Global Table, a collaboration between the Yale MacMillan Center, the Yale Schwarzman Center, and Yale Hospitality, aims to illuminate the connections between sustainability, health, culture, and community. It centers around bringing culinary thought-leaders from around the world to campus. While in residence, each visitor trains staff, connects with students and researchers, and offers remarks followed by a reception with a menu inspired by the chef.
Upcoming Global Table Fellow
Venerable Jeong Kwan Seunim
Jeong Kwan, South Korea, Fall 2025
In the fall 2025 semester, we will welcome the Venerable Jeong Kwan Seunim, a Buddhist nun who uses Buddhist temple cooking methods to draw connections to sustainable eating practices.
Jeong Kwan is a Seon Buddhist nun and chef of Korean cuisine. She lives in the Chunjinam Hermitage at the Baegyangsa temple in South Korea, which is located 169 miles south of Seoul, where she cooks for fellow nuns and monks, as well as occasional visitors. She does not own a restaurant and has no formal culinary training. As a Seon Buddhist, she lives on a strictly vegan diet, excluding certain varieties of Allium, and no animal products. She quickly shot into the global limelight when she was featured on an episode of the Netflix series Chef’s Table in 2017.
Using only ingredients that she herself grows in gardens on the temple grounds, she is an expert in fermentation, producing miso and soy sauce as well as Kimchi to incorporate into the meals she cooks. Jeong Kwan has influenced chefs including Mingoo Kang, of the Seoul restaurant Mingles, and René Redzepi, of Noma in Copenhagen.
