Entertaining visiting Koreans

My mother just informed me that friends of esteemed friends are arriving in the fall to begin PhD work at U of C. They are Korean. I don't yet know anything more: academic discipline, language/cultural fluency, general worldliness, etc., but have been asked to be someone they might call in a sea of stangers.

If they are eager and intrepid explorers of their new surroundings with a reasonable command of the language, looking for a guide, I'll be fine. However, if they are looking for a little reminder of home, I will be at sea.

Korean is one of the areas of LTH world that I have somehow missed investigating. I have seen many references to different places, BBQ and noodle houses, but if anyone has any specific expertise or news of things Korean, I'd love to hear it and start compiling some data. (Though this is the wrong board, I'd be equally interested in non-food tips: neighborhoods, galleries, other cultural institutions, etc.)

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... ght=korean

I won't comment on the reminders of home, as the link provided by Mr. Tyksins is extensive. But, as a Korean-American who has entertained several family members from the motherland, I can offer some experiences though I would not hazard to say that these are ubiquitous, as two situations were more of the whirlwind see the US in 10 days scenarios rather than an extended stay. Having said that, my experience with dining was that visiting Koreans (mine) wanted to experience things that they could not get at home - this also pertains to things to do, sights to see, etc.

So, in addition to all the Chicago specific culinary experiences, tops on the list for most of my family who came was BEEF - lots of it and in many variations. Due to the limited arable land, beef is extraordinarily expensive in Korea and not something that most Koreans eat on a regular basis or at the quality level available here. When my twenty-something cousins came to visit, we took them to Ruth's Chris, and one literally fell off his chair when the NY strips came. Then they tried to surreptitiously lift our doggie bags, claiming that they would just 'hold them for us' on our way back to their hotel. So if they are carnivorous, a trip to one our venerated steakhouses or Fogo may be an experience they would truly appreciate - or it may send their system into shock but in a good way of course.

On that same note, my experience has been that they may be less impressed with American seafood or Asian cuisines in general, as that is something that is readily accessible in Korea and generally at a higher quality level than here. Interestingly, my 10 year old cousin, whose family lived for a year in Bloomington, IL as a part of an academic exchange program, was despondent when they had to leave - not because of all the friends he would miss, but due to his cultivated addiction to Krispy Kreme.

My guess would be that if they are adventurous enough to enter a PhD program in a foreign country in a city where they don't know anyone, then you will have lots of opportunities to lead them on explorations of Chicago and beyond.

Mr. T beat me to the punch. IMO, a place with big steaks and good booze is your best bet. Gibson's, G&G, Morton's, etc. PS, if I ever make it to Korea, I'm going to be really disappointed if someone takes me to a deep dish pizza place.

Thanks for the detailed consideration of the scenario. A few more details make your assessment seem even more likely. Turns out the fellow's discipline is philosophy, his wife is Japanese ( he has lived there), and his first language is actually English. (He was adopted.) Korean and Japanese are 2nd langs. So - sounds like a good time on the horizon. (Maybe some South American steak houses - good beef on a student budget.)

(Of course, he may not be into food at all and happy to just curl up in the library with Kitty Kelly's unauthorized biography of Wittgenstein, "You Don't Say!" )

When we had visitors from Asian countries, they usually wanted to try pizza. A dish known around the world, but they probably only get the frozen variety. Some who were not accustomed to eating cheese said it was good hot, but didn't care for the cheese when it cooled off a bit. I'm not sure about all Asian countries, but I believe cheese is not a common food item.

The other thing visitors appreciated and liked was fine French cooking.

A Japanese businessman who abstained told me he did not drink because not all had the "liquor gene". Some don't drink because, as he said, "it is like Indians and firewater -- can not tolerate alcohol." I saw little evidence of this in Japan though, non-drinkers were definitely in the minority there.

I would definitely recommend not taking them to a Korean restaurant, unless they are unadventurous culinary-wise. I mean, the last thing I'd want to eat if I were visiting Seoul is American food, and I suppose many visitors would to American would feel the same. They're only bound to be disappointed.

^^^ that said,

I know many Korean-"Americans" who, to this day, refuse to eat hamburgers, etc. because they think 'American' food is retarded.

If one was to impress by sheer quantify of beef, Garden and Songdo both do buffet bbq and offer semi-proper kalbi.

A Taiwanese coworker was assigned to me the previous week. She was completely unimpressed by various offerings of Chi-town hotdogs/Greek/Southern Soul food. I just could not satisfy her desires in any way (gastronomically speaking).

HI,

We once had a delegation of Chinese here in the mid-1980's. They rejected any opportunity to eat food foreign to them including a dinner invitation to our house. Breakfast, lunch and dinner was entirely Chinese oriented.

This attitude is not exclusive to Asians. I have had Europeans arrive with a list of foods they would not eat. There are Americans who stay at Marriotts and Hiltons in exotic locations, then eat exclusively at the hotel featuring European-American food.

I'm hoping your visitors are indeed food explorers. It is so much fun to excite someone with something they read about and never thought they would ever try. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Regards,

When we had visitors from Asian countries, they usually wanted to try pizza. A dish known around the world, but they probably only get the frozen variety. Some who were not accustomed to eating cheese said it was good hot, but didn't care for the cheese when it cooled off a bit. I'm not sure about all Asian countries, but I believe cheese is not a common food item.

It's funny you should mention pizza...When my 20something bro/sis cousins of steak pilfering repute came into town, our first stop was pizza (their request) at Malnati's on Wells (our response). They were fresh off the plane and we had them sitting in front of an extra large pie within the hour - can't beat that imo. We were a bit worried as to whether it would agree with their tastes but were subsequently amazed to watch the brother, who I estimate weighed a buck and a quarter at the time, tuck away not quite 4 slices. I'm not sure if it was the jet lag or the sudden blood loss to the brain from all that pizza, but we literally watched as his eyes rolled back and he slipped into a food coma. First time I've ever contemplated having to carry a grown friend or family member out of an establishment for non-alcohol related causes. Definitely take them out for pizza!

Ultimately, I am hoping, and trusting that a Korean PhD candidate in philosophy who has lived and married in Japan, will be fully capable of articulating interests and preferences. Should he wish to dive into echt-Chciago eating, we're ready. Should he be curious as to how Korean cuisine gets expressed abroad, I wanted to be ready to provide examples with some discernment. Equally so, if, contemplating several years in the West, he felt more homesick than adventurous.

Either way, courtesy of LTH, I will be armed and ready.