Into the World of Weird Pizza

Into the World of Vegan Pizza — Into the World of Weird Pizza, Weirdough

The world of vegan pizza, strange enough to be fun. The story behind Weirdough's pizza-making — unfamiliar yet charming, different yet comfortable.

Interviewee Park Jeongwon, Founder of Weirdough
Interviewer Ryu Sunwoo

Could you briefly introduce Weirdough?
Weirdough is a combination of ‘Weirdo,’ meaning a strange person, and ‘dough,’ and it's a vegan pizza specialty restaurant. When people think of pizza, cheese is usually the first thing that comes to mind. But since we make pizza without any animal-based ingredients, including cheese, we wanted to express that it might feel a bit strange or unfamiliar. It's a kind of pizza you won't have seen anywhere else — in a way, a weird pizza. There's another meaning too. There's still a lingering perception that vegetarians and vegans are somehow unusual or overly sensitive people. We wanted this space to carry the identity of a place where such people can gather and feel comfortable stopping by.

Was there a particular reason you became interested in vegetarianism?
I've been living a vegan-oriented lifestyle for about five years now, and the reason I became vegan is pretty ordinary. *Some friends who were pescatarians said they wanted to try going vegan, so we watched a documentary about veganism together. That documentary was the trigger for me to start a vegan lifestyle. At first I started it thinking about my own body, but afterward, issues like the environment and animal rights began to catch my attention.

**I heard you also published a vegan cookbook.
It's a book containing a variety of vegan recipes from different genres, published under the name ‘Haru Vegan.’ It's a mix of simple everyday dishes I often made at home, the most popular recipes from the Haru Vegan Instagram, and special recipes that had never been introduced anywhere else.

*: A form of vegetarianism in which meat is avoided but fish and seafood are eaten.

**: In 2021, published a book titled “Delicious, Haru Vegan.”

I'm curious why you chose wood-fired pizza among all the various vegan dishes.
One thing I found frustrating after going vegan was not being able to eat cheese. In Western countries, where cheese culture is well developed, vegan cheese is also well developed, but it was hard to find in Korea. I decided that if I couldn't find it, I'd have to make it myself. After researching countless foreign vegan cheese recipes through books and the internet, I built up enough knowledge to teach a class on the subject. While figuring out how to make good use of the cheese, pizza came to mind. Since vegan pizza was such an unfamiliar concept, a lot of people around me were against the idea, but no matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing else I wanted to try. After that, I worked at an American-style pizza place to properly learn how to make pizza. I realized that Italian-style wood-fired pizza would go better with vegetables than American-style pizza, which is heavy with sauce and meat toppings.

It seems like there must have been a lot of trial and error in making everything — the dough, the cheese, all the ingredients — vegan.
Since I was referencing foreign recipes, there were many cases where I couldn't predict if something would taste good without actually making and trying it myself. While running the Haru Vegan account, I got to directly test out various recipes, and I also received a lot of feedback through pop-up restaurants. Thanks to that experience, by the time I opened Weirdough, I had a certain level of confidence that I could make it taste good.

How do you source your ingredients?
Since we're a restaurant centered on vegetables, we inevitably have to differentiate ourselves through the quality of our vegetables. So rather than just vaguely good vegetables, we source directly from local farmers who grow vegetables with distinct character. We work with a farm called ‘Vegetable Life’ that researches new varieties, and through them we introduce unfamiliar types of vegetables. We want people to not just enjoy the taste when they eat, but also to discover new vegetables and feel that sense of wonder — like realizing cauliflower can be green or purple, or that carrots can be purple or yellow. We try to provide a new experience when it comes to vegetables.

How did it feel when you got your own space for the first time, after running pop-up restaurants?
I was so happy I could hardly believe this was really my own restaurant. When doing pop-ups, I had to pack up my things and carry them to someone else's restaurant like a traveling peddler, and that process was genuinely exhausting. I kept thinking I wanted to open my own place soon, and then it actually happened. Even now, watching people laugh and chat happily while enjoying the food I made, I often find myself amazed by it. I also love it when people who got to know me through my book or YouTube channel come to visit — I get to meet them in person.

I'm curious where you get inspiration when developing menu items.
We change our special pizza and pasta every month. First, I look for whatever seasonal vegetables are available right now, and then research complementary ingredients that pair well with them. I try combinations you can't find anywhere else, taste them with the staff, and gradually refine and complete the dish by filling in what's missing. At first it might feel like something's lacking, but if I keep trying different things, eventually one ingredient that becomes the perfect kick just appears.

Have you ever tried any unusual ingredients?
Natto pizza. It's a pizza topped with natto from Nattodu Natto, a natto specialty shop I happened to discover. Surprisingly, it was really popular. A lot of people even asked us to make it a permanent menu item. Some people came from far away purely because they loved natto so much. Honestly, while we were selling the natto pizza, there was a pungent smell lingering in the restaurant the whole time, which was kind of funny. (laughs) I do think about bringing it back to the menu again someday.

Don't you feel the pain of creation when developing new menu items?
I feel pressure sometimes, but after running the restaurant for over a year, that pressure has lessened. Seasons repeat on a yearly cycle, after all. I've gotten the hang of developing new menu items by putting a spin on last year's dishes. (laughs) A lot of regulars are also happy when a returning dish comes back.

If you had to pick just one pizza you're most fond of among all the ones you've made so far?
The basil pesto lotus root pizza has been a fixture on the menu since early on, and unintentionally, it became the signature dish that everyone ends up ordering. Since it's the customers' favorite, it's also my favorite pizza. Actually, I'm fond of every single menu item. Each dish carries its own story in the process of being completed. The mushroom pizza in particular kept changing its recipe. At first it had soy milk cream sauce with cheese and shiitake mushrooms, then later I started using truffle paste, and now it's served with a squeeze of lime on top. So it's like a pizza that keeps growing up, like a child.

Was cooking your original profession?
That's right. I majored in culinary arts and have been working in kitchens for over ten years now, and at some point I got exhausted with being a chef. That's because being a chef is a physically grueling job. Working for other people's businesses over and over, my body kept wearing down, and I had no confidence at all about whether I could do anything on my own if I went independent. Ironically, after becoming vegan, I started feeling the joy of cooking again. Once the condition of eating vegetarian was set, my competitive spirit lit up. And from there, I started coming up with dishes I wanted to make. I feel like my world became wider and richer, learning about seasonal ingredients and vegetables I never knew about when I ate meat. In particular, I've come to enjoy the diverse flavors and colors of vegetables, and I've become able to cook dishes that make use of ingredients that are in season.

We saw that you've traveled to various countries under the theme of a vegan food trip on YouTube. Was there a place that left a strong impression on you?
The word and spirit of 'vegan' actually originated in the UK. Maybe that's why London had so many vegan restaurants that even a stay of over a week wasn't enough to visit them all. The place that impressed me most was a vegan cheese shop in London called lafauxmagerie (now operating only as an online store). The moment I stepped inside, I saw a huge spread of vegan cheeses, no different from a regular cheese shop. They let you buy exactly the amount you want by the gram, and you could even sample the cheese if you wanted—I thought it was paradise. (laughs) I also visited a vegan pizza restaurant called Purezza two or three times during my stay. It has a lot of customers and is a famous restaurant that has even won awards competing against non-vegan pizzerias, which made me dream of opening a pizzeria like that myself.

What kind of space will Weirdough become in the future?
We'll continue making pizza with seasonal ingredients and vegetables, but beyond that, I'd like to use this space to host events—inviting musicians for performances or holding artist exhibitions, among other things. We could even hold vegan cooking classes here. We're planning to take a short break this winter, but we're aiming to reopen and meet our guests again next January, when Weirdough celebrates its second anniversary.

+ Vegan restaurants recommended by Park Jeongwon, owner of Weirdough
📍purezza
Address: 45-47 Parkway, London NW1 7PN, UK
Instagram: purezza
📍Le Potager de Charlotte
Address: 12 Rue Louise-Émilie de la Tour d'Auvergne, 75009 Paris, France
Website: lafauxmagerie.co.uk
📍pettirossokyoto
Address: 108-95 Izumojitatemotocho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8134 Japan
Instagram: pettirossokyoto
📍Vegan Ramen UZU Kyoto
Address: 146 Umenokicho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-0905 Japan
Instagram: vegan_uzu