An Yu-seong, the 16th master chef of Korea and the holder of the youngest-record distinction, moved viewers deeply with a warm-hearted story of perseverance behind his success and sharing his heart through food.
On the 14th episode of EBS Seo Jang-hoon's Neighborhood Millionaire, the life story of popular chef An Yu-seong, who drew intense attention through the Netflix hit Culinary Class Wars, was revealed. An Yu-seong was selected as a master chef in 2023 at the age of 51, becoming the youngest among 17 Korean master chefs. In the episode, the 1,700-pyeong Gwangju "An Yu-seong master chef street," with land value of about 34 billion won, was unveiled and drew attention. Explaining why he continued to buy and expand land, he said, "There are three major culinary schools in the world in France, the United States and Japan. My final dream is to establish the An Yu-seong master chef culinary school here and make it the world's fourth major culinary school. Now it's almost ready," revealing a new challenge.
At 20, An Yu-seong ran away from home with only 10,000 won and began his first job at a small raw fish restaurant in Seoul. He slept in a corner of the restaurant while earning a monthly wage of 130,000 won, but he grew quickly thanks to his characteristic diligence and determination. While rising steadily as sous chef in Seoul, everyone opposed his sudden move to Gwangju, but An Yu-seong explained his reason for deciding, "I wanted to find my own color centered on southern regional cuisine, not be a chef who only does Japanese cuisine." An Yu-seong's pride and philosophy about southern regional cuisine left a strong impression on the public through Culinary Class Wars. Although he initially refused to appear for three months, he was ultimately persuaded by the producers' argument that "there are no contestants from Honam, the region known for taste," and he competed as the Honam representative, proudly proving the taste of the south on stage.
An Yu-seong's restaurant is famous as the "presidential sushi restaurant," frequented by past presidents. He added a humorous anecdote, saying, "I was surprised when I was summoned by former president Kim Dae-jung's bodyguard, and when I went, the president said the sushi he had for lunch was so delicious that he wanted two servings to be packed to take away." Also revealed were the true stories involving An Yu-seong's mentor and the late Lee Byung-chul tied to the famous line from the drama Reborn Rich, "How many grains of rice are there?" He said, "The chairman who used to eat eight pieces of sushi at a meal one day ate only six, so the secretaries quantified the number of grains, and thereafter a standard of 320 for lunch and 280 for dinner was set." To this, Seo Jang-hoon joked, "At that amount I could eat 50," drawing laughter.
Through collaborations including events with French Michelin-starred chefs and various activities, An Yu-seong promotes the excellence and potential of Korean cuisine worldwide. In addition, when the Jeju Air passenger plane accident occurred in 2024, he stayed at the site with the victims' families to comfort them. As soon as he heard the news of the accident, he prepared 200 rolls of kimbap and headed straight to the scene, and afterward continued serving beef bone soup, supporting the bereaved families and recovery personnel.
An Yu-seong said, "In short, it was a heart-wrenching scene. A close acquaintance also died in that accident, and thinking that everyone is family just one link away, I stayed there a long time." Along with this, his 20 years of continuing meal service for people with disabilities were introduced, leaving a deep impression of his efforts to share with the world and hearts in ways a chef can. Seo Jang-hoon expressed respect, saying, "Watching from beside him, the master is someone who had to succeed. He has both the positivity and diligence, the most important elements of success."
Next week will air the episode on Lee Su-ho, "the dairy cow tycoon who made a milk kingdom from a mountain of debt." EBS Seo Jang-hoon's Neighborhood Millionaire airs every Wednesday at 9:55 p.m.<
[photo] EBS
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