Michelin-starred Korean chef opens Paris restaurant

Michelin-starred Korean chef Mingoo Kang opened SEOK inside the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme on September 17, his first restaurant in France.

Michelin-starred Korean chef debuts in Paris

SEOK sits at 5 Rue de la Paix, in the hotel's ground-floor space redesigned by artist-architect Hugo Toro. The room pairs an open kitchen with a bar pouring makgeolli and Hwayo-based cocktails, and it seats guests six nights a week, Tuesday to Sunday, from 5:30pm to 10pm.

Seoul's only three-star kitchen now answers to a Paris address too.

The menu centers on dual-cooked Korean fried chicken and mains built on jang, the fermented sauce family that includes ganjang, doenjang and gochujang. Each main arrives with three banchan, the small seasonal side dishes standard to Korean tables. Tableware is handcrafted by Korean artisans, and a private room seats up to ten.

The restaurant describes its approach as pairing traditional Korean fermentation techniques with ingredients sourced in France, according to its own materials. SEOK is an adults-only address, and it is the Michelin-starred Korean chef's first venture in Paris after opening Hansik Goo in Hong Kong.

A three-star run built in Seoul

Kang built his reputation at Mingles in Seoul's Cheongdam-dong district, where he has cooked since 2014. The Michelin Guide Seoul & Busan promoted Mingles to two stars in 2019 and held that rating for five years before elevating it to three stars in the 2025 edition, making it South Korea's only three-Michelin-star restaurant.

That 2025 guide, marking ten years of Michelin in the country, added a record ten new or promoted starred restaurants, bringing Korea's total to 46. This Michelin-starred Korean chef's Paris move follows that surge, adding another name to the wave of Korean cooks testing kitchens abroad.

Paris has room for the comparison. Earlier this month, Lucas Carton reopened in Paris with Cyril Lignac in the kitchen, part of a broader reshuffle among the city's landmark dining rooms this autumn. Seoul's own scene has kept pace, with dishes from banchan to jjigae detailed in what to eat in Seoul.

SEOK takes dinner reservations only, six nights a week. This Michelin-starred Korean chef has not said whether Mingles' three stars will follow him across two continents, or whether Paris will judge SEOK on its own terms.