Food Adventures: Koreatown Eats

This year’s New York Wine and Food Festival offered a slew of new events. One of the late-night parties, Koreatown Eats sponsored by Korean Food Foundation hosted by Koreatown: A Cookbook authors Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard, served some of the best food at the fest. Held at Union Fare, the event gave attendees the chance to meet top chefs like Cooking Channel’s Judy Joo (Jinjuu), Amanda Cohen of Dirty Candy, Upland’s Justin Smillie and more. Here’s a peek inside the party.

Sara Ventiera is a roaming eater and traveler who looks for amusing stories across the United States. She works from New York, Los Angeles and various places in between. Her work has appeared in theVillage Voice, New York Daily News, Zagat, FoodNetwork.com and more.

1 of 16 Deuki Hong and Judy Joo take a second to pose and sip a brew. Photo: Sara Ventiera

2 of 16 Hong and Joo prepared and passed out Korean Beef Tartare, made with aged beef filet, cured egg yolks, rice crisp and Asian pear granita. Photo: Sara Ventiera

3 of 16 The Meatball Shop's Daniel Holzman offered Kalbi Balls with ssamjang sauce. Photo: Sara Ventiera

4 of 16 Esther Choi of Mokbar served guests kimchi cheese ramen. Photo: Sara Ventiera

5 of 16 Choi's noodle dish was a hearty mix of kimchi bacon broth, cheddar cheese, braised pork, stewed daikon and Napa kimchi topped with scallion. Photo: Sara Ventiera

6 of 16 Upland chef Justin Smillie offered a petite skewer of smoked duck, foie gras, persimmon and cashew. Photo: Sara Ventiera

7 of 16 Sohui Kim and Michael Stokes, the folks behind Insa Brooklyn, featured Soondae, Korean blood sausage. Photo: Sara Ventiera

8 of 16 Kheedim Oh, chief Minister of Kimchi for Mama O's Premium Kimchi emceed and oversaw karaoke operations for the evening. He's pictured here with From Scratch: Inside the Food Network author Allen Salkin. Photo: Sara Ventiera

9 of 16 Snowdays was onsite with its special shaved ice contraption, offering choice of green tea matcha or roasted black sesame, four different toppings and drizzle of condensed milk or chocolate sauce. Photo: Sara Ventiera

10 of 16 Yvan Lemoine, chef for Union Fare, served killer gochu ribs, braised in gochujang placed atop baek kimchi. Photo: Sara Ventiera