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.
Tasting Series
Credit: Adobe Stock, Kerim
Olive oil, coffee, tea, and spices are commodities that have become ubiquitous around the world. Yet, the place where an item is grown paired with its manner of processing and the traditions for preparing it can all impact taste. Additionally, the cultivation of these products may have broader implications for the landscape and communities where they are produced. Hosted as a collaboration between the MacMillan Center and Yale Hospitality, the Global Table tasting series will open mouths and minds to key concepts related to food systems, biodiversity, traditions, access, and the future of food.
Schedule coming soon.
Chef-in-Residence Program
Credit: David Zheng Art
Our growing cohort of Fellows is at the heart of the Global Table program. Each semester, we bring a culinary thought-leader 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. Fellows are selected based on their notable commitments to environmental and social good, their reputation for culinary innovation, and the region where they live and work. While on campus, the academic components of their visit are supported by one of MacMillan’s seven regional council – giving them additional access to faculty members and students with deep interests in their region.
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.
