It is a story of duplets: For two days only this June, two chefs and their two combined Michelin stars will come together to celebrate two much-loved food traditions.
In the latest instalment of Mono Unplugged—a recurring platform for chef and co-owner Ricardo Chaneton to embrace a more “unrestrained” and playful side to the restaurant—he invites Sun Kim, of Singapore’s Meta, to join him in his kitchen for an exclusive bespoke tasting menu featuring the unlikeliest of crossovers: Latin American and Korean.
In fact, this coming together of the cuisines is not as far-fetched as it sounds. “Asian cuisine is similar to Latin American cuisine in several ways—they both use a lot of spices and chillis, and the dishes in both cuisines heavily feature savoury, acidic, and sweet flavours,” explains Chaneton, the multicultural Venezuelan native who opened Mono in late 2019 after honing his craft under the tutelage of Mauro Colagreco at three-Michelin-starred Mirazur, and working as the executive chef of Petrus at Island Shangri-La. Mono has since collected and retained a Michelin star of its own, a nod to Chaneton’s achievements, his modern South American fine-dining approach, and complex seasonal tasting menus.
In the Lion City, Meta—unrelated to the tech conglomerate, short for “metamorphosis”—is similarly lauded as a space in which Kim melds the flavours of his heritage with Japanese and Western culinary techniques to present a fresh take on traditional Korean dishes. Originally from Busan, the chef put down roots in Singapore after stints in Seoul and Sydney.
Image courtesy of Mitch Geng
While this occasion will mark the chefs’ first time cooking together, their awareness of each other (and eventual friendship) began years ago when a close friend of Kim’s regaled him with stories of Mono as “the best meal he had in Hong Kong.” Interests were peaked, and introductions were made in London at the 2022 World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, and again at the 2023 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony in Singapore. Little did Kim know that Chaneton had also visited Meta, where he was equally as impressed by the Korean chef: “I remember thinking ‘Wow, here is a chef who’s really cooking.’ He was so focused within his kitchen like a maestro and his orchestra.”
Mutual admiration is one thing the two chefs have in common, but it’s by no means the last. A wealth of shared qualities form the foundations of the collaboration, leaning on the parallels of their French culinary training backgrounds and cooking philosophies. As Chaneton explains, both he and Kim draw from the rich traditions of their cultures “but reimagine dishes to give them new meaning on the plate,” as exemplified through Mono and Meta.
Kim concurs: “We do not cook traditional Korean or South American food. Instead, these cosmopolitan cities, coupled with our heritage, have inspired us to explore new flavours and dishes that represent our modern cuisines. Our cuisines reflect our heritage, but instead of deconstructing the classics, we both love using good produce from across the globe and are not limited in bringing new flavour combinations to the table.”
Both chefs are palpably excited ahead of the four-hands collaboration and hope to use the opportunity to showcase the unexpected but harmonious combinations that Latin American and Korean flavours can create, as well as deepen their skills while cooking as a team. “I’m most looking forward to learning more about fermentation. While we do use fermentation in Latin American cooking—we even make our own tepache (a fermented beverage made from pineapples) at home—it’s been great to exchange knowledge with Chef Sun about his methods,” says Chaneton in an exclusive conversation with Robb Report Hong Kong.
As to what guests can look forward to on the exclusive menu, Kim pulls aside the curtains for a sneak peek at the upcoming tasting menu, detailing a course that features “locally sourced belt fish that I’ll grill and serve with Korean perilla oil and Korean-style fermented South American green chilli.” He cites the dish as an “example of how we will be melding ingredients and techniques from both our heritage.”
Chaneton adds that “the dishes we created for this collaboration focus on exploring the similarity of the two regions, and as a result, every dish is a smooth blend of both cultures.”
Run, don’t walk, and make your reservations quickly for either lunch or dinner for a chance to witness two award-winning chefs bridge the culinary gap between continents.
16–17 June 2023
5/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong
(+852) 9726 9301
All images courtesy of Mono and Meta.
