Korean cuisine meets molecular gastronomy at SUUM – The City’s soon-to-open omakase restaurant

Andy Choi’s culinary career has been anything but conventional. The Korean-born fine-dining ace has built an impressive resume on the back of his unadulterated love of cooking and unrelenting desire to learn, parlaying a self-taught skillset into positions at some of the world’s best restaurants.

In his early 20s, Andy elected to exchange his studies in IT for a stint at culinary school in Switzerland, quickly finding that he was more adept at the gastronomic craft than originally anticipated. Buoyed with confidence, Andy sought to get his foot in the door in the high-end restaurant world – a manoeuvre that quickly paid dividends with a stint at Heston Blumenthal’s heralded fine-diner, The Fat Duck, in 2019, followed by another high-profile posting in Spain.

“I just emailed every restaurant ranked 1 to 50 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list every day for three months,” says Andy. “Eventually, Disfrutar in Barcelona (which would go on to claim the title of The World’s Best Restaurant in 2024) offered to let me stage, which is where I ended up working for a whole year.”

Armed with plenty of technical expertise and brimming with inspiration, Andy then returned to Korea to complete his mandatory military service before opening his own restaurant, Andy Pandy. Before long, he was approached to bring his talents to Brisbane and one well-received pop-up series later Andy decided to make the River City his home base – with plans now underway to open an ambitious new restaurant in the heart of The City.

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SUUM, a 16-seat omakase restaurant nestled in the bowels of 119 Charlotte Street, will see Andy showcasing Korean cuisine through an ultra-modern lens.

“There is a lot of Japanese cuisine and French cuisine in Australian fine dining, but not many Korean-style omakase restaurants,” explains Andy. “I thought it would be a great idea to mix Korean cuisine and molecular gastronomy together.

“Brisbane is growing and there’s the Olympic games coming up – I think there’s a demand here for omakase and fine dining.”

Construction will soon start on the space, with Andy implementing his own design scheme. The chef tells us that SUUM will feel a little bit like a cave. Guests will enter via a nondescript entry (accessed via QR code) and be greeted by a central kitchen ringed by seats. The space will boast a sparse material palette composed of wood, carbon steel and cement. It’ll be dark, with the majority of light sources dedicated to illuminating the food and not much else.

Once open, SUUM will trade six nights a week, serving an omakase menu that will fluctuate between 16 and 20 courses. Andy is looking to gently introduce Brisbane diners to traditional Korean flavours and dishes beyond those that are familiar.

“When I ask people in Australia if they know Korean cuisine, everyone is usually familiar with Korean barbecue or fried chicken,” says Andy. “SUUM will be more like traditional Korean cuisine – the look and presentation of the food is more Western, but the flavour is Korean.”

Though the menu will be shifting with the seasons, Andy says a few signatures will be available upon launch, including a delicate chestnut soup with truffle, and another dish of bibimbap encased in thinly sliced package of char-cooked sirloin tied up with chives, reminiscent of a bokjumeoni, or fortune pouch.

SUUM’s beverage program will include wine and Korean sake, with Andy also planning to make his own makgeolli – a traditional Korean rice wine, which will be offered to guests as a welcome drink.

SUUM is targeting late August for a soft launch, before opening to the public in early September. Stay tuned for more.