The Plain

Taste Beyond Expectations.

Interview by Melline Galani.

I had never been a macaron fan and could not understand the craze that swept Korea for this French dessert. I did try many places with macarons in search of that special something, but without success – until one day when I ate my first macaron from The Plain. I will never forget that day. I chose a crème brûlée macaron and was speechless after tasting it. The Plain has, by far, the best macarons I have ever had and now I am their devoted customer. They use only the best ingredients, and everything is handmade, fresh, and delicious with top-quality, top ingredients but reasonable prices (2,500 won per macaron). It is the hot spot in Gwangju and is very well known among Koreans. It also is small, like, only a maximum of three people can enter at once. All the aspects mentioned above made me want to know more about the person behind the miracle, so I arranged an interview with Kim Yeo-ryeong for my own benefit as well as that of the readers of the Gwangju News.

Gwangju News (GN): Hello and thank you for taking time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Kim Yeo-ryeong: First, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce my shop to the Gwangju News’ readers. My name is Kim Yeo-ryeong (김여령) and I operate a small dessert shop that makes macarons and cakes.

GN: How did you come up with the idea of opening a business here? What are the biggest challenges of owning and running your own business?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: Starting a business for the first time was a challenge I had not thought through in detail at the time. I accidentally came across a dessert called macaron and wanted to learn how to make it, so it started as a hobby. I fell in love with making these cookies and thought, “I’d rather open a store than do this at home,” and I was able to find my current store through a friend.
To tell you the truth, there are no big difficulties in running the store except, maybe, the space. As the store became better known over time, the space proved to be insufficient compared to the increased amount of work, so I would say this part is the most difficult one. I run the store with my mother and younger sister, but it is too narrow for the three of us to work together at the same time.

GN: What were you doing before you opened the store and how long has The Plain been around?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: Before opening the store, I taught English at a language school because my major was English. The Plain was opened in May 2017, so it will be our fourth anniversary in a few months.

GN: You have the best and most delicious macarons in Gwangju. What is the secret behind this special taste, and where did you learn to make these delectable delicacies?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: Thank you deeply for considering The Plain macarons to be delicious. I learned how to make macarons first in Gwangju and, in order to make them better, secondly in Cheongju. I think the secret to the special taste is the homemade jam. My mom makes the jam that goes into the macarons, and she works with a minimal quantity of sugar to limit the sweetness. With less sugar, the lifetime of the jam is shorter, so we must make it often. We are trying to put not only natural flavors into our products but also high-quality ingredients all wrapped up with love and passion.

GN: How did you perfect your own macaron recipe? We know they are not easy to make.
Kim Yeo-ryeong: The recipes we use today are The Plain’s signature. After taking baking classes, I tried many variations at home and adjusted the recipe. The macaron crust is called coque and is really tricky to make well. I used to practice making it dozens of times a day. I practiced so hard and for so long that my parents told me I should open a store [smiling].

GN: This location of The Plain is really interesting in that even though it is on a popular street, it is so tiny and easy to miss. Do people struggle to find your shop?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: Indeed, the store is small and sometimes not easy to find. I thought about moving somewhere else but decided not to because the actual location is too good [on Art Street in downtown Gwangju]. Usually, if customers have problems finding it, they call me for further directions.

GN: It seems kind of weird that macarons have become so trendy, right? It does not seem like they are really that accessible. What do you think attracts people to them?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: Yes, macarons are rather expensive precisely because they are not easy to make at home; it takes a lot of time and practice to be able to make a decent dessert like this. Moreover, it is also difficult to make diversified flavors. But they are really delicious treats coming in so many flavors and colors, and I think this is what attracts people to them.

GN: Besides macarons, do you do other desserts? How can people order these desserts?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: We occasionally sell other desserts. We make regular cakes only when specially ordered. Our customers order through KakaoTalk, and we make the taste and design they want. In addition to that, we also make various desserts such as madeleines, financiers, cube cakes (a small cake in the shape of a cube, enough for 1–2 persons), and cookies. However, for these desserts we do not take orders due to time constraints: Making the macarons and the custom-made cakes takes up the whole day.

GN: What is your favorite dessert? And your favorite flavor?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: This is the hardest question to answer. Obviously, my favorite dessert is macarons, and I eat them daily. If I am to choose flavors, they would be velvet cream cheese and crème brûlée! These flavors are also consistently the best sellers in the store.

GN: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we know many businesses are facing hardships. Please tell us how the pandemic has affected your business.
Kim Yeo-ryeong: Summer is the off-season for dessert shops, even without the second wave of the pandemic that we experienced during the summer of 2020. At that time, the streets were empty, and the number of customers decreased, too, so we were impacted, but it did not have a deep effect on the business.

GN: That is a relief to hear. What does the future look like for The Plain?
Kim Yeo-ryeong: At the top of the list is the expansion of The Plain. Since our place is so small, I want to expand it quickly for the sake of efficiency. The second step would be to hire a reliable employee to help since I work around ten hours a day, sometimes 17 hours during busy periods. I would also like to open a second store in the Suwan District soon. But my biggest goal is to take good care of my health and to make delicious macarons for a long time.

GN: Well, we certainly wish you good health for good macarons! Thank you so much for your time.

Photographs courtesy of The Plain.

THE PLAIN (더플레인)
Address: 31 Yesul-gil (17-2 Daeui-dong), Dong-gu, Gwangju 광주 예술길 31번지 (대의동 17-2)
Operating Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. or until sold out; closed Sundays and Mondays
KakaoTalk: @더플레인
Instagram: @the_plain ; @theplain_cake

The Interviewer
Melline Galani is a Romanian enthusiast, born and raised in the capital city of Bucharest, who is currently living in Gwangju. She likes new challenges, learning interesting things, and is incurably optimistic. She cannot live without the macarons from The Plain and buys them on a weekly basis.
Instagram: @melligalanis