Gwangju Eats: The Holiday Inn
After a 12-year absence that took him around the world, Chef Allen Cha has finally found his way back to Korea. Chef Allen Cha began his career of 20 years at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill in Seoul. After moving around kitchens in Seoul and Incheon, he spent the last 12 years working in Shanghai, Singapore, Oman, and most recently, Naples, Florida. He only recently returned to Korea to serve as the executive chef for Holiday Inn Gwangju’s two restaurants, Hourglass Restaurant and La Place, which opened on February 3. Needless to say, he has been a little busy.
“What’s Gwangju like?” he asks, laughing. “I’ve only been here two weeks.”
Speaking over lunch and dinner in Hourglass Restaurant, which serves a buffet of international fare, Chef Cha said he will focus on improving presentation to bring it up to a more international level. However, his biggest plans are obviously for his new restaurant, the recently opened La Place. Stating that the restaurant focuses on French cuisine, Chef Cha made it clear that he wants to bring something new to Gwangju in terms of authenticity, flavor and presentation. “We try to make it simple and modern as well, like only the French know how. I want to give Gwangju residents a chance to taste authentic cuisine emphasizing freshness, quality and flavor,” he said.
Making the most of its limited space, the new restaurant seats only a small number of guests. The more intimate chef’s table atmosphere allows Chef Cha to interact with his guests one-on-one. He noticed that in many Korean restaurants, there is a lack of communication between the chefs and the customers. He hopes to improve this by speaking with customers directly and using this feedback to enhance the quality of the service. He said he always wants to know, “How can the service be better than before? I’m proud of my food and make sure to only provide the best every day.”
One way Chef Cha says he is focusing on quality is by importing ingredients from all over the world to ensure authenticity and flavor despite the short amount of time the restaurant has been open. He strives to provide the most authentic flavor in a city not typically known for its variety of foreign food. To achieve that, Chef Cha will personally train his young culinary team and share his extensive experience.
“Our guests knew only two kinds of oil: olive oil and lemon oil. I showed them garlic and basil oil, which are both homemade. We made tuna fish with not only one or two, but three different flavors. They tasted the first one. ‘Oh yeah. That’s good!’ They then tasted the second one, and then the third. They said ‘Wow!’ They didn’t realize, it could be so different and each time.”
Chef Cha has many ideas to shape the restaurant in the future and seems ready to make La Place “the best of the best in Gwangju.”