From maniac to ‘matfia:’ Meet the Top 8 of ‘Culinary Class Wars’ (Part 2)

Four high-powered White Spoon chefs and four lesser-known Black Spoon chefs will continue battling in the last batch of new episodes set for release on Tuesday. The final winner receives 300 million won ($223,000).

Before the grand showdown, here is all you need to know about the final eight.

This list continues from our previous article, “Meet the Top 8 of ‘Culinary Class Wars:’ From celebrity chef to dim sum queen (Part 1).” 

Chef Kwon Seong-joon won the latest challenge which asked chefs to cook a dish that best represents them. Infusing his great-grandmother’s crab soup into pasta, Kwon earned the highest score of the challenge and will be moving up to the top 2. Read more about Kwon in our previous article about the Black Spoon chefs here.


Edward Lee  

Brooklyn-born Edward Lee is a second-generation immigrant who grew up in New York City and fell in love with America’s south.

He is currently the owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky, and although his passion for soul food didn’t come through as much in “Culinary Class Wars,” his warm personality and proactive leadership reflective of the cuisine certainly did, adding to his likability among the show’s audience.

In Korea, he is best known as the guest chef for the White House state dinner with U.S. President Biden and Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol last year. In America, he is a published writer with three books out and a popular celebrity chef with a slew of TV appearances including as the host of season three of the documentary “The Mind of a Chef” (2015) where he was nominated for an Emmy.

The celebrated chef is an active supporter of his community. In 2018, he founded the LEE initiative, which stands for “Let’s Empower Employment.” The program is dedicated to finding impactful solutions to increase diversity, equity and sustainability in the restaurant industry. It received the 2024 James Beard Award for Humanitarian of the Year.

“Auntie Omakase #1” Lee Mi-ryeong  

In the latest episode of “Culinary Class Wars,” chef Lee Mi-ryeong revealed that she battled poverty growing up. After her father’s business failed and both her parents fell sick, she was forced to run her mother’s humble guksu (noodle) eatery. She said that she didn’t like guksu back then because it felt like a symbol of impoverishment, but now it is her representative dish.

She still sells it at Andongjip Son Kalguksi in the basement of Gyeongdong Market in Dongdaemun District, central Seoul, for just 8,000 won ($6). Lee also runs a slightly pricier hansik omakase restaurant Jeulgeoun Sulsang, or Joyful Drinking Table, in Dobong District, eastern Seoul. Like an omakase, the menu of the chef’s choice is served at 50,000 won per person sans drinks. Some 40 small plates and banchan (sides) are served in the course of two hours.

Lee was spotted at both venues after the show’s release, cooking in her hanbok (Korean traditional dress).

“Cooking Maniac” Yoon Nam-no

Food genres don’t hold too much meaning for Yoon Nam-no. He cooks true to his nickname on the show — like a maniac. But the judges view his trait favorably, with Anh Sung-jae saying that the job requires a little bit of “craziness.”

Lee is the chef-owner of Deepin, a casual dining bar in a vintage and up-and-coming neighborhood Sindang-dong in Jung District, central Seoul. It serves fusion food, loosely helmed around Italian and French cuisine. Current menu items include carrot jerky braised in coriander honey, lamb chops and housemade olive ice cream. It has a sister bar, Deepin Oksu, in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul.

Per an interview with Vogue Korea, Yoon began his cooking career when his mother was diagnosed with cancer and he took over her naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodle) eatery. He also tried out for “Master Chef Korea 4” in 2016 but did not get past the preliminaries.