Mr. Ko Hyung-jae, CEO of <MOON & 6PENCE>, is someone who is actually living that dream. I almost became jealous of his relaxed life, which also features a large family of his, in Gapyeong with clean atmosphere.

The land on which <MOON & 6PENCE> currently stands has been the home of Mr. Ko’s ancestors for a long time. It was initially opened as a venue for a restaurant and a farm village experience center around 1994, and Mr. Ko’s family relocated to Gapyeong as his father became ill, and began to run a café. Because it was directly related to his family’s livelihood rather than of a romantic rural life, he deliberately pondered about the business and ultimately concluded that the sixth industry is not limited to farming, which led him to make the farm into a tour product centered on bread. He also expanded the scope to healthy food ingredients such as natural fermented broth or organic flour.

MOON & 6PENCE primarily bakes healthy European-style breads such as Campagne and Ciabatta, rather than Japanese-style sweet dough breads. Baking naturally fermented breads takes time, 18 hours or, sometimes, two full days, for maturation. As much as the amount of efforts put into baking, the naturally fermented breads were that much more gentle on the stomach and easier to digest. They are also baked with firewood from oaks and apple trees, which certainly makes the bread not only savory but also healthy.

There is a customer who once bought some bread here upon a visit to meet a friend and has since become a regular that purchases large volumes every time. A long drive from her home in Ansan to Gapyeong has been no issue.

Mr. Ko’s oven-baked, naturally fermented bread offers a new opportunity and direction for those who wish to return to the countryside as well as students in Gapyeong. For the people who are looking to live in the countryside, it teaches them that there is a way other than farming and, for the students, it provides a chance to begin their experiences in the vegetable garden (education farm) from which they may take the first step into the organic industry.

“The students will be curious if I give them this to eat, right?”, says Mr. Ko who seemed a bit fluttered but definitely passionate as he diligently worked on wheat cultivation in the back of the café.

As mentioned above, Mr. Ko came to be with his family that gathered here because of his father’s health issues; however, he also encountered a turning point in his life. Though he initially started his business of coffee and bread that have nothing to do with his previous occupations, he says that the level of satisfaction is significantly higher than the urban life in the past. Even his son who had been curious of his father as a baker now bakes bread as well.

“Don’t you think that our lives have become those of chasing dreams just like the name, MOON & 6PENCE?”, says Mr. Ko who thinks his life continuously resembles the name of his café.

With a hope that the benefits of the trees, air and water of the countryside baked in an oven indirectly deliver us a feeling of relaxation, I become a bit eager with a delicious piece of bread in my mouth.

Written and photos by Kim Sun-joo

TIP.

* MOON & 6PENCE offers an opportunity for overnight stays in a country house or a bungalow as well as an experience in an eco-friendly vegetable garden (please inquire by phone in advance)

* The railroad set appeared in the film, <The Age of Shadows>, can be seen at MOON & 6PENCE. It is a popular photo spot.