"He really seems to be the person who has eaten the most truly delicious things." Paik Jong-won, CEO of Theborn Korea Inc., is asserting his presence as a judge on Culinary Class Wars 2 alongside Chef Anh Sung-jae.
The Netflix original variety show Culinary Class Wars: Cooking class war season 2 (abbreviated Culinary Class Wars 2) has continued to draw strong reactions since its release on the 16th. From episode 1, it provoked reactions such as "They cast this without thinking about the next season," as both White Spoon and Black Spoon contestants drew attention with an all-time great cast and even fiercer cooking battles. As spectacular as the casting is, the judges' every word evaluating them is also attracting attention. Among them, Paik Jong-won, CEO of Theborn Korea Inc., is receiving particular attention for his judging.
On Culinary Class Wars 2, Paik Jong-won returned as a judge along with Chef Anh Sung-jae of Mosu, the only Michelin three-star restaurant in Korea at the time, as in the first season. Of course, until this season's release there were various perspectives about Paik Jong-won's appearance amid several external issues and controversies. However, after the program was released, separate from the contentious views, reactions such as "Still, there's no judge like this" have also continued. Regardless of the controversy, the familiar yet entertaining presence of "judge Paik Jong-won" seems to be acknowledged.
In the program's first week, during the Black Spoon survival round where they had to taste the largest quantity of food, Paik Jong-won focused wholly on experiencing the flavors of a variety of dishes the Black Spoon chefs presented, from hamburgers to pork cutlets, jeongabok, and broth dishes. Because Paik Jong-won is familiar from many variety shows, his appearance naturally contrasted with the judging of Chef Anh Sung-jae, which had been seen only in the Culinary Class Wars series and his personal YouTube. As a Michelin three-star fine dining chef who raised strict standards of taste, Anh Sung-jae contrasted with Paik Jong-won, who, wearing gloves and engaging in a manner close to a mukbang, was so entertainingly immersed that his tasting added to the enjoyment of the judging itself.
Chef Anh Sung-jae actually conducts his judging focusing on completeness with ironclad, high standards that pinpoint cooking technique, doneness, and even subtle differences in seasoning. If Anh Sung-jae is the "judge of standards," Paik Jong-won is closer to a "judge of experience," evaluating the direction of flavor and popular completeness. He explains the essence of taste in expressions anyone can understand instead of complex culinary terms, and he grounds the weight of his judging in realism and mass appeal. Some Black Spoon chefs who appeared on the show also left comments such as "I want to be judged by Mr. Paik, who makes popular food now," "a person like an encyclopedia of the food world who has a lot of knowledge and experience," and "someone who has experienced a variety of ingredients," showing their expectations.
Paik Jong-won's judging did not remain limited to popularity. In the second-round 1:1 battles between White Spoon and Black Spoon, scenes continued in which he read the intent and context of the dishes. Regarding Hou Deok-juk's "buyang flower crab," he added that it reminded him of the dazaxie (freshwater crab) dishes of the Shanghai region of China, accurately identifying the menu's direction and gaining Hou Deok-juk's agreement. For Lee Jun's quail dish, he completed his critique by saying it left the impression of "having eaten a whole bird," conveying completeness and satisfaction, and Lee Jun was shown responding that it was "what I most wanted to hear from many people."
Actual responses on online communities and blogs also tend to view these aspects positively. Reactions such as "He's not someone who has lasted long for no reason" and "Separate from the controversy, the judging is convincing" have appeared, along with opinions recognizing his experience across the restaurant industry. Comments like "With his experience of having tasted many delicious things in Korea, there's nothing you can do about it" lead viewers to acknowledge his role as a judge who shows both mass appeal and practical sense.
On the 30th, Culinary Class Wars 2, released three weeks earlier, continued to show Paik Jong-won's active role. After the White Spoon and Black Spoon chefs' 1-on-1 allied battles, in the deathmatch he recognized Hou Deok-juk's dish, a variation of lacho noodles, and explained it in an easy-to-understand way. If Chef Anh Sung-jae climbed a vertical ladder from the bottom to the top as a fine dining chef starting from Japanese cuisine to Korean cuisine, Paik Jong-won started with popular Korean ssambap and horizontally mastered dining foods from countries around the world. Of course, Paik Jong-won's broadcast suspension remains in effect. However, his human experiences that broaden the vertical and horizontal standards of food and taste on Culinary Class Wars 2 as a judge make viewers accept them.
[Photo] OSEN DB, provided by Netflix.
[OSEN]