The Korean cooking show, Culinary Class Wars (흑백요리사) has topped the Netflix charts in multiple countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan & more. The show sees 80 black spoons against 20 accomplished, experienced star chefs, also known as the white spoons.
As of this article’s publication time, the show is still ongoing, with interesting episodes that include individual and team challenges.
If you’re a fan of the show like us, you’ve probably thought of trying their cooking or dining at their restaurants. Well, you’re in luck, because we’ve compiled a list of restaurants owned by the chefs in Culinary Class Wars.
P.S.: this list might contain spoilers, so do consider carefully before scrolling.
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White Spoon Chefs
Starting off the list with the white spoon chefs.
Kim Doyoon
Nicknamed Mashimaro, Chef Kim Doyoon owns 2 establishments, Yun Seoul (윤서울) & Myeon Seoul (면서울). The first is a 1-star Michelin restaurant, while the latter is featured in the 2025 Michelin Guide. Yun Seoul focuses on fermentation, aging, and drying techniques while Myeon Seoul is a heavily noodle-focused restaurant.
Yun Seoul: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Myeon Seoul: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Nam Jeongseok
Chef Nam Jeongseok is a master of vegetarian cuisine and is widely known as the number one chef when it comes to vegetables. He currently has 2 restaurants: Local Eat (로컬릿) & Green Bowl (그린볼).
Local Eat: Naver Maps | Instagram
Green Ball: Naver Maps | Instagram
Park Junwoo
You’ve probably seen Park Junwoo on the Korean variety show, Please Take Care of My Refrigerator. He was the runner-up for Masterchef Korea 1 and is currently running a dessert cafe known as Aux Petits Verres (오쁘띠베르) in Seochon.
Aux Petit Verres: Naver Maps | Instagram
Edward Lee
One of our favorite contestants from Culinary Class Wars is Chef Edward Lee. The winner of Iron Chef back in 2010, Chef Edward Lee has appeared as a judge along with Gordon Ramsay before. He is the chef-owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky, and an author of 3 books: Buttermilk Grafitti, Bourbon Land & Smoke and Pickles.
610 Magnolia: Google Maps
Kim Seungmin
Chef Kim Seungmin beat Chef Park Junwoo to become the winner of Masterchef Korea 1. He is now running a Japanese restaurant in Aewol-eup, Jeju known as Morino Aruyo (모리노아루요).
Morino Aruyo: Naver Maps | Instagram
Bang Ki-Soo
Chef Bang Ki-Soo was the executive chef of Bicena, a restaurant that received a 1 Michelin Star the first time the Michelin Guide was launched in Seoul. He currently runs a Korean BBQ Joint known as Gitdeun (깃든).
Gitdeun: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Oh Se-Deuk
Another celebrity chef, Oh Se-Deuk has also made appearances on the Korean variety show, ‘Please Take Care of My Refrigerator’. He currently runs 2 restaurants in Jeju, Chinnmeal Jeju (친밀) is a burger restaurant, while Openfire (오팬파이어) is a Western restaurant.
Chinnmeal Jeju: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Openfire: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Lee Youngsook
Resembling a warmhearted grandmother, Chef Lee Youngsook is the winner of a competition known as Korean Food Battle and was a ‘master’ for another white spoon chef in a spin-off of that competition. She currently has a restaurant specializing in Mushroom Jeongol in Chungnam, Buyeo.
Nakyung Mushroom: Naver Maps | Instagram
Seonkyoung Longest
Currently active as a Youtuber, Chef Seonkyoung Longest is a Korean American who has participated in Masterchef US Season 4. Currently, she doesn’t have a restaurant you can visit, but you can still watch some of her recipe videos on YouTube.
Choi Kang Rok
Having made quite an impression during the team challenge with his mashed potato sauce idea is Chef Kang-Rok, who’s also the winner of Masterchef Korea 2. He currently operates Restaurant NEO, a place serving something similar to an omakase.
Restaurant NEO: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Hwang Jinseon
Chef Hwang Jin-seon has been part of Restaurant Jin Jin, a Michelin 1 Star restaurant from 2017-2019. The restaurant now has a Michelin Bib Gourmand instead. Unlike the usual Korean Chinese restaurants, the menu has items like Jjajangmyeon or Jjamppong. It’s also one of the many restaurants on this list that’s conveniently located in a more foreigner-friendly location, Hongdae.
Jin Jin: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Jeong Ji-seon
Known as Korea’s first female Chinese star chef, Chef Jeong Ji-Seon made a huge impression with her skills in the individual challenge, where she whipped up sugar threads for her dish. Her Chinese restaurant, Tian Mi Mi has 2 locations, one in Gangnam and one in Hongdae.
Tian Mi Mi Gangnam: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Tian Mi Mi Hongdae: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Jang Ho-Jun
Chef Jang Ho-Jun is known as the King of Japanese Cuisine and is the CEO of Negi Company, which houses various Japanese dining concepts. The more well-known ones are Cavistry & Modern Oden.
Cavistry: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Modern Oden: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Ahn Yu-Seong
Chef Ahn Yu-Seong is also a Japanese chef and is part of the 16 master chefs in Korea. Unlike most chefs on this list, he has restaurants in Gwangju instead of Seoul. One of the three restaurants under his arm is Jangsu Naju Gomtang (장수나주곰탕), a spot in Gwangju specializing in the Korean dish.
Jangsu Naju Gomtang: Naver Maps
Joseph Lidgerwood
Chef Joseph Lidgerwood is an Australian chef who’s currently the owner-chef of EVETT (에빗 ), a 1 Michelin Star restaurant in Seoul. He has worked in Michelin 2 & 3-Star establishments such as Noma.
EVETT: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Fabrizio Ferrari
Chef Fabrizio was the owner-chef of a restaurant called Al Porticciolo 84 in Northern Italy, which obtained a 1 Michelin star for 15 consecutive years. He decided to move to Korea, closed down the restaurant, and is now operating Fabry Kitchen in Yongsan, Seoul.
Fabry Kitchen: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Choi Ji-Hyung
Chef Choi Ji-Hyung is a North Korean cuisine specialist and was sadly eliminated after his 1-on-1 battle with Triple Star. He is currently the owner and chef of Leebukbang (리북방), a restaurant specializing in North Korean dining.
Leebukbang: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Cho Eun-joo
While she wasn’t the best team leader in the team challenge in our opinion, Chef Cho Eun-Joo is a two-time winner of the world’s top three cooking competitions. She is currently at Touch The Sky (터치더스카이), a restaurant located in the iconic 63 Building in Seoul.
Touch The Sky: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Yeo Gyeong-rae
With over 50 years of experience, Chef Yeo Gyeong-rae is a culinary expert when it comes to Korean Chinese cuisine. With so much experience, lots of chefs mentioned that he should be a judge rather than a participant.
Hongbogak: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Choi Hyun-seok
Last but not least, Chef Choi Hyun-seok – the celebrity chef that most of us are familiar with. Did you know that he has a towering height of 190cm?! His most iconic restaurant is probably Choi Dot located in Apgujeong. Apart from that, he also has 2 other dining establishments, Central Reducer & Dahlia Dining.
Choi Dot: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Black Spoon Chefs
Triple Star
One of the most eye-catching chefs in terms of skill and teamwork is Triple Star. The reason behind his name is simple: he has worked in three restaurants with three Michelin stars. He is currently the chef-owner of Trid (트리드), a restaurant in Cheongdam.
Trid: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Napoli Mafia
The Napoli Mafia, as seen in the show, speaks fluent Italian and flips risotto with skill and flair. He currently owns Via Toledo Pasta Bar, a restaurant serving Sicilian food. He got us wanting to try his risotto!
Via Toledo Pasta Bar: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Self-Made Chef
Like his name suggests, he is a self-made chef having started doing deliveries since year 1 of high school. The meatball dish left quite an impression as he beat out White Spoon Chef, Yeo Gyeong-rae. He is currently the chef & owner of Doryang (도량), a Chinese restaurant in Seoul.
Doryang: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Cooking Maniac
Named after his crazy passion for cooking & food, Cooking Maniac has attracted quite a bit of attention from the White Spoon Chefs because of the way he cooks. To experience his passion for cooking, you can find him at Deepin, a Dining Bar in Seoul.
Deepin: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Hidden Genius
Never has someone made us want to eat a dish cooked on a competition show that much. Hidden Genius passed the first round by making one simple dish: Aglio Olio! Despite it being store-bought linguine, he impressed Judge Ahn Sung-jae with his unconventional cooking method. He currently owns an eatery known as Pono Buono (포노 부오노).
Pono Buono: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Comic Book Chef
How does someone learn to cook this well through comic books? Comic Book Chef feels like a character out of a comic book. He impressed Chef Paik Jong-won with his comic book recipes and was picked to advance for the team challenges despite losing the 1 vs 1 round.
Cho Kwang 201: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Side Dish Chef
He has experience working in Michelin restaurants, but is currently the CEO of MAMALEE Market which specializes in side dishes, hence his name. The store also has a pub on the 2nd floor where you can indulge in other menu items.
MAMALEE Market & Pub: Naver Maps | Catchtable
1, 2, 3
The reason behind his name is simply because he has worked in 1-, 2- and 3-star Michelin restaurants. More iconically, he has worked together with Chef Ahn Sung-jae, the judge on Culinary Class Wars. He is currently running a Korean woodfire restaurant in Gangnam.
Bornyon: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Meat Gangster
As a meat lover, Meat Gangster’s version of Galbi-jjim piqued our interest. The Korean-inspired dish looks straight out of a Western restaurant and captures Chef Paik Jong-won’s heart. You can experience his skills over at Gunmong (군몽).
Gunmong: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Auntie Omakase #1
Along with the Master of School Meals, Auntie Omakase #1 showed off her knife skills during the team challenge. Her restaurant is unique as it doesn’t have a fixed menu. She simply uses the fresh ingredients of the day and decides what she wants to cook for her customers.
Happy Table (즐거운 술상): Naver Maps | Catchtable
Genius Restaurateur
Every business she starts is said to do extremely well, which is why she named herself Genius Restaurateur. Her bibimbap dish left quite an impression, despite the slightly flat-looking colours. She owns a restaurant in Euljiro, serving up modern Korean dishes.
Euljiro Boseok (을지로보석): Naver Maps | Catchtable
Celebrities’ Chef
Apart from having cooked for various celebrities like Lee Hyo-ri, this particular chef left quite an impact with his Vegetarian Sashimi. He currently owns Buto (부토), a modern Korean bar in Hannam-dong.
BUTO: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Yeong Chicken
A specialist in Chicken cuisine, he is the owner and chef of Namyeong Dak (남영탉), a restaurant that has a 4.8-star score on Catchtable. The restaurant is currently one of the most popular among the Black Spoon Chefs and attracts long queues even before opening.
Namyeong Chicken: Naver Maps | Catchtable
God of Seasoning
Looks like Namyeong is a hot spot for good food because the God of Seasoning also owns a restaurant in Namyeong. It’s called Edamame and they serve Korean-Chinese food!
Edamame: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Seung-Woo’s Dad
Seung-Woo’s Dad is a popular Korean YouTuber doing content on food and has over 1.4 million subscribers! You can watch his videos here.
Master of School Meals
Cooking up a typical school meal for Chef Ahn Sung-jae and allowing him to experience a taste of his childhood is the Master of School Meals. She cooked for elementary schools and doesn’t operate any eatery at the moment. We can only imagine how her cooked meals taste like… probably like a mum’s hug.
Yakitori King
The Yakitori King is one of the best chefs in town when it comes to Yakitori. He owns Yakitori Mook, and it has 2 outlets – one in Yeonnam, and one in Garosugil.
Yakitori Mook: Naver Maps | Catchtable
Chinese Cuisine Goddess
Not only does she have looks that could rival K-pop stars, but the Chinese Cuisine Goddess is also the disciple of Chef Yeo Gyeong-rae. She was picked by Chef Paik Jong-won to proceed to the next stage despite losing her 1-vs-1 challenge. From what we gathered on the internet, she is part of Black Sheep Restaurants in Hong Kong.
Culinary Class Wars Restaurants
It’s amazing how the show has already caused most of the restaurants on this list to be fully booked out. However, do keep this article handy when you plan your future Korea trips! Who knows? You might just score a seat at one of these Culinary Class Wars restaurants.
Who do you think will be the ultimate winner of Culinary Class Wars, and do you think there’ll be a Season 2? We sure hope so.
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