'Baeksajang 3' showed Paik Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, moved to tears by the brutal challenge of achieving 'annual sales of 1 billion won' in France, a country of gastronomy, but he ultimately found his own answers through experience.
On the 10th, tvN's new variety show World rice shop challenge: Baeksajang 3 (abbreviated Baeksajang 3) premiered. In Baeksajang 3, marking its third season, Paik Jong-won, Lee Jang-woo, Girls' Generation's Kwon Yuri, Yoon Si-yoon and John Park opening a restaurant in Lyon, France were depicted.
Lyon is called a gastronomic center even within France, and even Paik Jong-won showed reluctance about the challenge. He let out a hollow laugh, saying, Why Lyon of all places? and wiped his eyes in the wind, saying, Can you see my tears? I'm really not confident about Lyon, expressing a complicated state of mind.
But the producers were firm. They presented the goal: achieve a store with annual sales of 1 billion won on Lyon's top gourmet street. Flustered, Paik Jong-won said, Then daily sales must be at least 3 million won. Even in Korea, 3 million won a day is a huge hit. How big are you going to rent the place? expressing dismay.
The site proposed by the Baeksajang 3 production team was the Mercière alley, where 38 popular restaurants cluster even within Lyon. The restaurants there boasted high rents as their annual sales reached at least 1 billion won. In a location difficult to handle with sloppy operations, Paik Jong-won scrutinized even the kitchen layout and pondered deeply.
As a result, a one-table meat restaurant inspired by Korean-style meat houses and samgyeopsal grilling was created. Using familiar meats as the main ingredient for locals, the restaurant added a distinctive touch by presenting Korean-style barbecue where vegetables and meat are grilled together on one plate in a street where being unique was necessary to survive. The table centered on samgyeopsal with pajeori, rice cakes, mushrooms, onions and kimchi added drew attention as to whether it would hit local tastes.
Among this, Paik Jong-won emphasized staff explanations while grilling meat. Because conveying the characteristics of the one-table meat restaurant, where kimchi and onions should be grilled in samgyeopsal oil, to locals unfamiliar with samgyeopsal grilling was the taste's kick and the key.
In practice, locals who had not properly learned the grilling method showed reluctance, calling kimchi and onions spicy. In response, Paik Jong-won immediately said, Korean-style attentive service is needed and even demonstrated serving himself. Ultimately his approach of solving problems through experience drew attention.
Ultimately, the experience and years Paik Jong-won accumulated as the 'godfather of the food service industry' seem to be driving sales even in Baeksajang 3. In his another earlier appearance, the Netflix original variety show Culinary Class Wars, Paik Jong-won, as a successful food service entrepreneur, shared his culinary and gastronomic experience and was regarded like a judge at the pinnacle of the Black Spoon chefs.
Although some controversy arose during Baeksajang 3's filming over certain noises surrounding The Born Korea's operations, matters such as origin labeling were closed without indictment. Leaving that behind, expectations grow for the veteran entrepreneur's activities on Baeksajang 3.
[Photo] OSEN DB, tvN source.
[OSEN]