Korean Mountain Cuisine and Local Ingredients Blend at Ogle Bogle Pop-Up
The stand celebrates the owners heritage as well as her love for quality local farms.
The Vegan Bindaetteok with mung beans, sprouts, marinated kennip, garlic, bell pepper, shiitake, and jalapeño. You can also order with shrimp or kimchi/pork.
Ogle bogle is the Korean word for the sound—or appearance—of liquid that’s boiling noisily. The resulting bubbles are a happy sound because they signal the time has come to enjoy a delicious meal. Much Korean cuisine, particularly soups and stews, are placed on the table while still bubbling.
To June Lee, founder of the Hudson Valley based Korean pop-up named Ogle Bogle, the words evoke an additional memory. Although she was born in Seoul, they remind her of Toronto, where she grew up, specifically a restaurant she frequented there called Ohgeul Bogeul. Since closed, the quintessential Korean diner served everything from BBQ to tteokbokki.
Lee left her undergrad studies to pursue a culinary career, working in restaurants in Toronto and London, but then she ultimately returned to school to study architecture. These days, she works in design and is also a ceramic artist, creating subtly textured vases in varying shapes. Her design work focuses on creating interactive experiences in physical spaces, with projects spanning the globe from the Institute of Healthy Living in Abu Dhabi to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
“Things like digital signage, dynamic sculptures, and immersive experiences,” says Lee of her specialty. “But cooking has always been a huge part of my life. I love working with my hands and the immediate joy food brings—which is so different from the years-long timelines of design projects.” To scratch that itch and realize her lifelong dream of opening a food business, Lee launched Ogle Bogle in 2024.
“Food is a way for me to connect to the various places I’ve called home, from the markets and alleys of Seoul, to the diverse food landscapes of Toronto and New York City,” says Lee. “Recently, I’ve been collaborating with local businesses like Dirt Dance Farm to bring a unique evolution of Korean cuisine that is rooted in place and time—one that is deeply personal, and could only exist here and now.”
Her specialty is Korean mountain cuisine, also known as “hiking cuisine.” Hiking has been called Korea’s national pastime and part of the appeal is the opportunity for hikers to sample hyperlocal cuisine, which can feature distinctive ingredients.
A hiker favorite is veggie-rich mung bean pancakes, her pop-up signature dish. She makes the pancakes with arugula, bokchoy, chrysanthemum, and green garlic, then serves them with a dipping sauce. The veggie-forward menu varies and often includes namul japchae, that is sweet potato noodles with nettles, Swiss chard, green garlic, mizuna, and pea flowers plus galbi (tender marinated grilled short ribs) and kale salad. For the galbi bibimbap, the beef is marinated for over two days and cooked medium rare.
Working with Dirt Dance Farms, which grows Chinese vegetables, she has naturally expanded into more fusion dishes. “My dishes can have Chinese influences,” says Lee, who isn’t sticking too strictly to any one culinary purview. “They may have Mexican influences or very traditional American influences. For July 4th, I made Korean galbi burgers with a garlic scape aioli and the garlic scapes sourced from the local farm in Kingston. I am really embracing the creative side of this endeavor, because that’s what I do. It’s in my DNA to be creative and I’m always trying to create new things.”
Ogle Bogle stages monthly pop-ups at local farms and shops throughout the region. Keep an eye on their social media for updates on upcoming appearences. Their next announced local stop will be Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook on October 11.
