Come spring, when all forms of life burst into bloom, Veggies, a brunch restaurant tucked into an alley in Seoul’s Yeonhui-dong, gets even busier. The tender green shoots that huddled underground all winter grow lush and soon find their way onto Veggies’ tables—transformed into the pasta, toast, and gnocchi we know so well.

Interviewer Parc Jinmyoung
Interviewee Kang Bohye (operator of Veggies)

What led you to open Veggies?
Chef Choi Nayong first opened Veggies in Gayang-dong, Seoul, in 2021. When the restaurant moved here to Yeonhui-dong in 2023, I happened to have just left my job, and that’s when I joined. We met at a mutual friend’s birthday party—at the time, I was interested in spreading vegan culture, and Chef Choi, after working abroad, was running a brunch restaurant in Korea. As we talked, we found we were on the same wavelength, and we ended up doing plant-based projects together, from pop-up restaurants to pesto products and merchandise, which eventually brought us here.

What sparked your interest in vegetarianism?
I spent a year traveling around the world as a university student. Traveling through countries like India and Thailand, where vegetarian culture is well established, I started noticing vegan options. That experience built up my curiosity about plant-based eating. But the real turning point was a close friend who became a strict vegan. Every time we made plans, it was hard to choose a restaurant. As the things we could do together dwindled, I felt frustrated and started cooking vegan meals at home. I began sharing whole-food dishes with people around me or selling them in small batches, which naturally introduced vegan culture to others.

What is that influential friend doing now?
She works as a meditation teacher at a temple. (Laughs) Even I never imagined I’d end up running a restaurant. I believe that even if practicing veganism is difficult in Korea, that choice and intention deserve respect. Even among vegetarians, the degree of practice varies widely. And there are many people who are interested in going vegan but don’t know where to start. I wanted to help bridge that gap, which is what led me to take on this restaurant.

Tell us about your signature menu.
Chef Choi Nayong handles the menu. He worked as a chef at restaurants in New York and Australia before returning to Korea, where he also trained under the Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan. He’s skilled at creating fusion dishes that blend Korean and Western cuisine with a vegetable base. Right now, our most popular items are chive pesto pasta, bracken fern namul (seasoned fernbrake) with tofu cream, and Mexican taco rice made with mushrooms and lentils instead of meat. The menu changes often because we use a lot of seasonal ingredients—shepherd’s purse and wild chive pasta in spring, or gamtae (sea fern) vegan butter pasta in winter, for example.

It’s rare to find alcohol at a vegetarian restaurant.
That’s because we love to drink. (Laughs) We have beer and wine, of course, as well as a soy milk highball made with soy milk, whiskey, and maple syrup.

Where do you source your ingredients?
It varies by ingredient, but we mostly shop at nearby markets. Fruit comes from my in-laws’ apple and strawberry farm. Since we only work with vegetables, there aren’t many ingredients we can buy and store in bulk. To cut down on food mileage as well, we tend to buy small quantities frequently from the closest sources.

Where do you find inspiration when developing new menu items?
When we’re thinking up new dishes, Chef Choi Nayong often starts from recipes he experienced at restaurants in New York and Australia. He looks for ingredients that can replace meat and transforms the dish into a vegan version. For instance, our apple French toast with grilled eggplant is made by soaking rice bread in chocolate-flavored oat milk, grilling it, and topping it with soy cream and eggplant brushed with smoked soy sauce instead of bacon. Our eggplant ragu pasta also uses ground lentils instead of beef to recreate the texture and flavor. Chef Choi’s strength lies in the unique sauces he creates—we use those sauces to reimagine familiar recipes in our own style.

Is there anything different about cooking vegetarian food compared to regular food?
For one, the feeling of preparing the ingredients is different. Just handling vegetables makes you feel the changing seasons and a sense of vitality. When I left my company and was thinking about what to do next, I realized I wanted to do something that would contribute, even in a small way, to protecting animals and the environment.

What did you focus on most when designing the space?
The most important task was hiding the huge butcher shop sign across the street. (Laughs) People sometimes wonder if we chose this spot on purpose, but we actually get along really well with the butcher shop owner. (Laughs) We also made posters illustrating seasonal vegetables and hung them around the space. When you search for seasonal food posters online, most of them feature seafood and fish. So we had no choice but to make our own, centered on vegetables and fruit. We chose furniture in wood tones, green, and beige—colors and materials that are easy on the eyes—so people would feel like they were in a place that makes healthy food.

Were there any places you visited or drew inspiration from while preparing Veggies?
About four or five years ago, I went to Portland, in the U.S., and I noticed that most restaurants—from ice cream shops to pho places—had vegan options. Making vegan food isn’t actually easy; each ingredient has to be boiled or sautéed separately, which naturally drives up the price. In Portland, there seemed to be a real understanding of that. There was enough demand that even people who weren’t strict vegetarians would choose vegan options. Ninety-nine percent of our customers aren’t vegetarian, either. People come to Veggies for all kinds of reasons—wanting to eat healthy, wanting to try something new, or wanting to post pretty food on social media. I think our goal of helping people eat vegetarian even once a day, or even once a week, has resonated to some extent.

What kind of place do you want Veggies to become?
I’d love for people to think of it as “the neighborhood pasta shop” or “the place that serves pasta and rice bowls.” Many of our regulars are dealing with health issues, too. I want us to be the first place that comes to mind when someone wants to eat something healthy.