From the Vietnamese bistro Hieutu, the rice noodle eatery Nampark, the Hong Kong-style stir-fry restaurant Gege, the Japanese-style standing bar Keebo, and the Vietnamese franchise Goodson, to the fusion Korean-style wine bar SAD CLUB, all these ‘must visit’ places in Yongrindan-gil have two things in common. One, they became the talk of the town as soon as they opened, and two, they were all born at the hands of one person: Chef Nam Joon-young. Is he a young chef with a large inheritance? Is he an old and experienced entrepreneur? We interviewed the mysterious chef at his newly opened wine bar, SAD CLUB.

Initially, I went to college to study public administration because I wanted to be a public official. After my freshman year, I went to serve in the military. After I was done with military service, I went to Australia on a working holiday visa, instead of going back to school. I was 23 years old then, and I couldn’t picture myself working as a public servant. The first restaurant I worked at in Australia was a Chinese restaurant on the first floor of Sydney Tower. The owner of the restaurant, who owned several restaurants, had recently opened a new Asian eatery so I started working there after a while. I think I fell in love with Asian cuisine right about then. Ever since, I had always wanted to open a place of my own.

After I came back to Korea, I continued working at Southeast Asian restaurants. Luckily, I was given the opportunity to teach a Southeast Asian cooking class at Shinsegae Department Store. At that time, there were not many chefs who preferred Asian cuisine. Being an instructor, I studied and researched food more in depth, and my name began to be known around the country.

Back when I first opened Hieutu, Sinyongsan was not nearly as populated as it is now. Hardly anyone called the area by the name it is often called now: ‘Yongridan-gil’. Nonetheless, there was something charming about the area, mainly because there were quite a few large companies nearby, including Amorepacific. Even if an area becomes quite popular, the trend can diminish in the blink of an eye. This is not so much the case with areas where there are a lot of office buildings. Office workers have no choice but to eat a meal or two near where they work. I saw that as an opportunity. I was looking for a restaurant that I could run for years, and it made sense. So, I’m constantly trying my best to impress my target customers, namely the office workers around the area. Also, Yongsan has been a part of my life ever since I was young. I’ve lived in Yongsan, my first job that I had for years was in Yongsan, and our first ever home together – my wife and I – was in Yongsan. Oh, not to mention I was born in the year of Yong (龍, Dragon).

There is this noodle place named ‘Yetjip Noodles’. It has been here for 30 years. I usually get to work very early in the morning, and I often miss lunch because of all the meetings. This place is perfect because it opens at 7 in the morning, so I can go to work on a full stomach. An old lady makes the noodles here, and there’s something very hearty about them. The taste isn’t anything special, but it always gives me such comfort whenever I eat them. It’s one of my favorite places.

I also like ‘Milk+Honey’, which is located on the first floor of Taesung Building, where ‘SAD CLUB’ recently opened. I get my coffee to go and drink it on the bench outside, where I can admire the astonishing view of Amorepacific building. I very much enjoy sitting there to meditate in the morning sun.

I’ve never considered myself talented. All I wanted was to open my own restaurant, and this is where it brought me. After I opened my third brand, Gege, people started calling me an ‘entrepreneur with great branding skills’. I didn’t know what ‘branding’ was then, let alone thinking of myself as an ‘entrepreneur’. I’ve never meant to ‘brand’ anything. I just did what I had been doing. Working as a chef, welcoming customers, making food, taking care of customer complaints; those are all the things I had been doing. It’s those repeated efforts that gave rise to Hieutu. To me, branding and planning took place only after that.

If you are feeling burned out, I would recommend ‘Nampark’, which is a Vietnamese rice noodle venue in a quiet setting.
‘Meals’ are very important in our lives. Sitting down and eating something gives you the time to tend to yourself when you are feeling tired or hurt. In Korea, we say ‘eat something and cheer up’ to someone when they seem exhausted or burned out. Most of them don’t have the time to eat a proper meal. Nampark is for people like them. I opened the place hoping that it would become a haven where anyone can come by themselves and thoroughly enjoy a good bowl of rice noodles. There are a lot of people eating by themselves in Nampark. I hope the food gives those who are feeling burned out some time to heal and recover.

SAD CLUB, of course. The place has an alias, which is ‘sadness clinic’. You can request songs of your choice to be played at SAD CLUB. Only sad songs, though. I think the reason why we tend to look for sad melodies when we are depressed or heart broken is because we feel heard: ‘Oh, this can happen to anyone’, ‘everyone gets their hearts broken’. If you’ve recently got out of a relationship, come to SAD CLUB, cry your eyes out, and feel comforted.

Definitely Gege, which is a Hong Kong-style restaurant. The atmosphere and vibe will make you feel like you are in a back alley somewhere in Hong Kong. I recommend pairing your food with Baijiu, which has a unique flavor of its own. Chinese cuisine is strong in flavor, so pairing the dishes with Baijiu will make the dining experience more memorable. Having an interesting conversation over good food and drinks at a lively restaurant sounds more fun than a basic Italian restaurant date, right?

Come to Keebo. Keebo is a Japanese-style standing bar. It’s a place I designed for ‘laborers’, hence the signboard with a laborer standing with a glass of beer. There are a few theories as to how the standing bar culture originated, and one of them says it started from Japanese laborers enjoying a light drink on their way home from work. That story reminded me of the office workers in Yongsan. ‘How would they relieve stress?’ ‘Where do I go to relieve work stress?’ And it wasn’t anything grand. It was a glass of cold draft beer with something good to nibble on. So I wanted to create a space that people can come to after a hard day at work to blow off some steam. I named it ‘Keebo’ to mean ‘hope’ because I wanted the place to ignite ‘hope’ for anything or anyone.

I wake up everyday at 5 in the morning. I take part in all stages of branding, from planning, and menu design, all the way down to buying furniture and supplies. There are so many decisions I have to make, and working on site often requires so much energy that I feel drained after 3 in the afternoon. This means I should refrain from making important decisions after that time. So, I try to fill the late afternoon and evening hours with tasks I can do mechanically. I try to put things that require more thought and deliberation in the early morning hours, usually between 5 and 10. This is a routine I always stick to.

Of course. I still do from time to time. Sometimes, I don’t feel like doing anything, I’m unmotivated, and all I want to do is sleep. The restaurant business these days is tough. The price of ingredients is soaring, and we are short on labor. Many of us used to think the ‘YOLO (You Only Live Once)’ lifestyle was cool. To me, the ‘cool’ ones are the ones who endure, those who just do it and ride it out even against burn-outs and tough situations.

I’ve had many small successes. I consider even the smallest achievements as successes. And throughout those small but meaningful successes, I’ve come to have faith: ‘this too shall pass’, and ‘this will make me a better person’. There is this spell that I cast on myself whenever I need it, and it’s ‘life is always bitter and happy’. Looking back, my life has been full of bitter memories and happy memories, each always happening around the same time as the other. I keep telling myself that spell when life gets a little difficult.

I also read a lot. I consider myself to be more resilient than others, but that doesn’t mean I never get hurt. What I’m good at is changing my train of thought, and books help a lot. I read all kinds of books, covering all kinds of topics. Not to brag, but I read about 260 books while serving in the military. The service was 97 weeks long, so that translates to at least 2 books a week. I had the time because I was an administrative clerk. Also, I had always wanted to read more because I never had the chance in high school as a school athlete. Reading has become a habit since, so I look to books whenever I need answers.

I recommend ‘The old man and the sea’ by Ernest Hemingway. I’ve read it three times now, and the third time I read it, I saw answers to my worries and difficulties that I was then going through in my business. The book offers so much wisdom that comes in handy not just in life but also in doing business.

I’ve been a huge fan of LANEIGE ever since I was in high school. I have dry skin, and I used to have atopic dermatitis when I was younger. I first started using LANEIGE products because a friend of mine recommended the brand to me. It’s been 15 years, and the brand is still my favorite. My skin is bright-toned and it rarely breaks out, so I don’t have a routine per se. Sometimes, when I’m drunk, I even go to bed without washing my face. I have strong faith that LANEIGE will take care of my skin.

I see myself running a few businesses. I wouldn’t retire. I’ve realized that my views change with time, just as how I wanted to make a family-friendly brand after realizing there aren’t that many restaurants I can take my kids to. Even as an old man, I would still be making my dreams come true.

A young boy just out of the military went to Australia full of hopes and worries. That boy is now a star chef in Sinyongsan. Chef Nam credits his success to the office workers in the area, who are his muses and inspirations whenever he designs his brands. We can’t wait to be surprised by his seventh venture.