The Most Popular Buddhist Nun Cook — in Manhattan
Jeong Kwan, of “Chef’s Table” fame, recently served Korean temple food in New York. And when she wasn’t cooking, she explored the urban jungle.
Text by Alexis Cheung, Photographed for T Magazine
On a recent trip to New York City, the Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan let her curiosity — and her friend, the French chef Eric Ripert — guide her. She was in town from Korea to serve lunch at Ripert’s restaurant Le Bernardin, in honor of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. T spent 48 hours with her leading up to the meal — a hot couple of days that included no shortage of naps, and at least one iced coffee from a street vendor.
Kwan led Ripert, who is also a Buddhist, in a walking meditation in Central Park. This was Kwan’s third trip to New York but her first time walking through the park. Kwan and Ripert meditated in the shade. "Where I am is unimportant because I have inner peace," Kwan explained of the difference between her home and New York City.
In Korea, Kwan often forages foliage from the mountains. Even in Central Park, she couldn’t resist plucking and tasting a hanging tree leaf.
Kwan rode the New York subway for the first time. “How old is it?” she wondered.
In preparation for the meal she served at Le Bernardin, to help bring awareness to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Kwan made and hauled sauces from her hermitage in Korea. During prep work the day prior, Kwan said, “I feel connected with everyone here. There’s great teamwork and good energy so it’s going to be great tomorrow.”
Kwan created artful, edible centerpieces filled with seaweed and vegetables from Korea. “I hope my food helps people to be more compassionate, take care of others and contemplate calmness,” she said. Temple cooking avoids garlic, onions, scallions, chives and leeks — which stimulate too much energy.
Kwan’s cooking mind-set involves four things: contemplating the people who are going to eat, choosing the best ingredients for the guests, understanding which recipes will work for their age range and — of course — delivering good energy. “It’s pretty amazing,” Ripert said of her food. “The intensity, purity and precision of flavors which becomes harmony, of course.” This is the final course Kwan served on Thursday.
“It’s like seeing a good friend,” Ripert said of his relationship with Kwan. “Nothing changes.”