Italian Bistro Spark serves you a dish that will console your heart after a busy day.

After a hard day, you drop by your favorite place and order pasta and a glass of wine. Take a mouthful of the fresh pasta that was just cooked and gulp down wine that goes great with it. Just daydreaming about it makes you heart warm. There is a place that looks just like a scene out of an exotic foreign movie. It’s Italian bistro, Spark, which had been introduced in the Hyundai Card ‘My Menu’.

Spark is back with a new look.

Renewed Spark is now a more comfortable place.

Spark opened in 2016 on a street in Apgujeong Rodeo. For the past 3 years, it served Italian food and wine in the same place and slowly made its way to many foodies’ map. But Spark’s chef Park Sung-woo says he wanted to share his food with more people. So this September Spark came back as a more comfortable place for more people, just as the chef had wanted.

Spark wishes to serve food that will bring comfort to the customers.

“At first ‘I wanted to cook what I wanted to cook’, but now it’s more about cooking food that will bring comfort to our customers. I decided to renew the restaurant to transform the place to serve food for more people. I hope people will enjoy great food in a more comfortable setting in the new Bistro Spark.”

Spark has transformed into a more open space, thanks to the chef’s considerate insistence. You can see the chef busy at work through the open kitchen. On a sunny day, Spark will open up the huge glass window on one side and take out the parasol. The place looks warm and welcoming enough to invite in passersby.

Food that harmonizes well with a glass of wine

Arancini, made with balled up Bolognaise risotto, is Spark’s signature menu.

First thing you see on the menu is Arancini. It’s made by balling up risotto, applying breadcrumbs and frying it. Spark’s risotto is made with Bolognaise sauce made with tomato and meat as well as mozzarella cheese. In Korea, we mostly have small Arancini, but in Sicily, where Arancini was originated, they make Arancini the size of a fist and sometimes have it for a meal even. Spark’s Arancini is also quite big; a piece of it will be quite filling. It’s salty and savory, which pairs very well with wine.

Carpaccio roll salad, rolled up with young radish, looks familiar and is easy to eat as well.

Carpaccio roll salad made by preserving Wagyu rump steak in salt and slicing it thinly is also something you will only find here. Chef Park Sung-woo has always shown us his creative take on familiar dishes; instead of using rucola, which is often used in the Italian recipe, he uses young radish, which brings out the crunchy texture. Carpaccio is rolled up to make it easier to eat it like Gimbap; the more you chew, the better the beef tastes. It surprisingly goes well with white wine, not red.

The new Lino style, rich seafood pasta

Chef Park Sung-woo has always walked the ‘Italian’ road. Since graduating from college, he worked in an Italian restaurant in Singapore before working as a sous chef in a Michelin 1 star restaurant in Northern Italy, in the Lecco region.

Chef Park Sung-woo’s past experiences are embedded in Bistro Spark’s signature menu, Lino style seafood pasta. Name of the dish comes from the chef of the first restaurant he ever worked for. This dish can only be handled with both hands as it is served in a big dish. It’s definitely an eyecatcher. Fresh seafood like scallops, shrimp, octopus, and clams are filled to the brim.

“Food evolves around specific, certain rules. But I also wanted to bring out the saying ‘the essence of the food is to enjoy great ingredients.’” This dish, wish the fresh al dente pasta, also pairs well with wine. As it is served in generous portion, many will be able to share it and finish a bottle of wine soon.

Some things which will never change in Spark!

Abalone risotto has always been a favorite of the customers since the restaurant opening.

Spark looks very new, but some things on the menu haven’t changed. One of their signature menus, abalone risotto has always been there. It’s based on seafood ragu, which is made by brewing abalone stock, intestines, rice, and seafood for a long time, with love. Ragu is usually made with meat, but seafood ragu will bring out the refreshing and yet deep taste. Each grain of rice in the risotto will contain the seafood flavor, which will then be topped with the abalones which have been steamed also for a long time.

Chef Park Sung-woo’s own artworks on the walls

Since the early days of the restaurant, chef Park Sung-woo has always tried to express Spark through artworks as well as his food. Chef Park Sung-woo’s paintings are still guarding the space of Spark. “I’m not able to paint as much as I used to, but there is a certain sense of innocence that can only be realized through painting. I want to express the undisguised honesty that resembles Italian cooking.” Subjects vary from ingredients like cabbage, squid and lemon to objects like a boat; chef Park Sung-woo’s paintings make Spark a much cozier place.

Chef Park Sung-woo’s Spark is a comfortable place that welcomes you anytime.

The new Spark that chef Park Sung-woo dreams of is ‘a place that welcomes you whenever, on any occasion’. “I hope people will not visit with a certain purpose but just light-heartedly drop by spontaneously. I wish Spark would be a place you would want to frequent.” Just like the name, Spark will welcome you with the warmth of a small flame. On a particularly tiring, long day, how about a bowl of pasta at a very considerate place like this one to console your heart?

Written by. Kim Na-young (food columnist)
Majored in food and worked as a food editor at a food magazine, La Main. Now writes for various media including GQ, Olive Magazine, etc. on food.
Photography by Ryu Hyun-joon (JPG STUDIO)

▶ Find ‘Spark’ location and contact information on Hyundai Card My Menu