"At the end of the tasting menu at the two-starred Jungsik, diners are presented with a “main dessert,” a signature, tour-de-force. A best kept secret is that, space permitting, the attentive staff will allow sweet-toothed guests to order the same dessert a la carte at the bar. For her debut as the Jungsik’s latest pastry chef, Grace Kim has created a small marvel: At first glance, Kim’s Dolhareubang is an optical illusion, not a dessert but a miniature scene, inspired by spring time on Jeju Island, her favorite place in South Korea. A small, smiling stone statue, the dessert’s namesake and popular island god, reveals itself to be a black bean cream confection with a hazelnut and cocoa nib heart, sprayed with white chocolate and sesame to create the basalt rock-like exterior. The field is a light crumble dyed yellow with geranium petals. The boulders are airy, crunchy sesame cookies, while grass is made from redolent matcha, and so on. In lesser hands, this might come across as style over substance, but Kim’s flavors are well considered, each element filled with meaning and representing Korean notes like toasted rice and barley, that Dolhareubang conjures a wonderful sense of place and memory." - Eater Staff, John Tsung
