Anh Sung-jae and Paik Jong-won won praise for their contrasting judging styles in the first season of Netflix’s hit cooking competition Culinary Class Wars.
Netflix Korea confirmed on Tuesday (Feb 4) that culinary maestros Anh Sung-jae and Paik Jong-won will return as judges in the second season of the hit cooking competition Culinary Class Wars.
The programme, which pits established chefs (the White Spoons) against up-and-coming chefs (the Black Spoons) in a battle for 300 million won (US$206,700), was one of Netflix’s biggest hits of 2024 – becoming the number one show in multiple regions.
Its popularity has led to a boost in South Korea’s dining scene, with reservations at the contestants’ restaurants constantly maxing out.
Speaking at the Next On Netflix 2025 Korea event held in Seoul, South Korea, Netflix Korea’s director of content Yoo Ki-hwan said that the upcoming season has seen a large number of applicants.
“Paik Jong-won and Anh Sung-jae will return for Culinary Class Wars Season 2. Although the show is still in its early filming stages, more than 1,000 applicants have already signed up through the open recruitment process,” said Yoo at the event.
According to Yoo, the process of selecting the new Black Spoons has been “incredibly fierce”.
“Paik Jong-won and Anh Sung-jae, as judges, have vowed not to easily back down from their opinions – making the selection process even more intense,” added Yoo.
The dynamic between Michelin three-star chef Anh and celebrity restaurateur Paik has been consistently named as one of the highlights of Culinary Class Wars. Both judges frequently disagreed on the contestants’ dishes due to their different judging styles – with Anh employing a stricter methodology.
Anh previously admitted that working with Paik “wasn’t good” at first.
“I had different standards from him but I felt like this meant we could judge the food from various angles so that our viewpoints weren’t one-sided,” said Anh.
On Wednesday (Feb 5), Anh announced that he has started a YouTube channel to share his stories and perspectives. The channel will be run by Studio Slam – an arm of South Korean production company Studio LuluLala.
In a statement, a spokesperson of Studio Slam said: “You will be able to see various aspects of Anh as a chef, as well as aspects of his daily life that have not been revealed before, through the YouTube videos.”
The first video of the channel will be released on Feb 5 at 6.30pm Korean time.
