Aussie chef Joseph Lidgerwood wins second Michelin star Seoul restaurant

Australia Broadcast Center

19-05-2025

Tasmanian chef Joseph Lidgerwood has scored a second Michelin Star with his restaurant Evett in South Korea.
But he's not putting his success down to his cooking class at Hobart College.
"I think I was the only person out of 20 of us in the class that failed," Mr Lidgerwood told ABC Hobart.
"I got 'not competent' on my grade 11 home economics class … I still remember that. It still haunts me to this day."
Mr Lidgerwood opened a Korean fine dining restaurant in Seoul's Gangnam district in 2018.
The Hobart-trained chef serves Korean food, cooked over a wood fire, using seasonal ingredients including golbaengi (moon snails) and haesam (sea cucumber), foraged on South Korea's east coast.
"Most of the time, what we source, especially like a really unique ingredient, we'll probably just try to highlight it in a couple of different [ways]," Mr Lidgerwood said.
"So, we do a pickling of it, a roasting of it."
His restaurant was awarded a Michelin star for its high-quality cooking 12 months after opening and a second star this year.
Mr Lidgerwood said the accolade was "pretty mind-blowing" and meant "more people at the restaurant, for sure".
"I kind of worked my whole career at either one, two or three Michelin [star restaurants]," he said.
"So, for me, personally, it's a great achievement, but also for the team who's put in so much work, it means a lot."
While Mr Lidgerwood failed cooking at high school, Hobart College was also where he discovered his love for it and the joy of being physically engaged in cooking.
"But I always found that every time I would do my home economics class or my cooking class, I found it a lot of fun.
"And I loved that kind of actually active movement as opposed to sitting down. So, it was more, not like I wanted to cook, it's just I knew I wasn't going to be able to do anything else."
Mr Lidgerwood trained at some of Hobart's leading restaurants before leaving the state in 2007, wanting to "to push" himself and "see what was out there".
He ran pop-up restaurants in 20 countries, including, the US, UK, Nepal and South Africa, before landing in Seoul in 2018.
"Korea surprised me in the best way. I was fascinated by the depth of traditional food culture, especially fermentation," he said.
"Before coming to Korea, I thought it would be just barbecue, kimchi and [South Korean boy band] BTS, but actually living here and learning the culture through the food gave me such an appreciation."
Mr Lidgerwood lives in South Korea with his wife, Ginny Kim, who is Korean, and he has been learning the language.
The process of opening a restaurant as an Australian in South Korea was, however, challenging.
"And then there was the language barrier. Now it's easier as I've applied myself and got to a level that I can communicate without barriers, but at the start it was rough, which made even small things more complicated."
At the restaurant in Seoul, Mr Lidgerwood leads a team of about 30. He communicates mostly in Korean, and last year was part of Netflix's Korean reality cooking competition show Culinary Class Wars.
"I've always enjoyed cooking. I've always loved the energy of a kitchen. I've loved the camaraderie of kitchens. And I love cooking food," Mr Lidgerwood said.
"I don't see it as like a clock-watching kind of job. It's something where you're always moving; you're always trying to improve yourself, improve the food and deliver a great experience. For me, it's been life's passion."
While Mr Lidgerwood hasn't ruled out a future food venture in Tasmania, he said life in Seoul was good.
Mr Lidgerwood said he always contemplated doing something in Tasmania.
"Most of my favourite food in Korea is very simple food like soups or the pancakes. So, I'd love to do something more probably simple [there]," he said.
"As a chef, I love my life here. It's an incredibly safe city to live in. That [may] sound weird to say, but after you live in London and SF [San Francisco], I really appreciate not having my stuff stolen or having to cross the road late at night.
"Additionally, everything is open late. I can finish at midnight, get some food, and have a sauna."