Several years ago, a cookbook editor friend called asking my advice on whether she should publish Jacques Pepin’s autobiography. Pepin is one of my heroes in food, I told her, but I’d pass on the book ― all chef biographies tend to follow the same story arc, there’s not a lot new to be said.Wisely she ignored me, and though “The Apprentice” turned out just as I predicted plot-wise, it was one of the bestselling cookbooks of the year. I learned two lessons from that incident: I’m a lot better off

BooksNov. 14, 2013

In her poignant 2010 essay “What I Will Miss,” which appears on the last page of a new omnibus, “The Most of Nora Ephron” (Alfred A. Knopf.), the author listed 31 items ― bacon, Paris and “the concept of waffles,” among them. There’s one thing she left out, I would venture to guess: writing.Though it was kept secret from all but her immediate circle, Ephron knew she was terminally ill with leukemia for six years before her death in 2012. If anything, this increased her productivity. According to

BooksNov. 14, 2013

Star Wars: FramesSelected by George Lucas(Abrams, NY)Who hasn’t in their lifetime wanted to study a moment in a film, to pause the action and survey what is going on without fear that the hold suddenly will end?For fans of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” saga, that moment has finally come with “Star Wars: Frames.” It is all six of the “Star Wars” trilogy frame-by-frame.In 2011, “Frames” was issued in a very limited edition of six volumes, and came in a hard case adorned with a Darth Vader medallion. I

BooksNov. 14, 2013

Vanished: The Sixty-Year Search for the Missing Men of World War IIBy Wil S. Hylton (Riverhead)The official story was that the war in the Pacific claimed Jimmie Doyle on Sept. 1, 1944, when Japanese antiaircraft fire brought down his B-24 Liberator during a bombing mission over the tiny Palau archipelago. Neither the plane nor a single member of the 11-man crew was ever found. But there was always a second, darker story, and it haunted Jimmie’s son, Tommy, for most of his life.Tommy’s uncles bel

BooksNov. 14, 2013

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na has donated $100,000 to a relief organization for the typhoon-hit Philippines.The Korean Committee for UNICEF said Thursday that Kim made the donation on Wednesday. “Through the Korean Committee for UNICEF, Kim has sponsored underprivileged and sick children at the end of each year. This year, she informed us that she wanted to help children affected by the powerful typhoon in the Philippines,” it said. “Her donation will be used to supply drinking water

PeopleNov. 14, 2013

Jong Tae-se, a striker at Suwon Samsung Bluewings who played for North Korea, will marry a South Korean woman next month.He is scheduled to tie the knot with a stewardess who works for a Korean airline at Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel on Dec. 4, his club said, without elaborating on who Jong’s bride-to-be was.They were introduced through a mutual acquaintance in May and recently began preparations for their wedding after both families agreed, the club said.Jong was born to Korean parents in N

PeopleNov. 14, 2013

Lee Charm, CEO of the Korea Tourism Organization, is in hot water for allegedly receiving favors from a subcontractor by visiting a brothel in Japan last year. While the German-turned-Korean admits to visiting the business, he insisted that he paid for the services on his own, saying it was only a “pure massage to take away the fatigue.”According to a report by jTBC on Tuesday, the KTO CEO visited Japan during the Lunar New Year holiday in January last year with workers of a subcontract company

CultureNov. 13, 2013

BEIJING ― Just a year after the National Ballet of China had the Korean premiere of its staple repertoire “Raise the Red Lantern,” its Korean counterpart ― the Korea National Ballet ― premiered its rendition of French choreographer Roland Petit’s (1924-2011) “Carmen” and “The Woman of Arles” in China on Tuesday. The performance took place as part of China’s on-going, inaugural International Ballet Season, hosted by the National Ballet of China in Beijing. The ballet bash features dances by 12 co

PerformanceNov. 13, 2013

On April 8, 2006 at Seoul Arts Center, the classical music hall was alive with rapturous applause. More than 30 curtain calls were made, with the audience roaring as if they were cheering a rock star. It was the first Seoul recital by child prodigy-turned-mega pianist Evgeny Kissin. The then 34-year-old Russian responded by turning up for each curtain call and giving more than 10 encore performances, extending the concert’s finishing time to near midnight. The fervor was repeated in 2009, when 2

PerformanceNov. 13, 2013

NEW YORK (AFP) ― A work by British painter Francis Bacon was sold for $142.4 million in New York on Tuesday, smashing the world record for the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned.“Three Studies of Lucian Freud” by the 20th-century figurative artist, who lived from 1909 to 1992, was sold by Christie’s after being offered at auction for the first time.“The work was sold for $142,405,000, after six minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone,” Christie’s announced.Hammered to an o

PerformanceNov. 13, 2013

Hallyu star Kim Junsu, also referred to as XIA Junsu, has reportedly invested approximately 12.9 billion won ($12 million) in his soon-to-be-opened, 80,000-square-foot family hotel on Jejudo Island. Kim’s Jeju Toscana Family Hotel, which will be operated and managed by his father, is a large-scale resort-style hotel located in the Gangjeong-dong, Seogwipo area of the island and will include 65 guest rooms, an outdoor swimming pool, restaurant, caf, spa, seminar room and other facilities. Kim sta

PerformanceNov. 13, 2013

“The Phantom of the Opera,” the musical that has enchanted 130 million people around the world, will be staged in Daegu in February next year in a rare opporunity for regional audiences to witness the original cast. The original cast members of the full-scale production will visit Daegu Gemyung Art Center on Feb. 27 as part of their world tour commemorating the show’s successful 25-year run. The cast includes Broadway stars such as Brad Little playing the role of the Phantom, Claire Lyon as Chri

PerformanceNov. 13, 2013

SARLAT, France ― It’s a Saturday morning in this medieval city in the heart of the Dordogne region ― market day ― and merchants have stacked tables in Sarlat’s cobblestoned square with pricey delicacies.Pungent dark truffles. Wicker baskets filled with freshly picked mushrooms. Black walnuts suspended in jars of honey like insects in amber. Wheels of aromatic cheeses as big and thick as automobile tires.But it’s the shiny cans arranged in pyramids that draw many of the grocery buyers and gastron

FoodNov. 13, 2013

GRINZANE CAVOUR, Italy (AFP) ― Eleven white truffles have gone under the hammer in Italy for 274,200 euros ($367,620), including a pair bought by an anonymous buyer in China who paid out 90,000 euros, auctioneers said Monday.A “famous Chinese writer” bidding by satellite telephone from Hong Kong fiercely outbid competitors for a 950-gram pair of truffles, organizers said, paying three times the price of gold for the white delicacy.The auction, which took place Sunday in the Grinzane Cavour castl

FoodNov. 13, 2013

A touring exhibition that promotes the use of wool opens in Seoul next week with a showcase of creative wool clothing and products by Korean designers. The 2013 Wool Modern exhibition, part of The Campaign for Wool of the Woolmark Company and supported by the Prince of Wales, seeks to raise awareness of the versatility of wool, its aesthetic qualities and environmental benefits. The exhibition started in England in 2011 and has been held in Germany, Australia and China. The use of wool peaked wi

Arts & DesignNov. 13, 2013