Hello to all. It's been a while. The new year has already passed a month, and T Lunar New Year holidays have gone as well. Have you kept your new year's resolution? Have you forgotten or given up all already? That's fine because you can start it again from now on!
As I mentioned in the previous article, I have decided to take care of myself in my daily routine more in 2022. So I'm trying to have more time only for myself. Like having precious time with a handmade dessert filled with devotion, and looks, which is too pretty to eat... Actually, I like bread more, so I don't eat dessert very often. But, there is a place I have wanted to visit for quite some time. So I went out one weekend before the Lunar New Year holidays.
The destination is Hongdae and Yeonnam-dong, which I haven't been to for a long time!
It's still a bit early for lunch, and it wasn't bad at all to start the weekend with a Cuban-style brunch and a refreshing mojito with a strong aroma of white rum at a quiet restaurant that felt like I was in Cuba.
After lunch, I walked around Hongdae streets and all the alleys in Yeonnam-dong with a peaceful feeling. Everywhere was crowded a little with people since it was not that cold that day, but thanks to the mojito, my mood was still great.🤗
The place I stopped by was TEOT after a long walk. And this is where I have been looking forward to for a long time.
TEOT is a local dessert shop where you can feel the 'texture of taste,' from light citrus to rich sweetness, made with fresh local seasonal products. But aren't you curious about the meaning of this name? I can't guess what kind of language it is.
TEOT stands for Texture of Taste and means 'Teot,' which means ground in Korean. They intend to show their respect for products grown on the earth. In the space, the walls are curved to symbolize the ground, and the bar is made of red clay, and they used wild blue, which is a superior color used in Korean folk painting. Packaging containers are also eco-friendly products such as biodegradable containers, recycled paper, and biodegradable plastics.
The small space with big windows looked more like a high-end accessories boutique than a dessert cafe. And as soon as I went in, I could see their beautiful desserts in the bar.
A patissier, who creates such stunning desserts, which are works of art, is Park Rae-Eun. With experience as a chef, Park Rae-Eun has been the head patissier for several decades at well-known restaurants in New Zealand and the UK.
In an interview, she said that the Korean dessert market was already saturated, so she needed a vision that could present the strong personality of TEOT and found the concept of 'dessert made with local ingredients' after lots of thought. Then she visualized the Flow of Taste, designed the tastes of first, middle, finish, and selected ingredients considering the Texture of Taste. Director Jin-Hyeong Lee, who has planned local content and directed urban regeneration for a long time, designed the TEOT. He said their desserts are created with imagination and creativity using unusual ingredients through her experience as a chef and fun and delicious exploration of different ingredients and diverse cultures.
It's a humble space with two small tables, so no matter how long I have waited, you wouldn't get a seat at all. So eventually, I had to give up and ordered to take out. Just looking at them, I couldn't stop saying "wow," and it was so hard to choose. The two things I picked after much consideration are Lemon Cheese Cake Lavender Mousse🍋and Vanilla Pomegranate Tangerine Tart🍊.
I've never had such a long-named dessert, and it seemed it was named with all the ingredients used in the desserts. But after tasting it, all my doubts if it was even necessary to name them like that was disappeared.
The moment I took a bite, I could taste all the ingredients in the name, revealing their presence in my mouth. I can't even explain how surprised I was at the balanced taste beyond perfection. I never expected such an experience of sensational taste with just a single dessert.
Lemon Cheese Cake Lavender Mousse
©TEOT Lemon Cheese Cake Lavender Mousse
I picked lemon cheesecake lavender mousse right away without hesitation since it was TEOT's signature menu.
They said this starts with the aroma of lavender and leads to the freshness of lemon, creating a unique sweetness by adding crunchy lemon crumbles and fresh lemon jelly to the aromatic lavender tea mousse wrapped around the soft lemon cheesecake mousse.
Lavender is also one of the ingredients that people either like or dislike because of its fragrance. Perhaps that's why I cannot easily find them in Korea. Personally, I love this scent, so whenever I travel abroad, I always try it if I see lavender ice cream or cake. But the thing is, I'm not a big fan of mousse cake, so to be honest, I had a little hesitant. Still, it looked so pretty. 😍
When I carefully cut it with my fork, the inside of the purple mousse was so white. The moment I scoop up a small amount and put it in my mouth!
There was nothing to say but 'the taste beyond your imagination.'
First of all, the delicate freshness of lemon cheese was spread in my mouth, following the aroma of lavender, then the sourness of lemon jelly! Finally, crispy, sweet, and savory crumbles balanced all the flavors. I usually would have eaten it with a large fork, but it made me so sad that it kept disappearing every time I scooped it up, so I ate it little by little. It was an unstoppable taste that I'd never tasted before at any dessert shop in the world.
Vanilla Pomagranate Tangerine Tart
©TEOT Vanilla Pomegranate Tangerine Trat
My second choice was the Vanilla Pomegranate Tangerine Trat, a winter seasonal menu of TEOT.
They said this is a winter dessert filled with the sparkling red pomegranate, the aromatic winter tangerine that you can see when cut in half, and the softness of vanilla bean and white chocolate.
The sweetness of tangerines among the subtle vanilla scent and the soft cream, which gave some warmth, was spread in my mouth. Then, the savory pie screamed, 'I am here too!'. And the red pomegranate that burst at the end.
From the first taste to the finish, that was flawless and a fabulous taste that was hard to express with any adjectives or adverbs. Above all, its warm feeling was perfect for winter. It's a shame that we can only eat it in the winter season.
The taste of the TEOT's desserts is just as their name said. Each flavor of the ingredients in its names was alive, more than any other fancy-named dessert. And the texture of the taste of the ingredients was there as their name is 'Texture of Taste,' so it made me feel even better.
It was just a place I wanted to visit because the desserts I saw in the pictures were so beautiful, and I liked the vision of TEOT. But their desserts were much more than I expected, and I was so delighted while enjoying the dessert. It was the day I found the best dessert of my life, and also, I was glad because it looked like I had found a place to give something for myself on a tough day.😚
Do you have a place or anything like this? If you don't, visit TEOT.
You may find something that makes you delighted.
4, Donggyo-ro 41-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea
12:00 - 20:00 / Closed on Mon-Wed
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