bibigo Sponsors Celebration of Korean Cuisine in New York with Award-Winning Chef Junghyun Park
Korean cuisine took center stage in New York City with a unique collaboration dinner between renowned restaurants NARO and JUEUN as part of a special series to empower and promote young aspiring Korean chefs. The event, held Wednesday, May 22, at NARO, was sponsored by bibigo, America’s No. 1 Korean food brand and Cuisine.K Projectby CJ CheilJedang, a project dedicated to nurturing and empowering Korean culinary talent for the global stage.
Owners of NARO, Chef Junghyun Park and Ellia Park, teamed up with Chef Jueun Park, executive chef of Restaurant Jueun in Seoul, to create the special multi-course meal that featured a blend of dishes inspired by the menus of each restaurant. As part of Cuisine.K’s mission to provide learning opportunities, two young Korean students with the project had the chance to participate alongside two chefs, learning from the entire kitchen preparation process.
“bibigo is proud to support the growth and expansion of Korean cuisine throughout the U.S. and the world,” said Megan Elliott, director of the bibigo brand in the U.S. “As the No. 1 Korean food brand in retail grocery stores, it’s important that we promote the exploration of new Korean foods and flavors as well as inspire the next generation of Korean chefs to create new tastes that people will love.”
Cuisine.K is focused on the broader goal of globalizing Korean cuisine through a wide range of initiatives designed to cultivate and empower aspiring Korean culinary talents. Some of these initiatives have included opening pop-up restaurants for them to get hands-on experiences as a chef, holding classes to gain fundamentals of Korean cuisine and invaluable insights from culinary masters, providing global internships and culinary school exchange programs and sponsoring young chefs in international competitions. By partnering with the Parks, owners of NA:EUN Hospitality which includes NARO, Atoboy, Atomix and Seoul Salon, Cuisine.K was able to create an unforgettable experience in one of the world’s best cities for culinary excellence.
“Our vision in creating our restaurants is to share our hospitality, along with the amazing diversity and adaptability of Korean food with customers,” said Ellia Park. “But that cannot stop with us. Helping to find and develop the next generation of Korean chefs is an obligation and a labor of love for us.”
Korean cuisine is enjoying renewed popularity in the U.S. and worldwide. In the past four years, retail sales of bibigo products have increased 1,100 percent. Most recently, #bibigo reached more than 250 million views on TikTok following the virality of bibigo Steamed Dumplings among content creators. In 2023, more than 17 million units of the popular dumplings were sold, selling out in stores across the country. Beyond food, the “K-Wave” has seen tremendous popularity in the spread of Korean culture through film, TV, music and beauty products.