User:FrostFairBlade/sandbox/La Yeon

La Yeon is a restaurant in Seoul, South Korea.

Description
Located on the 23rd floor of The Shilla Seoul, a hotel operated by Hotel Shilla, La Yeon offers contemporary renditions of traditional Korean cuisine. Chef de cuisine Kim Seong-il describes La Yeon's values as "tradition" and "authenticity", elaborating that the restaurant strives to adhere to recipes passed down from generation to generation without adding elements from fusion cuisine. The restaurant seats 40 people in total, and is decorated with traditional Korean patterns. In addition, La Yeon uses white porcelain tableware supplied by potters Ra Ki-hwan and Lee Ki-jo.

La Yeon offers course meals instead of an à la carte menu, with prices ranging from 100,000 won to 250,000 won. Its kitchen is overseen by Kim, who has worked at The Shilla for his entire culinary career. Aiming to deliver Korean food that was simple yet consistent, he and his culinary team spend time researching and studying traditional Korean recipes. For example, as part of a limited-time dinner offer in October 2015, Kim and his team collaborated with the Gwangsan Kim clan to recreate traditional dishes from their centuries-old cookbook, the Suunjapbang. In addition to books, Kim also gains inspiration from studying the foods that are local to rural areas he makes in-person visits to. With its commitment to use only domestic ingredients, La Yeon assembles an internal task force to source ingredients from a hundred places around Korea every year.

History
The restaurant debuted on 1 August 2013 as a new addition to The Shilla, which reopened that same day after an 83.5 billion won renovation beginning in January of that year. La Yeon replaced Seorabeol, The Shilla's previous Korean restaurant, which closed in 2005 after 26 years of business.

Chef de cuisine Kim Seong-il originally joined The Shilla in 1988, when hotels were hiring in preparation for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. He has stayed with the hotel for his entire career; when Seorabeol closed, Kim transitioned to helping The Shilla prepare state banquets.

Awards
La Yeon placed 38th on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2015. It also made the list in 2016 (50th) and 2017 (38th). The restaurant also won three Michelin stars in 2016, which it had held until it lost a star in the 2023 Michelin Guide for Seoul. La Yeon has made appearances on La Liste.