Gumi Food Festival Boosts Gastronomic Competitiveness with Michelin-Star Chefs’ Expertise

21 Local Restaurants Participate
Customized Consulting for Flavor, Presentation, Pricing, and On-site Operations

Gumi City in North Gyeongsang Province is ramping up efforts to enhance the competitiveness of its cuisine ahead of the upcoming '2026 Gumi Food Festival' scheduled for October.

On August 10, the city held a professional chef menu consulting session for 21 teams of local restaurants participating in the Local Food Zone, at the culinary practice room in the Creativity Hall of Gumi University.

The consulting session featured expert chefs specializing in Korean, Chinese, and Western cuisines, who personally evaluated each establishment's signature menu. They comprehensively assessed the taste, cooking methods, visual presentation, and price appropriateness of the dishes.

Professional chef menu consulting conducted for 21 teams of participating local restaurants at the '2026 Gumi Food Festival' Local Food Zone
[Photo by Gumi City]

In particular, the chefs proposed practical improvements needed on-site at the festival, such as menu planning using locally sourced agricultural and livestock products, highlighting the unique characteristics of each restaurant, maintaining quality during mass production, reducing cooking times, ensuring sanitary management, and optimizing methods of food service.

For the Korean cuisine category, Chef Son Jeonghee—a master chef of Korea and professor at Woosuk University’s Department of Food Science—participated. In the Western cuisine category, Lim Yongbin, Head Chef at Hotel Onoma by Shinsaegae and former staff at Michelin 3-star restaurant Le Bernardin in New York, was involved.

The Chinese cuisine consulting was led by Chef Im Seunghwan, who has work experience at the Chinese restaurant in Sheraton Grand Beijing Dongcheng Hotel.

The city plans to reflect the consulting results in the festival’s actual menu offerings to further enhance the taste, marketability, and operational quality of the Local Food Zone.

The '2026 Gumi Food Festival' will be held on October 17-18 along Songjeong Matgil in Gumi.

Alongside the Local Food Zone, the city will showcase a variety of programs including a Food Tech & Experience Zone, aiming to establish the event as a signature gastronomic festival for the region.

Mayor Kim Jangho of Gumi City stated, "By combining the unique flavors of local restaurants with the know-how of professional chefs, we will present a distinct food culture unique to Gumi," adding, "We aim to develop this into a gastronomic festival representative of Korea."

This integration of world-class culinary expertise into local restaurants is drawing attention as to whether it can elevate Gumi's gastronomic competitiveness beyond simply being a 'food festival.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.