▲ Photo By Joo-Hwan Kim

If you are a student of Kookmin university, you must have visited the bakery on our campus, ‘Place N’ at least once. You must know then that this bakery’s pastries are very delicious and attractive. In actual fact ‘Place N’ is not only popular with Kookmin university students, but also with other people. Many people stop by the bakery and there is especially a queue at lunch time. You can also read about the bakery’s popularity on blogs or internet social networking sites which praise the bread’s taste. So we decided to meet the CEO of the bakery to learn the reasons for the popularity and the delicious taste of the breads and pastries.
 

Q. Hello, it’s nice to meet you. Could you please give a simple introduction about you and your bakery?
A. Hi, nice to meet you too. I’m the CEO of ‘Place N’, Kweon Eun-Ah. I completed a master’s degree at graduate school in the department of Food and Nutrition after graduating from Kookmin University. We opened on 2 November 2008 with the recommendation of the Emeritus Professor, Kim Sun-Hee who was my advising professor at that time. Due to its unfavorable location, Kookmin lacks entertainment facilities near the campus. Because of this reason, we always try our best to provide the most delicious and fresh breads and pastries for our students with a sense of duty. 
 

Q. Is there any special reason for the name ‘Place N’?
A. The initial ‘N’ means ‘nutrition’ because professor Kim Sun-Hee wanted to make a place which values nutrition.
 

Q. Which breads or pastries are popular with our students and what do you think the reasons are for this?
A. The most popular breads are the condensed baguette, the potato baguette, sandwiches and the ‘Croque-Monsieur’, 
since they are good for replacing meals and are cheap. They can also be shared with friends.
 

Q. Are there any breads that you would recommend to students?
A. I would want to recommend our sandwiches to our students. Because sandwiches can be eaten instead of meals, we put a lot of efforts in them by using fresh ingredients. The cost of ingredients is increasing every year, but we have been maintaining the price of the sandwiches for 8 years for our students.
 

Q. Do many foreign students visit on ordinary days? What kinds of breads do they like the most?
A. Yes, the number of foreign students has been increasing lately and they like different kinds of pastries. Because of religious reasons, many foreign students buy the breads which do not contain meat, especially ham. And of course, they also like the condensed baguette and the potato baguette!
 

Q. Have there been any changes since you have managed the bakery?
A. Do you think there have been any changes? Because I have tried to maintain the standard of the bakery since it opened.
Breads don’t lie. Breads tell the truth. They can only be delicious if the baker bakes with a true heart.
The reason is shown in contrast to other bakeries that bake large amounts of bread in the morning and sell it throughout the day. It enables the bakery to bake small amount of bread on an hourly to always provide fresh bread to customers. 
 

Q. Lastly, do you have any other comments for the Kookmin University students?
A. Sure! First, thank you for loving place N. All students and Kookmin staff who visit our bakery are much appreciated customers. We will always try to make our breads more delicious by using fresh ingredients and with a glad heart. So please give us a lot of love! Thank you very much!
 

We can understand why ‘Place N’ is so popular through the interview. It is because all the breads and pastries in ‘Place N’ have special ingredients. Their sincerity is to treat peoples with respect and so they make more delicious breads than any other bakeries.   

Kookmin Review
Cub-Reporter Joohwan Kim
Joo971017@kookmin.ac.kr