Lunar New Year gifts: Bit of difference makes it special

With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, top-rated hotels in Seoul are busy preparing a variety of gift items including beef sets, wine sets and hampers.The hotels’ gift items are indeed pricier than those of department stores. However, a little luxury in the quality of products and wrapping services makes a big difference, according to Julie Shim, a marketing manager in Seoul.Shim, 32, spe

Jan. 24, 2011

Around the hotels

Grand Hyatt SeoulThe Grand Hilton SeoulThe hotel offers a range of special overnight packages for the Lunar New Year from Feb. 2-6. The four packages ― PEACE, CALM, MEMORY and FAMILY ― offer different choices and rates. The PEACE package, priced at 95,000 won offers a one-night stay in a deluxe room and complementary coffee or ginseng tea at the Atrium Cafe. The CALM package, 125,000 won, adds a b

Jan. 21, 2011

Chefs cook in front of you at Lotte’s La Seine

Lotte Hotel Seoul said Thursday it had reopened its buffet restaurant La Seine at a new location on the first floor. The biggest change at the restaurant is that chefs take fresh ingredients on a moving cart, come to your table and cook in front of you while explaining about the cuisine in detail. The service is available for the “menu of the day” such as bone-in-rib eye steak and sushi. The upsca

Jan. 21, 2011

Fine French food at affordable prices

For some reason or other, French cuisine ― outside of France, that is ― has come to be often associated with fine dining, an association which has its many perks, except, of course, when it comes to the bill. In truth, however, eating French is not synonymous with breaking the bank. Here are two excellent establishments that specialize in delicious and affordable French fare. La CeltiqueLocated in

Jan. 21, 2011

Maesaengi soup, healthy winter delicacy

For years now, seaweed has been touted by many for its various health and beauty benefits. The sea plant has been featured as a key ingredient in prominent cosmetic and spa brands, and many will recognize it as the dark, glossy wrapper used to make the popular California sushi roll. Despite all this, algae still remains something of a global novelty, especially when presented in forms drastically

Jan. 14, 2011

Food prognosticators sniff out what will be cookin’ this year

CHICAGO ― When it comes to that ever-curious species, the human consumer, peering through crystal balls is a long-practiced and practically irresistible art. Especially when we’re entering a new year, and we’re itching to know what the days ahead might bring.In the food department, we’re eager to know what we might find on our plates, in grocery aisles and on the pages of all the foodie slicks tha

Jan. 14, 2011

Around the hotels

Sheraton Grande WalkerhillThe hotel offers a “Welcome 2011” package from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6. The package, at 158,000 won, includes a one night stay at the Douglas House and a buffet breakfast at the View. Another option starting from 178,000 won includes a one night stay in a deluxe room of the hotel’s main building, a buffet breakfast and a welcome gift of handmade LUSH soap. On Feb. 2, a day befo

Jan. 14, 2011

Around the hotels

Lotte Hotel JejuThe hotel offers “Private Villa Suite Package” through the end of February. The package includes a one night stay in a luxurious private villa suite, breakfast in room for two persons, a mist from the U.S. spa cosmetics brand EI Solutions (worth 130,000 won), blueberry cheesecake, fruits, four tickets to the ice rink, and two welcome drink vouchers to be enjoyed at the romantic Pun

Jan. 7, 2011

Dairy farmers switch focus to artisanal cheese

 GREENVILLE, Illinois ― Throughout their 170 years in Southern Illinois, the Marcoot family has adapted.The original settler, Martin Markut, was a schoolteacher before he made the arduous journey from Switzerland to the heartland of America. Over the years, Martin’s descendants changed the spelling of their name, mechanized, industrialized, moved from the Highland area to Greenville, downsized and

Jan. 7, 2011

Handcrafted Louisiana-style sausage perks up diners’ plates

Customers may find the name of one of Garosugil’s latest gastronomic additions misleading. Dubbed Serial Gourmet, this rustic chic restaurant sounds like it specializes in delicate fare served in dainty portions. Nothing could be further from the truth. The newly-minted establishment doles out hearty American classics like Louisiana-style sausage and New England boiled dinners (a beef or ham and v

Jan. 7, 2011

Restaurants uploading menus to iPads

Technology becoming important to restaurants and tabletop ordering devices only stand to multiplyCHICAGO (AP) ― The bar is buzzing on a busy night at Chicago Cut steakhouse as regulars Keith and Peg Bragg sit at a high table scanning the wine list.Within seconds, they have all bottles under $40 at their fingertips using an iPad supplied by their server.“You can very quickly look through to see the

Jan. 4, 2011

Cancer can pave way to a fuller life

On Christmas Eve morning in 2009, business owner Deborah Delaney was pulling the cinnamon rolls from the oven in her well-appointed Wayzata, Minn., home and worrying about preparations for her guests arriving for that evening’s festivities.At that moment, the phone rang with news that would change her life, ultimately for the better.“I want you to know that your (breast) biopsy came back as cancer

Jan. 3, 2011

Lousy cooks try to find redemption at boot camp

For 20 years, William Borah’s gas stove sat disconnected and idle, a place to store pots and pans he has never used.As a workaholic attorney, Borah never had time to cook. If it was not from a restaurant or in a microwavable container, he was not eating it.Now in his 50s and a judge with the Illinois Human Rights Commission, Borah laments the opportunities he has missed to gather family and friend

Jan. 3, 2011

Korean restaurant in Hong Kong added to Michelin Guide

(AP)A Korean restaurant in Hong Kong has been added to the latest edition of the Michelin Guide, the world's oldest and best-known hotel and restaurant guide.Sorabol, a restaurant widely known in Hong Kong for providing authentic Korean cuisine, was recommended by the annual guidebook's lead-up to 2011 for the city of Hong Kong."A Korean restaurant, often busy with larger groups who come to share

Jan. 2, 2011