If high-end jazz clubs with pricey finger food are beyond your budget, “Take-out Jazz” might be the place for you, where you can bring your own food and drinks and watch live jazz performances.

A 20-minute walk from Yangjae Citizen Forest Station in Gangnam, the Naeum Art Hall hosts four sessions of “Take-out Jazz” on weekends. The performances are held at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Fridays and at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Sundays.

The basement club has a cozy ambience, complete with candles warmly glowing on each table and comfortable sofas and chairs.

Each two-hour session consists of a live jazz session and a program consists of two hours -- a live jazz session in the first half and recorded jazz music playing in the background for the latter half.

Those who want to have food delivered can have them sent to Naeum Art Hall, to arrive at least 10 minutes before the performance.

Glasses and other tableware are available at around 1,500 won per set.

Avoid bringing too much food or drinks to the place, since you have to leave the venue when the two-hour program is over.

Tickets cost 13,000 won per person and reservations are required through the Naver web portal.

Immersive art exhibition at Walkerhill Hotel & Resorts

The summer heat has arrived early, and Walkerhill Hotel & Resorts offers a cool escape from the relentless heat where you can immerse yourself in digital artworks and classical music. The 3,400-square-meter hall is covered floor to ceiling with artworks by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) and Yves Klein (1928-1962), a French artist known for his blue monochrome paintings.

The digital art show - directed by digital artist and art director Gianfranco Iannuzzi – is being show at the 21-meter-high exhibition hall, accompanied by the music of Richard Wagner, Johann Strauss II, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin and Gustav Mahler. Three masterpieces by Klimt -- “The Kiss,” “Judith” and “The Three of Life” -- were digitally recreated for the exhibition.

The newly opened immersive exhibition space “Theater des Lumieres,” which is located inside the hotel, was unveiled in May as the second immersive art center operated by Korean IT company Tmonet, following “Bunker des Lumieres” in Jeju Island which opened in 2018.

Visitors can expect to spend an hour or two at the show as the main exhibition “Gustav Klimt, Gold in Motion” runs for 40 minutes while “Yves Klein, Infinite Blue” is a 10-minute show. Two contemporary shows “Verse” and “Memories” run for 14 minutes and 4 minutes, respectively, at separate spaces.

After the exhibition, head over to “Lounge de Coloris,” a cafe next to the exhibition center, that overlooks the Han River for some relaxing time. 

Jeon for rainy weekend

On a rainy day, jeon is the one food that most Koreans are up for.

Jeon refers to pan-fried dishes that are usually shaped like a pancake. There are many theories as to why Koreans think of jeon on a rainy day, but the most common one is that the sound of jeon sizzling in an oil covered pan is similar to the sound of the rain.

Kanggane Maetdol Bindaetteok in Hannam-dong, Seoul sells different kinds of delectable jeon and makgeolli, a Korean rice wine made with a centuries-old tradition.

The store’s walls are filled with scribbles by visitors as well as autographs of stars who ate there, including global boyband BTS’ Jimin.

The store has three iconic dises -- nokdu bindaetteok (savory Korean pancake made with ground mung beans), shrimp jeon and potato jeon.

The nokdu bindaetteok here is special as the restaurant grinds the mung beans in a traditional way with a maetdol, hand-powered grindstone. This pancake, which is also recommended for vegans, also has cabbage and mung bean sprouts in it.

Jeon with fresh giant shrimps and chewy potato jeon are totally worth the price. 

There are also spicy dishes that can be enjoyed along with the greasy pan-fried jeon such as eoriguljeot (salted oyster) and golbaengi muchim (spicy sea snails with noodles).

Among the alcoholic beverages, hangari makgeolli, which is sweet Korean rice wine served in a brown clay jar, is an excellent choice.

After enjoying jeon with makgeolli, it is always a great idea to end the meal with a bowl of anchovy noodle soup.

Be aware that there might be a long wait for a seat, especially during dinner time on a rainy day.

(hykim@heraldcorp.com)

(yunapark@heraldcorp.com)

(ssh@heraldcorp.com)