Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoon Sung.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a physician and a chef. Currently, I work as an urgent care doctor and also work as the pastry chef for Hanchic, a restaurant in Koreatown.
I moved to the US from Korea when I was nine, and grew up with very conservative, traditional parents who are both in healthcare. Since at a young age, they pushed for me to pursue the medical field. It was not until college when I discovered the concept of public health, and after volunteering at a free clinic for the underserved, where though I had initially resisted, I developed my passion for the medical field. After college, I lived in a food desert in inner-city Baltimore while pursuing my master’s and doing clinical research. So in a way, I started cooking more out of necessity but also because I wanted to develop a hobby. I soon discovered I had a talent and passion for cooking and started spending hours experimenting and teaching myself.
One day, my boss in clinical research sat me down and asked me, “Yoon, I think you’d be a great physician, but have you ever thought about pursuing the culinary field professionally?” I had been on this pre-med path for so long– until this point, no one had ever questioned or challenged this. It was an uncomfortable moment, but a defining one. He asked me to go home and do some introspection and ask myself, “What makes me happy?”
I decided to apply for a job at Woodberry Kitchen, a farm-to-table James Beard restaurant in Baltimore, and after a skills assessment involving two-weekend services in an open kitchen, I was very fortunate to be hired as a line cook and pastry cook. I absolutely loved working there. However, when I went on medical school interviews, I realized that I was also still passionate about medicine, and after much deliberation, I decided to continue onto medical school.
I decided that the best path for me was not to choose between medicine and culinary and give one up, but rather to find a way to combine both of my passions. Family medicine and primary care were obvious choices for me to combine my passion for the two fields through nutrition and preventive counseling.
Through the rigors of med school and residency, I still pushed myself to continue cooking and honing my skills in the hopes of returning to the industry one day and opening up my own restaurant down the road. I finished residency last year and now currently work part-time as an urgent care doctor and also part-time as a chef.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Growing up with conservative and strict parents who discouraged self-expression and individuality, it took me a really long time and I am still learning to reconcile filial piety and guilt with pursuit of one’s happiness. Further complicating matters, I finally gathered the courage to come out to my parents about seven years ago. To this day, they are not accepting of my sexual orientation and refuse to acknowledge it entirely.
I’ve come to realize that as grateful as I am for everything my parents have done and sacrificed for me, life is short and life is precious– it may be inconceivable, foolish to my parents to forgo financial security and give up what it means to have a “normal” career, relationship, and 40-year plan, but as radical as it may be in traditional Asian culture, I have decided to fiercely advocate for and actively pursue my happiness. As discouraging and daunting as it has been at times, I want to remain hopeful that once my parents see that I am genuinely happy and at peace writing my own narrative, that they will one day be happy for me too.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I would describe my cuisine as Korean-inspired California cuisine. My passion is about making more traditional Korean ingredients, beyond just kimchi and Korean bbq, approachable to a wider audience. I aim to achieve this by combining traditional ingredients with dishes, components, or techniques that are more familiar. I also worked previously at a farm-to-table restaurant, and this was where I saw the beauty and significance of sourcing locally and seasonally– that when we use quality ingredients, they truly shine and speak for themselves. I have been so impressed and enamored by the beautiful produce in Southern California, and so I always try to source locally and seasonally when possible.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
The medical and culinary fields are both fields that are extremely rigorous and demanding. I am very thankful to have met the people I’ve met along my journey, and also to have met employers in both fields who are willing to work with me to help pursue both passions.
I initially moved to LA from the Bay Area last summer to open up my own restaurant. I did a Kickstarter campaign last year and was very fortunate to reach the goal of $100K. I thought to start by doing pop-ups in LA and build relationships in the city. I did my first collaboration pop-up at Hanchic in Koreatown. The pop-up went very well, but more importantly, I found that the team at Hanchic/In Hospitality group and I had similar visions of making more traditional Korean dishes and ingredients more approachable through innovative and fun, chic dishes. I had a meeting with the team and the opportunity came to join the Hanchic team as the pastry chef.
This was very different from the path that I had envisioned when I first moved to LA– I had planned on opening up my own place and leaving the medical field for the time being. However, I believe that everything happens for a reason. The team and I just worked so well together and it was evident how talented, hard-working, and dedicated they were. After much deliberation, I decided to join the team. I’ve really enjoyed working with this group of just good, genuine people.
Hence, while hard work and passion have carried me far along this journey, I would not be where I am today without the people that have supported me, as well as opportune strokes of luck.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yoonsung/nanum-sharing-korean-traditions-with-a-contemporary-flair/description
- Instagram: instagram.com/cookingwithyoon
Image Credits
Martin Legg (for the main profile photo)
