27 November 2025
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For Chef Joseph Lidgerwood, the year is less a linear calendar than a living cycle. Each season at Evett begins outdoors — among the forests, coastlines and markets that shape South Korea’s ingredients. “We try to get out whenever possible,” says Lidgerwood. “It keeps us connected to what’s actually happening, not just what the calendar says should be happening.”
The team of this Two-MICHELIN-Star restaurant in Seoul makes seasonal excursions and keeps a running studio of ideas: some dishes reappear, while most are rebuilt from what the season offers that very week.
“We split the year into early and late phases inside each season,” the chef explains. “Ingredients and weather shift so much — it keeps us responsive.”
The season, the hunt, the book
That sensibility is being documented in a forthcoming book shot across four seasons through 2026 — part field journal, part kitchen archive. Readers can expect foraging trips, market hauls (Seoul’s Gyeongdong is a regular), and portraits of the masters who’ve shaped the restaurant’s practice of Korean fermentation.
This winter, Lidgerwood plans to head to Korea’s southern shores, where seaweed is harvested in the coldest months. Near Pohang, fishermen still use traditional wooden racks and tidal currents to harvest miyeok and gim — a quiet craft that has endured since the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).
“Seaweed is so fundamental here,” he says. “It’s like the Korean version of winter truffles — humble, but deeply flavorful, and you only get the best of it once a year.”
When the snow retreats, spring brings tender shoots and edible blossoms — ingredients Lidgerwood calls “natural palate cleansers.” The restaurant’s R&D team begins working with gosari (fernbrake), ssuk (mugwort), and the first tea leaves from Hadong. “After the density of winter, spring is about air and renewal,” he says. “Everything tastes greener — you can almost smell the mountain coming back to life.”
Summer at Evett means preservation. With Korea’s intense humidity, the kitchen turns to salt-curing, pickling and fermenting — a nod to jang season, the winter period when Koreans prepare their fermented sauces for long keeping.
This past summer, the team collaborated with jang master Kisoondo, visiting her jangdok hangari (earthenware jar) yard to make their own meju (fermented soybean bricks) for soybean paste.
READ MORE: [ONE/ONE] A Deeper Dive into EVETT’s inspiration : Kisoondo
Cycling back to the current season, autumn, the chef lights up: mushrooms, chestnuts, quince — “toastier flavors,” as he puts it, that invite depth after a summer of lightness.
In October 2025, Lidgerwood and his team headed to Yangyang’s pine forests to forage wild songi (pine) mushrooms. These foraging trips aren’t just ingredient hunts but creative resets. “You learn to see textures, smells, even humidity differently,” he says.
Such seasonal ingredients conjure warmth, sweetness and that familiar toasty note that defines his autumn menus.
Where Korea’s seasons meet Champagne’s terroir
As autumn reaches its peak, Evett presents a menu that distills the season’s essence — in harmony with RSRV Champagne. It is a menu shaped by Korea’s autumn forests and markets — where Evett’s philosophy of cooking with ingredients grown from Korean soil meets the world of RSRV, a Champagne that captures the distinctive character of its terroir.
Lidgerwood is known for his deep respect for Korea’s homegrown ingredients — exploring their intrinsic taste and texture, then reframing them through his own lens. In a similar way, RSRV captures the nuances of each Grand Cru village — its soil, its climate, its identity. The two worlds intersect through a shared belief in flavor shaped by time and place. Just as fermentation reveals the origins of an ingredient, RSRV shines a light on the essence of its terroir.
RSRV is a private, Grand Cru–only collection from Maison Mumm — a Champagne house founded in 1827 with almost two centuries of history. The collection continues the maison’s long-standing tradition of reserving its finest cuvées for honored guests. In early cellars, bottles set aside bore the handwritten letters “RSRV” — short for “réservé.” Even today, that quiet spirit of exclusivity remains, with releases kept intentionally limited.
READ MORE: The Value of Harmony in Gastronomy
Each cuvée expresses the subtle differences of soil and climate — Champagne that reflects its terroir with clarity. Here, the values align naturally with Evett: both seek flavor shaped by place and time. Just as fermentation reveals the roots of Korean ingredients, RSRV illuminates the essence of the land where its grapes are grown. The drive, texture and subtle savoriness of RSRV’s Champagnes meet the pickled and long-cured notes from the kitchen; structure meets umami, and sparks fly.
“We don’t chase luxury imports,” Lidgerwood says about the soy sauce he created this past summer. “The luxury is in time — in what happens inside those jars.”
That same “luxury of time” resonates in RSRV as well. Each cuvée captures the unique character and terroir of 100% Grand Cru vineyards, shaped by patience and meticulous craftsmanship. The soil, the wind and the fine textures forged slowly over time are condensed into the wine — a form of maturation carried out inside the bottle, where another layer of artistry quietly unfolds.
All the shades of autumn
A dinner hosted by The MICHELIN Guide in collaboration with RSRV brings the season to the table in a celebration of Korea’s autumn earthiness and warmth. Notes of soil and nuts, gentle smokiness and clean citrus thread their way through each course and glass, shaping the mood of the evening. Among the nine-course tasting, three pairings in particular distill the essence of the season.
It begins with Autumn Bites — Forest Floor, a trio of snacks inspired by the woods. “Tree” layers smoked mackerel in an acorn-powder tart shell with chwinamul (aromatic mountain greens), soy-milk cream and edible flowers. “Leaf” places venison over a delicate yuba (tofu skin) tart with doenjang emulsion, pickled carrot and walnut. “Chestnut” wraps pork head meat in chestnut dough, fried once to a crisp and topped with fresh chestnut.
All three are paired with RSRV Cuvée 4.5, a harmonious blend from five Grand Cru vineyards aged for four years. Pale gold in the glass, it opens with bright notes of lemon, lime, white peach and pear, followed by subtle hints of roasted coffee and mocha. Its lively acidity and mineral backbone sharpen the nutty warmth of acorn and the earthy tones of mountain herbs — a meeting of Korean forest flavors and the fine terroir of Grand Cru Champagne.
The second highlight, tilefish with chicken-fat beurre blanc, yuja (Korean citrus fruit) and yeolmu (young radish kimchi), brings richness and brightness into balance. The fish is roasted with the scales on, then sauced with a beurre blanc enriched with rendered chicken fat — a refined nod to the chef’s favorite comfort food, Korean fried chicken and beer.
“It’s the same logic as chimaek, just dressed for dinner,” he says with a grin.
The dish pairs exquisitely with RSRV Blanc de Blancs 2015, crafted from 100% chardonnay and expressing the vivid acidity and saline minerality that define the Grand Cru terroir of Cramant in the Côte des Blancs.
The wine’s fresh citrus notes and fine effervescence cut cleanly through the richness of the sauce while maintaining a beautiful harmony with its creamy texture. This symbolic pairing brings together tilefish from Korean waters and chardonnay shaped by its soil and winds — where the taste of the sea meets the terroir of the land in the glass.
Finally, ten-day dry-aged duck — served with a wing stuffed with chicken mousse, roasted barley, charcoal-grilled eggplant and fresh wood sorrel — finds a deep and resonant partner in RSRV Lalou 2013.
A blend of seven 100% Cru wines aged for ten years, RSRV Lalou 2013 shows a gentle golden hue with aromas of brioche, honey and toasted nuts that resonate beautifully with the duck’s roasted depth. A lift of citrus and a subtle saline note extend the finish with length and poise.
Together, Evett and RSRV bring a meal that’s both grounded and effervescent — autumn’s warmth captured in a glass, turning the season into a conversation through forest and cellar, jar and bottle. Course by course, the menu moves from earth and nut to citrus and smoke, each glass sharpening what the season already whispers.
“Pairing is the most important thing,” says Lidgerwood. “It completes the experience.”
Drink Responsibly. This content is intended for legal drinking age consumers aged 19 and over.
Warning: Excessive drinking may cause stroke, memory impairment or dementia. Drinking during pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects. Product Name: Mumm RSRV │ Country of Origin: France │ Importer: Pernod Ricard Korea
