Cooking reality competition series Culinary Class Wars' judges: popular restaurateur Paik Jong-won (left) and South Korea’s only three-Michelin-star chef Ahn Sung-jae. Photo: Netflix
(Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the finale of Culinary Class Wars.)
After 12 episodes of gruelling cooking challenges and countless gastronomic delights, Netflix’s hit South Korean reality cooking competition Culinary Class Wars finally crowned a winner last week.
The Black Spoon chef nicknamed Napoli Matfia – whose real name, Kwon Sung-jun, was revealed in the final episode on Oct 8 – beat 99 chefs to win the final prize of 300 million won (RM953,619).
The series featured 100 participants divided into two teams: the White Spoon team of 20 established and famous chefs, and the Black Spoon team of 80 lesser-known cooks and local restaurant owners.
The contestants were whittled down through elimination challenges judged by popular restaurateur Paik Jong-won and South Korea’s only three-Michelin-star chef Ahn Sung-jae.
The show has topped the streaming giant’s global list of weekly most-watched non-English series for three consecutive weeks since it premiered on Sept 17.
After the final two episodes were released on Oct 8, 29-year-old Kwon took to Instagram to post a selfie of himself with the runner-up: White Spoon Edward Lee, 52, a celebrated Korean-American chef, author and restaurateur based in the United States.
In the caption, Kwon apologised for the arrogant remarks he made during the series, especially in the last semi-final challenge. It was a cooking marathon nicknamed “Tofu Hell”, as it required contestants to keep using tofu in a series of dishes.
Kwon, who won the first of two semi-final challenges, did not have to take part in the cooking marathon. In the show’s final episode, he told the last two survivors of the marathon that he would “crush them under his feet” during the finals.
The chef-owner of Via Toledo Pasta Bar in Seoul wrote: “Even though I’m not that young anymore, I acted somewhat immaturely. Through this experience, I’ve received a lot of advice from those around me to be more humble.
“I also learnt a lot from amazing chefs, including Chef Edward Lee, Triple Star and Cooking Maniac, who were all so humble and did not condescend to others.
“When it came down to these last three chefs in ‘Tofu Hell’, I was intimidated because I thought they were all such tough competitors. To compensate for my insecurity, I put on a show of bravado.”
Like Kwon, chefs Triple Star (whose real name is Kang Seung-won) and Cooking Maniac (whose real name is Yoon Nam-no) are Black Spoons who went by their nicknames during the competition.
Kwon added: “When I said I would ‘crush you’, I had meant to motivate everyone to keep pushing through the final tofu dish, especially since it was such a tough challenge, but I realise now it came off as arrogant and careless. I sincerely apologise for that.”
Lee – who has appeared on American reality cooking shows such as Iron Chef, Top Chef and The Mind Of A Chef – responded in the comments section: “Chef, you deserved the win and don’t ever lose your confidence. It is a competition and we all compete to win. No apologies ever needed. Congratulations!”
Kwon and Lee will appear on the Oct 16 episode of the variety show You Quiz On The Block, helmed by famed South Korean hosts Yoo Jae-suk and Jo Se-ho.
Culinary Class Wars has been a hit in its home country and the world, and even celebrities are hooked.
K-pop boy band BTS’ rapper J-Hope, who is serving in the military, posted a series of pictures on Oct 2 to update fans about his life and included a picture of Cooking Maniac from the series, suggesting that the star has been following the show too.
The popularity of Culinary Class Wars is also bringing big business to its participants.
South Korean convenience store giant CU is launching a marron tiramisu developed by Kwon, a dessert he whipped up in one of the challenges using ingredients found in convenience stores. He won that challenge.
According to news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, South Korean restaurant reservation and rating service CatchTable said restaurants run by the reality show’s contestants saw a 148 per cent increase in reservations in September.
White Spoon Choi Kang-rok’s Japanese restaurant Neo was the most searched restaurant on CatchTable’s mobile app, followed by Chinese restaurant Doryang run by Black Spoon Self-Made Chef (whose real name is Lim Tae-hoon) and Triple Star’s contemporary restaurant Trid.
CatchTable said 65,000 people rushed to reserve a seat when Doryang joined its service recently, with reservations for October selling out in just one second.
Among the restaurants owned by White Spoon chefs, Choi Hyun-seok’s Choi Dot and Central Reducer had the steepest increase in reservations. Both establishments are in Seoul – Choi Dot is a fine-dining restaurant, while Central Reducer serves Chinese-Italian fusion fare.
Deepin Oksu, an Italian restaurant in Seongdong owned by Cooking Maniac, saw the highest increase in reservations among restaurants run by Black Spoons. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
