The female visionary behind buzzy Seoul bakery London Bagel Museum releases essay collection

SEOUL – One of Seoul’s most-buzzed-about bakeries, London Bagel Museum, became an instant hit when it opened in Anguk-dong, Jongno, in 2021. And it still draws long lines four years later.

Behind the wildly successful brand is Ryo, the visionary and brand director who has had a hand in nearly every detail, from recipe development to interior aesthetics, not only of London Bagel Museum, but also of Artist Bakery – known for its salt butter bread – as well as the cafes Highwaist and Layered.

The creative mind behind the hot spot that captured the hearts of South Korea’s younger generation put it simply: “All of this was just so completely me.”

“I didn’t create London Bagel Museum with a strategy in mind. I wasn’t chasing trends or carefully planning something,” Ryo, 52, whose real name is Lee Hyo-jung, said at a press conference in Seoul on June 16.

“It was just me. I kept asking myself what I liked, what kind of space I wanted to create, what I wanted to do – and what came out were these spaces filled with my unfiltered preferences. It just turns out many others connected with them too.”

According to an annual report from LBM, the operator of London Bagel Museum, sales reached nearly 80 billion won (S$74.8 million) in 2024, soaring roughly 120 per cent from 2023.

Now, the woman who turned her personal tastes into an iconic destination for the public is turning inwards. Ryo has released her first essay collection, Ryo’s Thoughtless Thoughts, a compilation of personal notes, scribbles, reflections, drawings and photographs she has gathered over the past decade.

“I’m a very spontaneous person,” she said. “This wasn’t a book I set out to write. It’s more of an archive, an unintentional collection of the words I used to say to myself.”

The book begins in London, where her unexpected journey into the food and beverage business first took shape. At the time, Ryo was working in fashion when she stepped into a small cafe and was struck by how everyone there seemed wholly absorbed in themselves.

“The moment gave me such a powerful feeling, like I wanted to switch careers on the spot,” she recalled. And so she did. She returned to South Korea and began learning about coffee in her late 40s, an age when many consider new beginnings out of reach.

But Ryo did not view age or uncertainty as limitations. “The shortcuts others offer are their paths, not mine,” she said. “I think we have to make our own shortcuts. The only shortcut I can take is one I create myself, through trial and error, through getting hurt and learning.”

Her new book is not a branding manual or a business guide. It is a quiet, introspective notebook, a meditation on the courage it takes to be fully yourself. As the English phrase on the cover puts it: Being yourself, not being someone.

At the heart of her essay lies a core philosophy: that the best reference point in life is yourself. She describes her growth process as “self-study”, imagining herself seated across from herself, one version a student, the other a teacher.

“I believe that the only one who can figure yourself out is you. When you don’t try to understand yourself, don’t ask what it is you really want, and just leave yourself unattended – I see that as a serious act of neglect.”

Of course, it is easier said than done. With relentless competition and distractions from social media, carving out time for self-reflection is no small feat. That is why Ryo emphasises the necessity of solitude. Not just physical solitude, she clarifies, but also uninterrupted mental space.

“It’s about sitting with yourself, asking questions, observing your reflection, remembering what you ate, looking at the photos you took – those are the moments that help you understand who you really are.” THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK