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www.groovekorea.com / July 2014 60 FOOD & DRINK Edited by Shelley DeWees (shelley@groovekorea.com) I t’s a balmy Saturday evening at Brew 3.14, one of Insa-dong’s newest and most eclectic restau- rants, and I’ve just been handed a Cosmopolitan in a zippered pouch with a straw. There are no tables — only the bar. I’m sit- ting shoulder-to-shoulder between a friend and a hefty-bearded foreigner. Indie music plays from the kitchen, loud enough to give a vibrant energy to the place, but not so loud that we have to shout. Every space at the bar is full: Korean businessmen with ties pulled loose, a casual trio in hoodies and base- ball caps, neighborhood scenesters and couples on dates. We’re surrounded by a myriad of drawings, newspaper clippings and flea market finds, with the exception of one wall, a space dedicated to the menu, etched out in chalk. My eye catches English shepherd’s pie — something you don’t see every day anywhere, much less in Seoul. It’s buzzing, and Felicien Vincens is standing in the kitchen directly in front of me, ladling his home- made tomato sauce atop the thin dough of our pizza. Hailing from France, he’s been in Korea for nine months now and is the sole chef of Brew 3.14. Everything on the menu is his own recipe, from the meat sauce to the baguettes, which are as fresh as can be (nothing stays in the refrigerator for more than three days, he tells me). Business has been good since the restaurant opened only months ago, and it’s no surprise: The spread ranges from hand- made calzones and thin-crust pizzas to Korean fried chicken, from craft beers to vin chaud (hot mulled wine) and shooters with names like “Gin Destruc- tion” and “O.J. Simpson Bomb.” Vincens, along with co-owners Patrick Cloutier and Daniel Gray — both expat foodie entrepreneurs who’ve been in Korea for years — is devoted to a fine Italian menu with a French twist. Together, they believe the craft beer scene extends beyond the greater Itaewon area, and while this spot is a bit out of the way, its offbeat style is drawing people in. I can instantly see why. The chicken calzone is presented on a rustic wooden platter, but before we dig in Vincens takes out a branding iron and burns a message into the crust, another thing you don’t see every day. Smoke wisps rise into the air, and I peer closer: 3.14. My calzone is stuffed with melt- ed cheese, veggies, chicken and a savory tomato sauce, and (naturally) there’s a stack of sweet pick- les on the side. The supreme pizza we’ve ordered also has a perfectly crunchy, golden-brown crust, and the dough is cooked beautifully. The sausage and onion are scattered across the pizza’s rectan- gular shape, making it a proper bar pie. The most miraculous part? Neither one of these dishes ex- ceeds 10,000 won. Next comes some traditional Korean stoneware Insa-dong’s new pizza pub makes a complicated equation simple Story by Shireen Tofg / Photos by Shireen Tofg and courtesy of Brew 3.14 3.14 + beer: It all adds u p