Follow the River North

I’ve been coming across articles all over the place about a new “specialized granola shop” in Cheongdam continuously for the past month. The place is kind of out of the way, so I didn’t have time to drop in while I was over in that neighborhood last weekend, but this weekend, B and I had a reservation at Chef Lim Kihak’s L’Espoir du Hibou, which is just about a 15-minute stroll up the road. We decided to stop in to check it out before our late lunch.

The store doubles as a granola cafe, if you can imagine such a thing, where you can order a “micro” for 5,500 won or a “macro” for 8,000. You choose a base of either ice cream or Greek yogurt and then a topping of either one of their 9 kinds of handmade granola, dried fruit or fruit compote. We went with two micros — Greek yogurt with Berry Bang Theory granola and ice cream with Nuts for Nuts.

I don’t quite get ice cream with granola, and B admitted he regretted the choice. Their Greek yogurt, however, was creamy and not too sweet, even though I didn’t opt for the sugarless option, because why would I? The granola had a great texture and, again, was not too sweet, which I like.

They also sell their granola, Greek yogurt, dried fruit and compotes for people to take with them (a bit pricey at 12,000 a bag for 200g of granola, 11,000 won for 300g of Greek yogurt, but definitely better than any of the other versions of either I’ve found in the city). You can also order tea, coconut water, detox juice (juice, I guess?) and dutch coffee, hot or iced.

The space is nice but sterile, and the aroma diffusers they’ve got  everywhere give the place a sanitized smell, which doesn’t help. Their whole thing though, if you can’t tell by the name, is to sort of evoke the idea of the science of food. I’m not a nutritionist, so I won’t bother running down their health food claims, but there is another issue I have with their brand.

The granola was lovely, and I would absolutely drop by there again, if I were in the neighborhood. But, the slogan you see plastered everywhere says, “Stop global warming & start granola morning.” Underneath their logo, in a semi-circle, are the words “greenhouse effect,” which is funny, because it’s a neutral statement. The problem with this eco-friendly image the company is trying to cultivate is that, nowhere in their literature did I see anything about domestic grains or fruit (국내산). I also didn’t see anything about their sources being organic (무농약, 유기). The best they offer is that their source grains are all 친환경 (eco-friendly), which doesn’t actually mean anything.

Let me give you an example of what qualifies as a 친환경 farm: I visited a farm back in April that grew produce out of season in greenhouses and with pesticides and fertilizers. However, the farm used geothermal heat to keep the greenhouses warm. Does that count for something? Yes. Is it really enough to brag about? Not in my opinion.

The problem with using imported materials and then basing your brand’s image around efforts to stop global warming is that no amount of eco-friendly farming can offset the damage done by shipping grains in from thousands of miles away. It’s harmful to the local economy and it’s extremely harmful to the environment.

Now, I’m not above consuming imported produce, obviously, although I do make efforts to maintain a balance, but I don’t bill myself as the next great warrior on the front line against global warming. And it’s a little irritating to me when flashy businesses with no real understanding of or commitment to these issues slap ignorant labels all over their products to cash in. Granology has a perfectly valid place in the health food market, and it would be smarter and more genuine for them to stick to that arena.

The only breakfast that stands a chance at fighting global warming is one made from locally sourced, organic produce.

Granology (그라놀로지) is located at Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Cheongdam-dong 126-18 B1 (서울시 강남구 청담동 126-18 B1). It’s open Monday through Friday from 11am to 10pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. You can eat in, take out or even order delivery at order@granology.com.