Profile | Korean chef of Asia’s only Michelin-star vegan restaurant cooks for all, including his mum

Of the more than 3,700 restaurants Michelin has awarded stars, only six are listed on its website as exclusively vegan – and only one of those is in Asia. The success of Légume, which got its first star in the Michelin Guide Seoul and Busan 2025, is remarkable given how uncommon and often misunderstood veganism is in South Korea. Sung Si-woo opened his restaurant in Seoul in 2023 after deciding to bet on his unconventional idea of a vegan fine-dining establishment. Few believed it would work – even Sung had doubts. “When I opened Légume, I invested more money than I’d ever earned in my life, so a lot of people tried to talk me out of it,” the chef-owner says at a cafe in Sinsa-dong, the trendy neighbourhood where his restaurant is located. “They’d say things like, ‘Is Korea really ready for this? Do we even have enough vegans here?’ But I just felt strongly that I should pursue what I wanted while I was still young.” Sung envisioned an inclusive restaurant where diners with all kinds of dietary needs could enjoy exquisite meals together, and where he could highlight the diversity of Korean vegetables by preparing them in innovative ways. By that point, Sung was already a veteran of South Korea’s fine-dining scene, having worked his way up over 10 years to become head chef at Soigné, a pioneering Seoul restaurant that currently holds two Michelin stars. Sung says he dreamed of becoming a fine-dining chef as a child; at the time there were hardly any in South Korea. When he first joined Soigné in 2013, South Korea did not yet have a Michelin Guide. When he decided to open his own restaurant, memories of dining out with his mother – who is unable to eat meat – shaped his approach. “When my mother eats meat, she immediately feels heavy and nauseous – sometimes she even vomits. We think it’s a digestive system issue. She can’t eat meat at all, and even seeing meat makes her uncomfortable,” Sung says. “Throughout my upbringing, since my mother couldn’t eat regular dishes, our family had nowhere to go for meals out. She’d always sacrifice herself, saying ‘You kids eat what you want.’ It broke my heart seeing her just nibble on banchan side dishes. “As I got older and started cooking professionally, I realised something heartbreaking: here I am, a chef in Korea, yet there’s still not a single restaurant where I can take my mom and family to eat properly. That is what made me passionate about creating this kind of restaurant.” Sung admits that creating vegan dishes is challenging and comes with limitations. “Vegan chefs face so many restrictions – no meat, no seafood, not even commonplace ingredients like butter or eggs. It narrows your creative palette dramatically, making the entire process far more difficult.” Still, he decided to make his restaurant as inclusive as possible so vegetarians, pescatarians, gluten-free diners and those with other dietary needs could find something to enjoy. We experimented endlessly [ …] gradually refining our approach to focus on vegetable dishes that would resonate with Korean palates Sung Si-woo Sung believes it takes more skill to move diners with a dish made from something as simple as a radish or a carrot than with animal products such as high-quality beef. “Even if a regular home cook grilled high-quality beef, good meat would taste delicious on its own – though of course, a skilled chef could elevate it further,” he says. Sung was always drawn to cooking vegetables in creative ways. “When developing menus at Soigné, I often felt frustrated by how limited Korea’s meat options were compared to other countries. At fine-dining restaurants in Korea, the main course is always either Hanwoo (Korean beef) or duck,” he says. “I realised that where Korea excels is in its vegetables and fruit – that’s our strength. We have four distinct seasons and each brings different crops with unique flavours. That is when I became truly fascinated with vegetable-focused cuisine.” It did not take long after Sung opened Légume for his gamble to pay off. South Korea’s food media quickly took notice and hailed the restaurant as a fresh and intriguing addition to the culinary scene. Word spread organically, particularly among foreign visitors to Seoul looking for a restaurant that aligned with their dietary needs. Before long, hotel concierges began recommending the restaurant to guests in search of high-quality vegan cuisine. Sung says his patrons choose veganism for different reasons, including digestive health issues, religious beliefs, seafood allergies, severe lactose intolerance and gluten sensitivities, as a lot of vegan dishes are naturally gluten free. The menu that won over Michelin Guide inspectors was the result of relentless research, experimentation and refinement, Sung says. Unlike many acclaimed chefs in South Korea, Sung did not receive formal training abroad nor a degree from an international culinary school. The vegetarian market here is growing, but much more slowly than in other countries Sung Si-woo He says nearly all his expertise comes from his own research and practice, scouring the internet and tasting dishes during overseas trips. “In the beginning, we went through a lot of trial and error. We experimented endlessly with different menu concepts, gradually refining our approach to focus on vegetable dishes that would resonate with Korean palates.” His most popular dish is a pasta made with gosari – the young stems of bracken. “We prepare the ferns much like traditional Korean gosari namul – blanching and seasoning them. Then we serve them over pasta with a smooth purée sauce. It’s become a universal favourite. Everyone loves it regardless of age, nationality, or background. Young or old, Korean or foreign, the dish appeals to all our guests,” Sung says. The restaurant’s Michelin star has also opened exciting doors for Sung. On June 12-13, he will showcase his plant-based cuisine at Hong Kong’s Carlyle & Co. members’ club in a five-course tasting menu featuring yeast-battered cauliflower, mushroom steak with black truffle and vegetable jus, and spiced chickpea gnocchi with paprika. Sung says it will take time for South Korean culinary culture to fully embrace plant-based dining. “The vegetarian market here is growing, but much more slowly than in other countries,” he says. The chef says he hopes to contribute to this growth in the long term and realise his final vision of building a closed-loop system. “I’d like to have a small plot of land for the restaurant where we can grow herbs or vegetables that can directly be used in the restaurant. The food waste from our restaurant will then be composted with microorganisms into fertiliser, which we’d reuse on our land to nurture new crops.”

Profile | Korean chef of Asia’s only Michelin-star vegan restaurant cooks for all, including his mum

‘People tried to talk me out of it,’ says Sung Si-woo of Légume. Now his Seoul restaurant is finding fans with all kinds of dietary needs