“Kimchi Chronicles” premieres at the Korean Cultural Center

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What more do you need when your husband is famed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, whose lamb chops with black trumpet mushrooms and caramelized foie gras helped win him three Michelin stars and several James Beard awards? Apparently, nothing can compare to mom’s cooking. And in Marja Vongerichten’s case, it’s her Korean mother’s traditional dishes like bulgogi and bibimbap.

Marja (who is half Korean) will be at the Korean Cultural Center on July 7 to talk about her upcoming APT television series “Kimchi Chronicles” after a premiere screening of its first episode.

It’s a 13-series half-hour-long show—a part travelogue, part food fantasy and part documentary about self-discovery through Vongerichten’s native cuisine—because after all, you are what you eat.

The show (which will first air July 7 at 7 p.m. on KCLS and July 8 at 2 p.m. on KCET) was hosted by Marja with producer Eric Rhee and executive producer Charlie Pinsky and will feature Marja traveling across Korea to learn about its traditional dishes with her husband, Jean-Georges, and friends such as actress Heather Graham. It’ll be interesting to see Chef Vongerichten take a sidekick role, and how the culinary adventure may influence his kitchens.

Perhaps we might even see a Korean-French dish in one of Chef Vongerichten’s restaurants soon. Roast squab with kimchi jus, anyone?

The “Kimchi Chronicles” premiere screening and panel discussion will be held 6:30 p.m. at the Korean Cultural Center on Wilshire Blvd. RSVP to jchoi@kccla.org

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-- By Sophia Lee

File photo of kimchi by Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times