[Jihye Choi's Trend 2024] Story is Delicious... The World of Fun Dining

Decorated with Famous Movie Scenes,
Menus Expressed Through Food
Unique Spaces Combining Musicals and Pubs
Dining Industry Sees Quality Leveling Up
Content Experience Emerges as New Competitive Edge
Becoming a Hotspot for the 20s and 30s Generation

Jihye Choi, Research Fellow at the Consumer Trend Analysis Center, Seoul National University

Before visiting the restaurant, guests are assigned a dress code called ‘Red.’ The restaurant is decorated both inside and out with the concept of the movie In the Mood for Love. A hotel key, a representative prop from the film, is placed on the plate, and red roses adorn various parts of the restaurant. In front of the guests lies a ‘story card,’ which contains a pivotal scene from the movie. The storyteller (the owner) uses the card to explain key scenes one by one, and soon after, a dish representing that scene is served.

As guests become engrossed in the storyteller’s narration and enjoy their meal, the story’s curtain falls, and the meal concludes simultaneously. This somewhat special restaurant is called ‘Mongjungsik,’ a modern dining bar located in Yeonnam-dong. Recently, dining trends that incorporate elements of ‘fun’ beyond simple eating have been spreading. Let’s explore the world of ‘fun dining,’ where eating becomes an experience and a form of play.

The first phenomenon of fun dining is the concept. The moment customers enter the restaurant, conceptual interiors immerse them in a unique world, becoming a formula for hot spots. For example, Jusindang is located in the trendiest neighborhood these days, Hipdang-dong (Hip + Sindang-dong). The entrance, made of a wooden platform topped with traditional roof tiles and decorated with several candles, and the exterior adorned with rice straw on top, resembles an old shaman’s house. However, the atmosphere changes the moment you step inside. Various plants decorate the cocktail bar’s interior, and purple and red lighting create a mysterious ambiance. Jusindang is a cocktail bar that opened in 2019 with the concept of a shrine dedicated to aged liquor, and it has recently become a sanctuary for people in their 20s and 30s.

TDTD CEO Jang Ji-ho’s fourth dining brand, the espresso caf? ‘Mailroom Sindang,’ is also famous for its strong concept. While espresso can be enjoyed anywhere, Mailroom offers the nostalgic atmosphere of an old European post office. The faded wallpaper and well-worn props vividly recreate the passage of time, but the highlight here is the ordering method. When you write your order on a slip and hand it over, you receive a numbered key, which you use to open a drawer and retrieve your order yourself. It evokes the excitement of finally receiving an old letter. Additionally, customers can purchase stationery and stamps here, write letters, and drop them into a mailbox; the caf? sends them out once a month. In an era dominated by digital and AI, this analog experience attracts people in their 20s and 30s back to this place.

Photo by Getty Images Bank

Going beyond concept, performance is also a feature of fun dining. It’s not just about satisfying hunger but about a multisensory dining experience that stimulates hearing, sight, and enjoyment, making people willing to spend money and time to visit. When guests sit at the table, the world’s smallest chef, just 58mm tall, appears and performs a cooking show. The table becomes a canvas. Using 3D mapping technology, the table transforms according to the ordered dish?sometimes becoming a forest, farmland, or ocean. After the chef prepares the ingredients and plates the dish, the food seen in the video is served to the guests. The dining project called ‘Le Petit Chef’ was born from the idea of the artist collective ‘Skullmapping,’ run by Philip Stecks and Anton Verbeek, and was introduced in Korea at the Conrad Hotel in October 2023.

More popular forms combining theater, musicals, restaurants, and pubs are also steadily increasing. While Mongjungsik is more explanatory, Korea’s first unique space combining musicals and pubs, ‘Musical Pub Curtain Call,’ opened in Hyehwa in December 2023. It features casual dining alongside musicals, where waiters are also actors. Waiters serving tables take the stage to perform musical numbers from domestic and international shows like Kinky Boots, Rent, and The Man Who Laughs. The venue recreates a theater atmosphere by handing out performance tickets upon entry and posting casting boards in a corner, making it a popular date spot for people in their 20s and 30s. Other favorite restaurants for special dining experiences among this age group include ‘MacGuffin Theater,’ where patrons watch plays while enjoying light drinks and snacks, and ‘Monde Charlotte,’ which offers course meals themed around musicals. These establishments continue to evolve as 20- and 30-somethings invest time and effort in unique dining experiences.

So why is the fun dining market expanding? It’s because the domestic dining market has grown, raising the baseline quality of taste. Nowadays, any restaurant you enter guarantees a certain level of quality. As a result, ‘experience’ has risen as a new competitive edge in dining, as important as ‘taste.’ There is even talk in the F&B market that more effort is put into finding ‘designers’ than ‘chefs.’ As dining experiences become a form of ‘conspicuous consumption of experience,’ comparable to owning an expensive luxury bag, the unique style of a restaurant has become a core element.

Additionally, the impact of high inflation and economic slowdown must be noted. With the economic downturn reducing consumers’ real income, there is a tendency to minimize unnecessary spending. Thus, consumers pursue frugal spending focused on ultra-low-priced products and cost-effectiveness, but at the same time, a compensatory psychology motivates them to fully enjoy special meals with the money saved. Even if the frequency of dining out decreases, condensed consumption?investing in meals with special purpose or value?is becoming widespread.

A restaurant must, of course, have good taste. But now consumers ask whether there is differentiated content, concept, art, worldview, or performance unrelated to taste. The fun dining phenomenon in the foodservice industry is just beginning. In the future, various forms of fun dining mixed with performances and art will stimulate consumers’ five senses.

Choi Ji-hye, Research Fellow, Consumer Trend Analysis Center, Seoul National University