Who are the Black Spoon Chefs in Culinary Class Wars? Details of the underdog contestants in Netflix's Korean cooking show, explored

Culinary Class Wars on Netflix / (Image via Neflix)
Culinary Class Wars on Netflix / (Image via Neflix)

The Korean cooking show Culinary Class Wars on Netflix has had viewers hooked from the day it premiered. The cooking show is one of its kind, as we see 100 chefs, 20 famous and established ones, and 80 industry underdogs competing against each other in a tasty and intense battle.

Though the White Spoon chefs, owing to their fame, had generated much curiosity before the show aired, it is now evident that the Black Spoon chefs are also pretty good at what they do.

This group of not-yet-established chefs consists mostly of veterans, some of whom own and run small restaurants. These chefs are passionate about cooking, and their love for cooking and honest energy make Culinary Class Wars all the more enjoyable.

Let us now look at some of the Black Spoon chefs and what they are doing besides competing with the high-profile chefs of Korea.


Black Spoon Chefs in Culinary Class Wars

Black Spoons in Culinary Class Wars / (Image via Netflix)
Black Spoons in Culinary Class Wars / (Image via Netflix)

While the White Spoon chefs were downright taking advantage of their higher position and stature over the Black Spoon chefs from the beginning, these underdogs are gradually making their well-earned place.

Some of the top Black Spoon chefs in Culinary Class Wars are:

1) Cho Kwang-hyo

Nickname: Comic Book

Eateries owned: Cho Kwang 101 and Cho Kwang 201

From day one, Cho Kwang-hyo made his place in the show as someone who is self-taught and cooks from comic books. That very well explains his nickname as well.

Of the two eateries he runs, Cho Kwang 201 offers well-known Chinese dishes that the Korean youth especially love.

Some of his most popular dishes are malatang (hot pot), mapo tofu (tofu braised in spicy sauce), mala xiangguo (stir-fried hot pot), azji (firecracker chicken), dong po rou (braised pork belly) etc.

His other eatery, Cho Kwang 101, is an Asian tapas bar with more experimental items. Cho calls it a “research lab.” With seasonal ingredients that he brings daily to the restaurant, Cho prepares the two highlights of the place: Dumpling of the Day and Dish of the Day.

What is interesting about the place is that visitors can bring a packet of instant ramen and ask the chefs to cook it. They will, and as per the menu, it will cost 2,000 won ($1.52).

2) Kwon Seong-joon

Nickname: Napoli Mafia

Eatery owned: Toledo Pasta Bar

As his nickname suggests, Kwon Seong-joon is passionate about Italian food. He speaks fluent Italian, and his love for Italy is evident in his dishes.

On Culinary Class Wars, Kwon cooked an Amalfi Coast-inspired bisque risotto and fagottini-stuffed pasta, which captured Neapolitan history.

His establishment, Toledo Pasta Bar, is a fine-dining restaurant that offers a single seven-course Sicilian dinner. The spread mainly features different kinds of risotto and pasta, appetizers, and desserts.

According to the current menu, one meal at this restaurant costs 89,000 won ($67.40). However, the restaurant's social media has informed us of an increase in prices in the coming months.

3) Lim Hee-won

Nickname: Celebrities’ Chef

Eatery owned: Buto

Lim Hee-won stood out from the beginning because he was confident that whatever he cooked had not been done by anyone else before.

In the first round, he cooked vegetarian sashimi, preparing and presenting it in a way that mimicked the texture and flavors of the dish.

Buto, his modern hansik (Korean food) bar, sells the same dish. The place serves dishes focused on umami flavor bombs, which go well with alcohol. Some of the dishes of Buto are mala herring roe dry noodles, fried eggplant shrimp toast, braised chicken with nurungji (scorched rice), etc.

Previously, Hee-won worked as the owner-chef of Momojein. It has now been closed.

4) Lee Sang-pil

Nickname: Hidden Genius

Eatery owned: Pono Buono

Unlike the others, Lee Sang-pil did not prepare multiple dishes but went for the simple and traditional aglio olio. His decision proved right, as Judge Ahn Jae highly praised him.

Lee prepares the dish unconventionally, which adds to its intrigue and charm. He cooks his linguine for only three minutes and strains it.

He adds olive oil while it's still hot. The noodles are then spread out in an aluminum pan, and once they are cool, Lee Sang-pil covers them with another pan until they reach al dente perfection from the residual heat.

Other Black Spoon chefs are:

1) Home Meal Mogul

Restaurant: Mom's Homemade meal

Specialty: Daegu Palgongsan-ro

2) Cooking Maniac

Restaurant: Deepin

Specialty: Wine bar in Seoul that serves good snacks

3) Auntie Omakase #1

Restaurant: Cheerful Drinking Table

Specialty: Famous bar in Seoul

4.Genius Restaurateur

Resturant: Euljiro Boseok

Specialty: Good Korean fusion cuisine bar

5) Triple Star

Restaurant: Trid

Specialty: Western-style course

6) God of Seasoning

Restaurant: Edamame

Specialty: Chinese-style snacks serving bar

7) Yakitori King

Restaurant: Yakitori Mook

Specialty: Famous for yakitori

8) Yeong Chicken

Restaurant: Namyeong Chicken

Specialty: Famous for their chicken

9) King Bibim

Restaurant: Bibim Sori

Specialty: Famous for bibimbap

10) Chef Spark

Restaurant: Bistro Spark is closed; Things Burger is scheduled to open in October

11) Self-Made Chef

Restaurant: Doryang

Specialty: Eight Treasures fried meatball

12) Meat Master

Restaurant: Guunmong

Specialty: Galbi

13) One Two Three

Restaurant: Bornyon

Specialty: Wood fire-based course

14) Seung-woo's Dad

Restaurant: Kitchen Maillard

The chef is a YouTuber with 1.38 million subscribers at the time of this article's writing.

15) Master of School Meals

Restaurant: Habuk Elementary School meal cook

He recently retired from the position

16) Kitchen Gangster

Restaurant: Nawoo

Specialty: Wine bar

17) Little Giant

Restaurant: B3713

18) Ansan Paik Jong-won

Restaurant: Passion People

The chef manages restaurants like Bbok Sikdang.

19) Silver Spoon

The chef operates the YouTube channel Silver Spoon'.

20) Japanese Cuisine

Restaurant: Ace Nakajima Goemong

Specialty: Sushi

21) Baking Chef

Restaurant: Aoitori

Specialty: Hongdae bakery that’s famous for melon bread made by a Japanese artisan

22) Blue House Chef

Restaurant: Meat Culture

Specialty: Western Cuisine

23) President of K-chicken

Restaurant: 101 Chickenusa

The chef is the founder of 101 Chickenusa, a chicken franchise in the U.S.

24) Camping Man Mimiok, Burgerboy,

The chef operates a YouTube channel and is the CEO of Lof Company.

25) Storytelling Chef

Restaurant: Wild Flower

Specialty: Western Cuisine

26) Chicken Man

Restaurant: Atari

27) Underestimated

Restaurant: Pog

Specialty: Pizza

28) Full Makeup Chef

Restaurant: Yiayia and Friends

Specialty: Brunch cafe

29) Korean Food Boomer

Restaurant: The Dameum

30) Golden Maknae

Restaurant: Golden Maknae

31) Hupo-ri Bumpkin

Restaurant: JADE&WATER

Specialty: Brunch restaurant

32) B-grade Chef

Restaurant: Last Spring

Specialty: Western Turkish fusion

33) 4.8.100

Restaurant: Ko House

The chef operates several restaurants.

34) Korean Taco King

Restaurant: Molino Project

The chef operates several restaurants.

35) Poker Face

Restaurant: Korii

Specialty: Korean course meal

36) French Cuisine Idol

Restaurant: Sav Seoul

Specialty: Wine bar

37) Happy Birthday

Restaurant: The Siot

Specialty: Western restaurant

38) Golden Shovel

Restaurant: Janghwa

Specialty: Bistro

39) Kordon Ramsay

Restaurant: Sushi Haehwa

40) Side Dish Magnate Dosigotgan CEO of the side dish shop 'Dosigotgan'

Restaurant: Dosigotgan

The chef is the CEO of the side dish shop 'Dosigotgan'.

41) Sushi King

Today, Sushi operates four branches in Suwon, Gwanggyo, Dongtan, and more.

42) Canadian Uncle Momofuku

Restaurant: Momofuku

Former chef at Momofuku in New York.

43) Dirty Korean

Restaurant: Dirty Joonho House

Specialty: pork soup and su-yuk set (boiled pork set meal)

44) World-Class Recipe

Restaurant: Choi's Pizza

Specialty: Pizza shop

45) The Butcher

Restaurant: Oneday Maister

Specialty: Butcher shop expert

46) Smile Chef

Restaurant: Chuan Chuan Jiu Bar

Specialty: Chinese food

47) Thai Select

Restaurant: Thai Select

Specialty: Thai restaurant

48) Fit Chef

Restaurant: Yido

Specialty: Korean Cuisine

49) Construction Site Chef

Restaurant: Triple Bones

Specialty: Pork soup made by a chef who trained at Table for 4 and alla prima

50) Ko Pro

Restaurant: 8nrm Burger

Specialty: Best shrimp burger

Culinary Class Wars is available on Netflix.

Check out Soap Central for the latest updates on TV Shows and movies!

comment icon
Comment
Edited by Priscillah Mueni