Meet Seojeong Kim
JEONJU → LYON → BERN → COPENHAGEN → ZURICH
Seojeong Kim is a Korean chef, recipe developer and founder of The Kimchi Club in Zurich.
Born in Jeonju, South Korea, she began her professional culinary education in Korea before continuing her training at Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France.
Her career has taken her through professional kitchens across Europe, including a Michelin-starred restaurant in Lyon, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Switzerland, where she worked as a chef, and a bakery kitchen in Copenhagen.
Today she is based in Zurich, where she works across Korean food education, recipe development, consulting, photography, and culinary events.
She is also pursuing a Master's degree at ZHAW focused on entrepreneurship within regenerative food systems.
My Story
My last kimjang with my grandmother.
My grandmother never tried to teach me a recipe.
She taught me a philosophy.
During our last kimjang together, we spent days preparing kimchi side by side. As always, she searched for the best ingredients she could find, made far more than our family could ever eat, and packed portions to share with people around us.
That was how she had always cooked.
She taught me that wherever I am, I should look for the best ingredients available to me. That if I make something good, I should make enough to share. And that cooking is ultimately a way of taking care of people.
Years later, my cooking looks very different from hers. I have lived and worked in different countries, learned different cuisines, and found new ways to use the flavors I grew up with.
But the philosophy remains the same.
Find good ingredients.
Make something with care.
And always make enough to share.
That philosophy is at the heart of The Kimchi Club.