Top Chefs Have Fallen for Gamtae, a Rare and Ravishing Seaweed

If you don’t think seaweed can win a beauty contest, you haven’t seen gamtae. The bright, green algae is thread-thin and looks as if someone had spent hundreds of hours styling the fine strands for a glamorous photo shoot.

The captivating appearance of gamtae is only part of why you’ll increasingly find it at sushi counters and in the restaurants of ambitious chefs. Its flavor is distinctive, with funkier, earthier notes than other seaweeds. “It has a deeper fragrance reminiscent of the sea,” says Junghyun Park, chef-owner of the New York restaurant Atomix, which was ranked No. 8 on this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. “An excellent, almost truffley flavor profile,” is how Ian Purkayastha, founder of Regalis Foods, describes it. He sells it, unflavored or seasoned with salt and sesame oil, for a little less than $1 per gram.