Judy Joo

Chef-Owner and Author l Seoul Bird

Judy Joo is chief executive officer, founder, and owner of Seoul Bird, a London restaurant built on the foundations of Korean cooking and flavors. In 2003, following an engineering degree at Columbia University and a career on Wall Street, she decided it was time for a change. Realizing that her passion was in cooking, she enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in New York, and received her grand diplome in pastry arts before becoming a test kitchen and editorial assistant at SAVEUR. Excited about the thriving UK food scene, Judy moved to London in 2007 and joined Restaurant Gordon Ramsay as a pastry chef. For the following few years, she also worked throughout other Gordon Ramsay restaurants including Maze, under Jason Atherton, Claridge’s, Pétrus, and Boxwood Café as a chef and pastry chef. Judy has also staged at several Michelin-starred restaurants. In 2011, she became the first executive chef for The Playboy Club London, and in the same year became a regular face on TV, starring in Iron Chef UK and securing herself the title Iron Chef UK, the only female in the UK, and the second female Iron Chef worldwide; she then went on to serve as resident judge on Iron Chef America. She has also starred in Judy Joo’s Return to Korea and two seasons of Korean Food Made Simple and has made regular appearances on numerous television programs in the USA and the UK. Her cooking is focused on the flavors of her Korean American childhood in New Jersey, and she is the author of Korean Food Made Simple and Korean Soul Food. In 2021, Judy began starring on ITV’s new primetime show in the UK, Cooking with the Stars. (London, England) Photo credit: Emli Bendixen