A long table, low light, and two members of one of K-pop's busiest groups with nowhere to be. No stage, no schedule — just a slow course of beef, plate after plate, and the easy quiet of a day off. For once, the most interesting thing on screen was dinner.
That dinner was filmed in Jongno, the oldest part of Seoul, at a hanwoo omakase called KUT SEOUL.
The scene comes from ARTIST+, KBS's 4K reality series, in its first ATEEZ episode — ATEEZ+ EP.01: UTOPIA. Eight members each spent a day off with a chosen partner; Seonghwa and San were paired together. Their day ran through Seoul, and it ended at a table set for a hanwoo course.
The episode that sent fans looking
ARTIST+ is KBS's original reality series, shot in 4K HDR, built around artists on their days off rather than on stage. Its first ATEEZ installment, ATEEZ+ EP.01: UTOPIA, follows all eight members as they pair off and spend an unhurried day together across Seoul.
Seonghwa, the group's eldest member, and San, one of its main vocalists and performers, were one of those pairs. After a day out in the city, their episode closes the way a good day should — over dinner. What viewers saw was not a set or a stage, but a real restaurant: a quiet room, a long table, and a hanwoo course brought out one plate at a time.
For many fans, the obvious question came next — where was it? This article answers that: the restaurant is KUT SEOUL, in Jongno.
Where Seonghwa and San had dinner
The closing dinner was filmed at KUT SEOUL, a hanwoo omakase restaurant in Jongno, the oldest neighborhood in Seoul. Seonghwa and San were seated in one of its five private dining rooms — the same kind of closed, single-party room the restaurant gives every table.
In the episode the room reads exactly as it is: composed dark tones, indirect light, and a tall window opening onto the streets of Jongno. There is no crowd and no neighboring table. It is built for a small party and a long, unhurried meal — which is precisely what the two members were there for.
KUT SEOUL does not announce itself from the street. Its signage is restrained, and it fills only with guests who have booked ahead. The dinner caught in ARTIST+ may be the most honest look at what an evening here actually feels like. The same window-side quiet drew Song Hye-kyo's first vlog, watched more than five million times.
What a hanwoo omakase is
KUT SEOUL serves hanwoo omakase, a format that may be new to many viewers, so it is worth a moment to explain.
Hanwoo is Korea's native cattle breed, raised under a domestic grading system separate from Japanese wagyu. The top grade is 1++, and within it marbling is scored again from 7 to 9. BMS no.9 is the highest marbling Korean beef reaches — and it is the only grade KUT SEOUL works with.
*Omakase* is a Japanese term meaning "I leave it to the chef." Unlike the familiar Korean barbecue, where guests grill at the table, omakase is a course: the chef trims and serves one cut at a time, in a deliberate order. It opens with leaner cuts and lighter preparations, builds toward richer, more marbled pieces, and closes with rice, soup, and a small dessert. It is less a quick meal than a slow way of understanding hanwoo as a craft — the kind of dinner that fills an evening, exactly as it did on screen.
The five private rooms
KUT SEOUL is made up of five private dining rooms. Rather than lining up tables in a single hall, it receives guests one party at a time, each in a closed room. The table where Seonghwa and San sat is one of them.
Each room is built around a floor-to-ceiling window facing the streets of Jongno, so the city's light and its seasons become the backdrop to the meal. Glasses for the pairing are set out in advance, and the chef's trimming tools rest neatly to one side. What the room is built for is clear: not a loud group dinner, but a calm meal and an easy conversation with the person across the table.
It sits at 96 Jongno, a short walk from Gyeongbokgung Palace — a hidden dining room in the middle of the old city, found mostly by those who know to look for it.
A day in Jongno, ending at KUT
KUT SEOUL's greatest asset may simply be where it stands. Jongno is the oldest neighborhood in Seoul and a rare part of the city you can walk through in a single day.
Begin the morning at Gyeongbokgung Palace, pass between the tiled roofs of Bukchon Hanok Village, browse the tea houses and craft lanes of Insadong, then follow the Cheonggyecheon stream until, almost without noticing, it is evening. All of it lies within walking distance of KUT SEOUL. With no taxi or subway required, a day spent among palaces and hanok can end with a hanwoo omakase — much the way an episode about a day off ends with one.
For travelers tracing the places their favorite artists have been, this is a stop that doubles as the close of a full day in old Seoul.
Planning your own visit
KUT SEOUL is reservation-only, bookable through CatchTable. Because seating across the five private rooms is limited, booking several days ahead is recommended — especially for parties hoping for a private room rather than counter seating.
The course centers on BMS no.9 hanwoo, served by the chef in sequence, with an optional wine pairing. English, Japanese, and Chinese are spoken, so visitors from abroad can follow the course comfortably.
And even for fans who may never make the trip to Seoul, there is something worth remembering in that closing scene from ARTIST+: the quiet room is still there, the same window still open to the streets of Jongno, the same course still served one plate at a time.
