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[Well-curated] Harry Potter, Warner Bros. and an experimental bakery

Dec. 15, 2023 - 09:01 By Kim Da-sol By Hwang Dong-hee By Lee Jung-youn
O’pato bakery (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)
O’pato bakery (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)

Chewy rusk? Experimental bakery at Haebangchon

Located on the way down the steep Haebangchon hill, O’pato, which has been loved for its homely European brunch and dining menu from soup to sandwiches, has newly opened a bakery offering a variety of experimental but irresistible bread.

Although the bakery opened just a month ago, O’pato bakery’s chewing bread -- a chewy rusk made with a whole loaf of bread or salted butter roll -- has gone viral and can be purchased online and delivered to your home.

After three years of trial and error the bakery recently released the truffle salted butter roll inspired by the truffle cream cheese spread on O’pato's dinner menu. Garnished with truffle chips on the outer shell of the bread, the bread is crispy inside and out and it is recommended to warm the bread before serving.

The shop is located at 1 Sinheung-ro 12-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul and is open every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The House of MinaLima in Seoul (Hwang Dong-hee/The Korea Herald)

Invitation to wizarding world from The House of MinaLima

In one corner of Gangnam-gu, near Hanti Station, the creative minds behind the enchanting visuals of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film series have conjured up a magical experience for fans.

The House of MinaLima, created by the graphic design duo Eduardo Lima and Miraphora Mina, is a pop-up merchandise store and gallery of various props, designs and illustrations that appeared in the series.

Visitors can revel in the magical universe, from the fireplace overflowing with Hogwarts acceptance letters to the wallpaper featuring the Black family tree and the Daily Prophet newspaper covers. The floor is decorated with the Marauder’s Map.

The House of MinaLima in Seoul (Hwang Dong-hee/The Korea Herald)

The spellbinding journey continues with other Harry Potter-themed designs and products such as posters, postcards, notebooks, pillow cases and more, if you'd like to take a piece of the magic home.

The store also has an immersive and lavishly illustrated MinaLima Classics collection, such as “The Secret Garden” and “The Beauty and the Beast.”

The House of MinaLima Seoul opened on Sept. 2 for a limited period of one year. It is the only official Harry Potter pop-up store in the country.

The store offers free admission without reservation and operates from Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Please note that the store will close early this Saturday as the duo will visit the store from 2 p.m. for a signing event.

Characters from Warner Brothers' hero films are on display at "Warner Brothers 100th Exhibition: Celebrating Every Story" running at DDP in Seoul. (GNC Media)
A replica of the Batcar from the Batman movie series is on display at "Warner Brothers 100th Exhibition: Celebrating Every Story" running at DDP in Seoul. (Lee Jung-youn/The Korea Herald)

Warner Brothers heroes land at DDP

Costumes, props and mock-up figures from major Warner Brothers films are on show at DDP as part of "Warner Brothers 100th Exhibition: Celebrating Every Story," marking the 100th anniversary of the film production company.

Created in 1923 by four brothers of the Warner family, Warner Brothers became a global entertainment company producing numerous hits from animated cartoons such as Looney Tunes to megafranchises Harry Potter and Batman. Legendary TV sitcoms "Friends" and "Big Bang Theory" are also Warner Brothers productions.

Sketches of animated films are on display at "Warner Brothers 100th Exhibition: Celebrating Every Story" running at DDP in Seoul. (Lee Jung-youn/The Korea Herald)

The first section of the exhibition hall presents the history of Warner Brothers with the model of the water tower, the symbol of the company, at the center of the hall.

Iconic props such as school uniforms and magic wands from Harry Potter, the Batcar and Bat-signal from the Batman series and Wonder Woman bracelets will delight the fans.

Screenplay manuscripts and hand-drawn animated sketches are also on display, showing the process of content creation. For Willy Wonka fans, media art that shows a glimpse of the movie "Wonka," which will be released in 2024, is on show for the first time.

Visitors can also see traditional animated characters from such classic animations as “Bugs Bunny” and “Tom and Jerry.”

Various souvenirs from company logo badges to tumbers and character dolls are given away to the visitors.

The exhibition runs until March 31 next year. The viewing hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Tickets are priced at 20,000 won ($15) for adults aged 19 and older and 15,000 won for teenagers and children.

Well-curated