Fish dishes drawing on visits to Korean fish markets, jang and fermentation techniques applied within a French framework, and plates built around kimchi and vegetables suggested new possibilities for hansik. About 80 guests attended — Nanro USA supporters, leading New York food journalists and local chefs — with sponsorship from the global restaurant reservation platform Resy and American Express (AMEX).
“New York is a market the entire global culinary world watches, and interest in hansik on the ground here is spreading very seriously and passionately,” said Park Jung-eun, president of Nanro USA. “By supporting the most-watched chefs in New York to experience Korea’s diverse food culture and reinterpret it in their own restaurants, Nanro USA will help hansik settle in on the world culinary stage.”
Nanro Foundation is a global exchange community and educational organization for nurturing and supporting the next generation of hansik talent. It began as an industry gathering focused on hansik branding in 2022 and was formally established as a foundation in 2023. Led by Chef Choi Jung-yoon — Korea chair of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants (W50B) — it now brings together more than 600 professionals from F&B, IT, media, finance and research. Current programs include NANRO Academy, a research and education program for working practitioners, and NANRO NEXT, a program for future talent.
· Original (Korean): theviewers.co.kr
