The story of Sung Anh, chef patron of Seoul's three-star Mosu, who was snatched from a career as a mechanic by a twist of fate, is like a movie. Today, he runs Korea's top restaurant, where "true luxury is comfort."
The chef
Today, Sung Anh is a successful chef: He holds South Korea's only three Michelin stars at Mosu in Seoul, which is ranked 41st on The World's 50 Best Restaurants, and this year received the Damm Chefs' Choice Award from his Asian peers. The way he got there, however, sounds rocambolic in the interview he gave to the event's magazine.
"It was something quite accidental. I never planned to do this job. I didn't even know what a chef was. Until I set foot in a culinary school, I had no idea you could make a living at it. I had seen the immaculate toques in movies, but I never thought it could be a career choice. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision I made. Life sometimes takes you where you never thought it would. I still talk to my mother about my career choice and we are both still surprised.
How it happened is not a linear story. Born in South Korea, Sung Anh immigrated to California at the age of 13 with his parents, who were wary of the competitive nature of the Asian country and were more intent on pursuing the American dream. The boy began working in his parents' takeout restaurant, never feeling the temptation to move to the stove. After deciding to study to become a mechanic, just as he was leaving for Arizona, where the school was located, he came across a culinary academy that was opening. "So I was hooked. I could have made a living as a chef. So I called the mechanics school and told them I was not going to attend and signed up for the culinary school right then and there. It sounds crazy, but I started two weeks later."
While in school, Sung Anh worked as a dishwasher, then opened an oyster sanctuary and moved on to cooking in a bistro. After a year and a half, he felt he was ready to move on to the big time, but he had to endure several rejections. Eventually, he managed to get into the Japanese restaurant Urasawa in Beverly Hills for free, but there was no shortage of difficulties. "There is always a price to pay to learn great things. After a few years, I was fluent in Japanese and had assimilated Urasawa's way of thinking and cooking, including his respect for ingredients, which I still observe. But I didn't want to be a Japanese chef."
It was Corey Lee, passing through Urasawa, who offered him a post-dinner experience at The French Laundry: within a month, Sung Anh was in Napa Valley. When the chef left a few years later to open his own Benu, the young man followed. After a few more years, another twist: Sung Anh took a job at a Moroccan restaurant to explore the use of spices. After a few trips to Asia, it was finally time to open his Mosu in San Francisco in 2015, where he just barely made it, and then moved to Korea in 2017 for the love of his family, aware of the country's potential. "But honestly, moving from San Francisco to Seoul was a culture shock. I know I have the physiognomy of a Korean, but I think like an American, so it was hard at first."
Since then, there has been no shortage of news. Sung Anh has even opened a second Mosu in Hong Kong, inside the Museum of Visual Culture, and has decided to move to a new location that will open soon, without the competition of the old members. But his philosophy remains the same: comfort is the new luxury, and he will do everything to make guests feel comfortable. That is why there is no pretension on the plate: everything must have a sense, a taste, a reason. Signatures such as the abalone taco, inspired by childhood comfort food, continue to prove this.
