Cheongdam-dong in October, at the restaurant Dresden Green. The conversation about Hansik's tomorrow began again. NANRO NEXT — which took its first step last year — held its second event, and formally named its first fellow. The theme of the evening was clear. Hansik's future, in the end, is people.
A vision that begins with people
"The future is people, in the end." Chairperson JungYoon Choi's line captured the direction of the night precisely. NANRO is putting its weight not on technique or trend for Hansik's globalisation, but on the growth of the people who will carry its philosophy. The global fellowship programme NANRO NEXT, which links Korea and New York, was the first concrete expression of that vision.
Cooking grows through exchange; through cooking, people connect
Chef Choi Hyun-suk said that evening: "Growth comes from exchange." He went on: "Meetings give birth to dreams, dreams lead to action, and action makes change."
Speaking on the same stage, Chef Park Ga-ram emphasised, "The identity of Hansik lies not in form but in attitude." He added, "The way this generation of chefs connects to the world is different from before," and closed the conversation with, "Food returns to the people, in the end."
Together, the two chefs' remarks show what NANRO NEXT means by exchange. Not simply reproducing tradition, but reinterpreting Hansik anew between one person and another. That was the "kind of growth" the programme is chasing.
The first fellow: Chef Hasung Lee
At the event, Chef Hasung Lee was named as the first fellow. He is a talent who has passed through Geranium in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Gramercy Tavern and Atomix in New York. Chef Choi Hyun-suk said, "A good chef and a good leader are different things," introducing Lee as "someone who will lead the future of Hansik together with social responsibility." With that, NANRO NEXT moved from idea into practice, from vision into a first tangible result.
Past the boundaries of industry, carried on as culture
The room held not only chefs, but people from entertainment, finance, real estate, science and the arts. Food as a subject stepped past the boundaries of industry and stretched into a common cultural language. Someone at the table called it "exchange around the table." NANRO NEXT is building precisely this kind of ground — one where experts from many different fields can gather under the cultural value of Hansik.
A promise made toward the world
Over the next year, NANRO NEXT plans to select 20 fellows across Korea and the United States. They will lead the expansion of Hansik not only through cooking, but through branding, design, management and global internships. Chief advisor Kim A-rin said, "NANRO NEXT will become a platform where Hansik keeps breathing with the world."
The spirit of NANRO NEXT, built by "people"
Chief advisor Kim A-rin said, "The message that came out of the chemistry between the two chefs — 'let's push the next generation forward together' — was deeply moving." As she put it, this was more than a donor dinner — it was a symbolic scene of how Korea's gastronomic ecosystem might be carried on to the next generation.
Advisor Cha Seung-hee reflected that Chef Choi Hyun-suk's dignified leadership — quite different from his television image — and the skill and energy of Chef Park Ga-ram came through naturally. The food and the atmosphere, she said, held a real harmony.
Advisor Min Song-yi said, "This was a time when everyone in the room agreed on why NANRO exists and where it's headed." The character of the two chefs, she said, gave the whole evening its poise.
Advisor Hong Min-young said, "From the moment guests walked in until the very last, story sat at the centre of the experience, and many of the attendees called it 'a night that stays deep in the chest.'" It was a time, she added, that let people from outside the gastronomy world understand a chef's world at real depth.
Director Lee Tae-ho said the teamwork the two chefs showed proved the essence of the NANRO programme. It reminded him again that NANRO NEXT isn't simply support — it's a culture of growing together.
Advisor Kim Yo-han said, "The philosophy that the chefs are the main characters of the event was fully embodied." The two chefs' arrival, he said, made NANRO's direction clear and left a strong resonance with everyone in the room.
In the end, the advisory board summed it up with one voice: "Having Chefs Park Ga-ram and Choi Hyun-suk as the faces of the first edition was a scene that becomes history."
The second edition of NANRO NEXT has now passed its "time of preparation" and stands at the start of results. A programme that begins with people — it is drawing the sustainable future of Hansik, spreading slowly like a small ember, but surely.
