A new essay by Jaeyoung Park, a former doctor, journalist, and writer.
When you think of 'Rossini', you think of the name of his favorite Italian restaurant rather than the name of the musician. This is a 'delicious ZIP file' filled with stories from his long time exploring delicious restaurants, as he is so passionate about 'delicious restaurants'.

This book contains literally everything about restaurants, from interesting episodes related to the author's favorite restaurants to a list of restaurants that have been his favorites and an examination of the linguistic origins and sociological meaning of the word "restaurant."
This is a tribute to the world of "good restaurants" that "please our eyes, nose, tongue, and sometimes even our soul," and at the same time, it is a gourmet's intellectual exploration that makes us realize that drawing our own map of good restaurants is ultimately a process of getting to know ourselves.

The dictionary definition of a restaurant is 'a restaurant famous for its excellent food,' but we use the word 'restaurant' in a much wider range of ways.
Even if the taste is not that great, restaurants with a unique appearance or nice plating are called Instagram-worthy restaurants, restaurants with a particularly nice atmosphere are called atmosphere-friendly restaurants, and restaurants that are good for dates are called date-friendly restaurants.
It's not just for places that sell food.
A place that does nail care well is called a nail salon, a place that does piercing well is called a piercing salon, a place that does waxing well is called a waxing salon, a store with lots of pretty swimsuits is called a swimsuit salon, a store with lots of pretty socks is called a sock salon, a study cafe that is good for studying is called a study salon, and an independent bookstore that has a well-curated selection of good books is called a book salon.
We are always hungry for good food.
--- pp.7-8

Of course, it's fun to discover new restaurants and try new foods.
But it's also exciting to go to a familiar restaurant and eat food that tastes familiar.
It's even more enjoyable if you love the restaurant.
Even if you can greet each other warmly with the people who work there, you can feel a heightened sense of happiness.
I wish you had a restaurant like this.

--- p.31

Waiting.
It means to wait.
waiter.
It means a person who waits.
Does the English word "wait" possibly have a meaning like "to provide various services for guests in a restaurant or other setting"? No matter how much I search the English dictionary, I can't find such a meaning.
It just means to wait.
Then why do we call waiters waiters?
I interpret this as being because the essence of the job of a waiter is waiting.
What are you waiting for?
Waiting for the customer to order? Waiting for the food to arrive? Waiting for the customer to finish their meal? Waiting for the generous tip they might leave?
--- p.39

This is the problem.
That damn manual.
It will definitely be written in the manual.
When the kitchen closes 10 minutes before closing time, we will go around to the tables to announce the fact and ask if there are any additional orders.
Even if you're a big eater, would anyone who ordered a 280,000 won course meal (because they really wanted it that day but it wasn't included in the course, etc.) order menbosha or yusanseul as extras? What kind of answer was the server expecting? (The course was worse than I expected.)
Please add one more serving of oyster jjambbong.
What is this?)
--- pp.54-55

Recommending a good restaurant to someone is actually not an easy task.
It might be simple for an influencer to introduce a number of their favorite restaurants (or ones they've paid for) to a large audience, but it's a different story when a close acquaintance secretly(?) asks for restaurant recommendations.
It may not be as burdensome as arranging a blind date, but it's definitely more nerve-wracking than recommending a Netflix drama.
(There is a subscription fee) but it's more expensive than watching a drama, it's hard to stop eating if you don't like it, and it's weird to eat it twice as fast because it doesn't taste good.
--- p.64

The word 'matjib' is not listed in the Standard Korean Dictionary created by the National Institute of the Korean Language.
It's a very common phrase that everyone in the country knows what it means, but at least not yet.
The National Institute of the Korean Language regularly reviews new words and recognizes some of them as standard words to be included in the Korean dictionary. The most important criteria are said to be frequency of use and social acceptance.
To put it simply, it probably means 'it is widely used and everyone should understand it', so why is 'tasty restaurant' not a standard word yet?
Due to the National Institute of the Korean Language's dereliction of duty(?), I, who love the Korean language so much, ended up writing a book with a word in the title that isn't even listed in the Korean dictionary.
--- p.75

A gourmet is defined as 'a person with a special taste for food or a person who enjoys seeking out and eating good food.'
Whether you call yourself a gourmet or a foodie, there's no need to approach food with such a nitpicky, study-like approach.
However, just as movies, novels, paintings, and even soccer matches become more enjoyable when you know the background or backstory, in the world of gastronomy, knowing the various 'stories' behind food definitely increases the enjoyment of the experience.
--- p.109

Since people tend to trust a business at least to a minimum when they hear it's an old store, business owners often cleverly take advantage of this.
For example, there is a restaurant called 'Shabu Shabu 1986', and if you look into it, the owner was born in 1986. There is a restaurant called 'Samdae Charcoal Grilled Ribs', and if you look into it, the name contains 'the owner's wish for each person to eat three generations', and a restaurant called 'Grandma's Dumplings' is 'a restaurant where a grandson pursues the taste of his grandmother's cooking'.
--- p.149

To put it bluntly, whether it's a restaurant or a book, enjoying a balance of "familiar tastes" and "unknown tastes" seems like a good thing for both personal enjoyment and community development.
Restaurants and authors that have already been proven (as my favorites) are places of refuge where I can seek solace when my body and mind are tired, and restaurants and books that I don't yet know the real deal are amusement parks where I visit with excitement when I still have the energy to try something new.

--- p.160