With Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang taking the mound for the ceremonial first pitch at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 7th, it was confirmed that Nvidia ordered a little over 100 BBQ chickens. On the first day of his trip to Korea, Huang visited a BBQ store near Hongdae in Seoul, and he also went for BBQ chicken at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
According to the industry on the 7th, Nvidia ordered 113 "Crunch Boneless Cracker" chickens from the BBQ Jamsil Baseball Stadium location the day before. The chicken was delivered at around 4:10 p.m. that day to a group seating section on the second floor where Nvidia employees and Huang's family were watching the game. BBQ was said to have dispatched about 10 headquarters staff to the stadium to handle the large order. They assisted with cooking and delivering the chicken and operating the store.
At Jamsil that day, a game between the Doosan Bears and the Kiwoom Heroes began at 5 p.m. Wearing a Doosan jersey with No. 93—symbolizing Nvidia's founding year of 1993—Huang took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch. At the event, Huang said, "Nothing is better than 'chimaek' (Nothing is better than '치맥')."
Huang also visited BBQ two days earlier, on the 5th. At the time, after a dinner of samgyeopsal with soju and beer at the pork-belly grill restaurant "Hyungnim Joyo" near Hongdae Ipgu Station in Mapo District, Seoul, with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver (NAVER) Chairman Lee Hae-jin, they went for a second round of chimaek at the nearby BBQ Hongdae Ipgu location. The group was said to have ordered eight chickens, including BBQ's signature Golden Olive Chicken and Golden Olive Half-and-Half Chicken. They also paired it with "Lemon Boy," a house-developed drink by BBQ.
A BBQ official said, "BBQ has many prime locations in the Hongdae commercial district and at Jamsil Stadium, and we have expanded overseas as well, so we think this came in naturally," adding, "We expect a synergy in global promotion going forward (thanks to the Jensen Huang effect)."
BBQ opened at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in 2019. It currently operates four stores: two on the first floor, one on the second and one on the third. Chicken dishes have been appearing frequently on Huang's itinerary in Korea. Right after arriving via Gimpo Airport on the 5th, he told reporters, "I really like Korean-style barbecue. I love chicken, and samgyetang is the best."
On the 6th, he reportedly dined with his family at "Tosokchon," a samgyetang restaurant in Jongno District, Seoul. That evening, he was scheduled to meet with Chairman Chey at the Kkanbu Chicken store in Samseong-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul. Kkanbu Chicken's Samseong location is where Huang held the so-called "Kkanbu meeting" in Oct. last year during his Korea visit with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun. At a Nvidia-related event held at COEX at the time, he also said, "I don't know why Korean chicken is the best in the world, but Korean chicken is the best in the world."
Huang is also known to enjoy Korean-style chicken in Silicon Valley in the United States. He has mentioned "99 Chicken," a favorite Korean-style hof in Santa Clara, California, both in private and in public.