In the height of kimchi season, this journey traces a culinary tradition built on fermentation, from Seoul’s oldest BBQ institutions to a rare pig farm in Pohang to the East Sea coast. Guided by the icon Hooni Kim, the first Michelin-starred chef in Korean cuisine, we will learn from tea readers and farmers, fermentation masters and the great haenyeo free-divers of otherworldly Jeju Island—women who have harvested the ocean floor for centuries without breathing equipment, in water that does not forgive the unprepared. From city to farmstead to coast, this journey will be chasing something ancient, singular, and very much alive.
In the height of kimchi season, this journey traces a culinary tradition built on fermentation, from Seoul’s oldest BBQ institutions to a rare pig farm in Pohang to the East Sea coast.
Guided by the icon Hooni Kim, the first Michelin-starred chef in Korean cuisine, we will learn from tea readers and farmers, fermentation masters and the great haenyeo free-divers of otherworldly Jeju Island—women who have harvested the ocean floor for centuries without breathing equipment, in water that does not forgive the unprepared. From city to farmstead to coast, this journey will be chasing something ancient, singular, and very much alive.
Private transfer from Incheon Airport Seoul to our hotel in the city
Welcome cocktails at the hotel bar with our hosts
Dinner at Bong San Jip—a 60-year-old Korean BBQ institution specializing in Hanwoo beef brisket, where the group gathers for their first meal together
Evening nightcap at a Korean speakeasy specializing in traditional spirits or cocktails crafted from Korean ingredients
Day
2
THE Jaerae PIG
November 4 · Thursday
Pohang
KTX high-speed rail from Seoul to Pohang
Check in to our Pohang hotel
Afternoon visit to the Jaerae Daeji pig farm—home to a rare indigenous breed unique to the Pohang region and arguably the most flavorful pork in Korea (the better-known black-haired breed does not compare)
Dinner at the farm’s R&D test kitchen, sampling various cuts of exquisite Jaerae pork, paired with local makgeolli rice wine
Day
3
FERMENTATION AND THE SEA
November 5 · Friday
Pohang
Morningat Jookdo Seafood Market, Korea’s largest seafood market, alive with the catch of the East Sea
A quick, streaming bowl of traditional knife-cut noodles right inside the market stalls
An afternoon drive to Jook Jang Yeon, a celebrated fermentation farm where the ancient practice of jang making has been elevated to a fine art
Jang seafood dinner with the farmer at a restaurant specializing in market-fresh seafood paired with ferments from Jook Jang Yeon
Day
4
THE DIVERS OF JEJU ISLAND
November 6 · Saturday
Jeju Island
Morning flight to Jeju Island and hotel check-in
Immersive visit to a haenyeo school—anencounter with Jeju’s legendary tradition of female free-divers, women who have harvested abalone, sea urchin, and conch from the ocean floor for centuries, without breathing equipment, in water that does not forgive the unprepared
Afternoon and evening exploring the island
Day
5
Deep Jeju
November 7 · Sunday
Jeju Island
+84 24 7307 0899
A slower day on one of the world’s most extraordinary islands—volcanic peaks, tangerine orchards, black lava coastline, and a food culture distinct from the mainland
An optional morning foraging trek up Mt. Halla, cutting through distinct micro-climates and volcanic soils
A meal at one of Jeju’s best restaurants, showcasing the island’s indigenous ingredients: heuk dwaeji black pork, abalone, bing tteok buckwheat crepes, and the seasonal produce of the volcanic soil
Free time to walk, explore, rest—or find a haenyeo grandmother selling sea urchin by the harbor
Day
6
The Ancient Wisdom of Ojina
November 8 · Monday
Jeju Island
Morning at Ojina—the multi-discipline farm and cultural complex of Hooni Kim’s mentor, where kimchi-making season is in full swing.
Farm tour and tasting of over 50 varieties of Korean medicinal wines
Dinner at Ojina: an extraordinary table—kimchi aged 18 years, fermented shrimp aged 38 years, soy sauce with a 131-year lineage
After dinner: a personal reading from Hooni Kim’s mentor, a Korean medicine practitioner who diagnoses through voice and energy
Sampling three ancient scents—Agarwood, Ambergris, and Musk—and a closing round of historical teas and 50-year-old ginseng soju
Day
7
BACK TO SEOUL
November 9 · Tuesday
Seoul
Morning flight back to Seoul
An afternoon in the city—markets, galleries, or simply the pleasure of being in one of Asia’s great capitals with time to wander
Big-deal farewell dinner in Seoul: a final table worthy of everything that came before it
Day
8
GOODBYE KOREA
November 10 · Wednesday
One last breakfast
Private transfer to Incheon Airport Seoul if you are headed home
What’s Included
All breakfasts, lunches, dinners, as well as snacks and beverages between meals
Expertise and services of our experienced trip leaders: at least one guide and one host per trip
Additional guides and experts from the region
Transfers to and from the airport or wherever you are on the day the trip starts and ends
Daily Roads & Kingdoms gifts related to the themes, activities and narratives of each trip
All gratuities for accommodations, meals, guiding or transport
What’s Not Included
International airfare to and from the journey (note: some trips begin and end at different airports)
Airport transfers on days that fall outside of the trip dates
Personal bar tabs (when not with the group)
Personal laundry or spa services
Personal travel insurance
Meet Our Hosts
Local Guide
Hooni Kim
Chef, Author, Restaurateur
Chef Hooni Kim trained at Daniel and Masa before opening Danji, the first Michelin-starred Korean restaurant in the world, and Hanjan. Born in Seoul, he divides his time between New York City and Korea, where he is the founder of Yori Chunsa, a nonprofit that feeds orphans and trains them to become cooks. It’s an absolute dream to have him design and lead this trip for us.
R&K Host
Andy Ricker
Chef, Writer, Raconteur
Andy Ricker is an award-winning chef and best-selling author widely credited with introducing Northern Thai cuisine to the United States through his Pok Pok Restaurants. Formed in Portland in 2005, Pok Pok later operated in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York, where it earned a Michelin Star. The two-time James Beard Award winner has worked as a pumpkin picker, DJ, house painter and construction contractor, ship’s cook, busboy, waiter, bartender, musician, commercial fisherman, outdoor store salesperson, maintenance man and short order cook. You can read more about Andy on Roads & Kingdoms.
Unforgettable trip. Perfectly curated. A once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Edo N.
Vietnam, the North 2024
Traveling with R&K is like living in Bourdain’s Parts Unknown for a week. It is the deepest and most authentic travel experience of my life.
Alex F.
Salamanca and the World of Jamón 2025
Really appreciated traveling alongside Andy. The history and context provided by him at the table helped me pull together so much more understanding.
Anonymous
Chiang Mai and the Festival of Lights 2023
Join us for a week of culinary exploration that is sometimes rustic, sometimes luxurious, but always fascinating. By foot, by plane, by private vehicle, by speedboat: this is a kinetic journey through the heart of the South. Your hosts Andy Ricker and Phongsila “Mapeng” Comack are the perfect guides through the big history and bright flavors of the region, mixing places you think you know with locations that few outsiders ever see.
From the misty matsutake-rich mountains of Ma Pin Guan to the hidden Bai enclaves of ancient Silk Road towns, this is a weeklong journey through China’s most varied province, a biodiversity hotspot home to more ethnic groups than any other. Yunnan: land of mushrooms, birthplace of tea. Led by the Chinese writer Jane Yang and China-based documentary photographer Eduardo Leal, we begin in Shanghai and end in Dali, traversing four ancient towns that ring the storied Lake of Erhai—culminating in an extraordinary multi-course dinner in a secret restaurant for Chinese chefs.
