Perhaps because the fruits and vegetables are abundant
now in the summer growing season,
this has been a week where no matter what country I was in,
lots of time has been deliciously dedicated to the culture and tradition of food.
When we opened in 2008 in Seoul, our 10 Corso Como chef, Han,
started cooking more refined Italian cuisine. Now all the organic
and natural elements of nature meet and it is getting better and better
– every dish a pleasure for the senses. The new menu tasteful
and delicate both for taste and the eyes.
Wrapped in the joyful flowers of summer, a beautiful way
to spend long lunches and dinners.
Always nature first.
Traditional pagodas and temples are seen
in the stunning landscapes of forests, parks,
lakes, mountains and gardens
that are great destination trips in South Korea.
Here The Buddhist Temple Seoraskan creates
a serene atmosphere in the National Park,
named by Unesco as a Biosphere Reserve,
with over 2000 species of flora and fauna.
Korea is so incredibly modern and advanced
and yet retains real Asian culture and customs.
One of my favorite destination restaurants
when I am here is where the Temple food is served.
It has a minimum eleven courses, all delicious,
like the lotus pink flower, and the light dessert.
There is nothing happier than a garden in summers and artists like Monet
have given us palettes of colors that inspire happiness too.
Here the Monet painting “Nympheas”, 1914-1917.
Claude Monet cultivated the flowers and plants
of a Japanese style pond at his home in Giverny.
The paintings he did here were some of his most delightful
– filled with color and sunshine of the plants and water.
They were also among his last.
Omotesando as a neighborhood is very much still the best
and it is no surprise to find the best stores and restaurants there.
Chef Makoto Irié worked for many years under chef Pierre Gagnaire
at the first french restaurant in Tokyo and got two Michelin stars while there.
Now he opens his own restaurant in Omotesando “Irié le joyeux”.
Not only is the cuisine exquisite but chef Irié is a fan of Claude Monet
so the beauty of his dishes are truly inspired by paintings and nature.
Makoto Irieè’s name for his new restaurant comes from his humor.
In french patois Irié’s name translates as joyous or happy.
So the restaurant is a play on his love of both the french and japanese culture.
Artist Hiroshi Sugimoto and architect Tange conceived a new space
called “oak omotesando” in this very beautiful district of Tokyo,
where Sugimoto’s stone walls and the lighting
of his mathematical model “013” is seen here
– like entering a temple. Through the moss garden where stones
sit irregularly in organic formation almost like the benches,
create an integrated space with the cafe room.
Emporio Armani has now the most beautiful “Cafe Sahsya Kanetanaka”.
Nature, first. Here, the Glass Pavilion by architect Sou Fujimoto
now in the Serpentine Gallery in London.
Every year the Serpentine invites the best of contemporary architects
to make an annual piece for the pavilion – Zaha Hadid in 2000,
followed by Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, and Jean Nouvel.
Ai Weiwei was last year, and this year the youngest architect to ever be chosen,
Fujiimoto has created this masterpiece of light
and space in the gardens – it is breathtaking.
