Heading to Kimbap Heaven

Ten portraits of everyday workers in Korean society, each chapter centered around a different dish of bunsik — Korea’s beloved comfort food, such as tteokbokki, kimbap
In the sprawling cities of the world, Subway offers a quick bite in the U.S., and Sukiya brings warmth in Japan. But in Korea, there exists a sanctuary, humble yet beloved, Kimbap Heaven. This story unfolds in one of its Incheon branches, the very city where the now 300-strong franchise first began.
The author, whose main profession is a public servant, brings a keen eye to the daily struggles of the working class, pairing their stories with a different dish of bunsik. A range of characters, from the workbook tutor, the working mother, and the public servant exhausted by endless complaints, to a single gay man undergoing cancer treatment and a migrant worker, all seek solace in Kimbap Heaven. For instance, Eunsim, a workbook tutor, sits before a dish of cheese tteokbokki, which gets a deeper, richer taste with just a slice of cheese, and recalls one of her adult students who, even while undergoing chemotherapy, never once procrastinated his homework. Reflecting on this, she finds herself hoping that, just like the flavors of the sauce with cheese, her life too will eventually be filled with a richer, deeper taste (in Cheese Tteokbokki). Similarly, Aram, who had been enduring a tough office job while taking antidepressants, rediscovers her passion after tasting the 'tonkatsu' that comic book characters ate before heading into their big victory (in Tonkatsu). In each chapter, the characters reappear across stories, shifting from center stage to background, and in doing so, gradually reveal their hidden depths and histories, offering the reader the layered pleasure of discovery.
With vivid, mouthwatering descriptions of bunsik, this title not only evokes the flavors that sustain city life but also weaves in the history of Incheon and the cultural backgrounds of select dishes.