‘Culinary Class Wars’ season 2 comes to an end after an immersive, talent-filled ride

Spoiler alert: The following article discusses the outcome of the season finale.

Netflix’s cooking survival show “Culinary Class Wars” (2024-) came to an end on January 13, with White Spoon returnee chef Choi Kang-rok taking the title in the second season.

Choi, who faced off against Black Spoon chef Lee Ha-sung, nicknamed “Culinary Monster,” in the final round themed “Cooking for myself,” took home 300 million won ($203,000) in prize money.

“I’m not someone who makes exceptionally special food — I’m someone who does the same work as chefs across the country,” Choi said. “I’ll take to heart what I heard here and work harder to think more deeply about cooking.”

According to Netflix Tudum on January 13, the second season ranked No. 3 globally in the non-English TV category in the platform’s latest weekly tally from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4.

Since its premiere on Dec. 16, the show has held the top spot for two consecutive weeks and has remained in the upper tier of the Top 10 for three straight weeks. In Korea, it stayed at No. 1 for three successive weeks. It has comfortably carried on the fan passion sparked by the first season in 2024, which topped the global non-English TV chart for three consecutive weeks.

One key reason the second season delivered a more immersive experience was the heightened overall level of Black Spoon contestants, with many more entering the competition. In the head-to-head Black-and-White battles judged blind, a monkfish dish showdown between White Spoon chef Jung Ho-young and Black Spoon “Seoul Mom,” chef Woo Jung-wook, was so close that even a revote by the two judges ended in a tie.

The “Rebellious Genius” contestant’s inventive strategy and bold risk-taking — including defeating his mentor, Michelin two-star chef Lee Jun — also provided twists. The producers’ intent appeared to land, deepening the first season’s winning ingredients of passion and professionalism while focusing more on contestants’ creativity and technique to deliver both emotion and entertainment.

Above all, viewers’ attention was drawn to the “grown-ups” who, as the season went on, seemed to reach a point where winning or losing felt beside the point. Figures such as Hu Deok-juk, a master of Chinese cuisine with 57 years of experience; Park Hyo-nam, a veteran of French cuisine with 47 years of experience; Ven. Sunjae, the first recognized master of temple cuisine; and Lim Seong-geun, winner of “Hansik Battle 3” (2015), brought almost mythical résumés — yet competed with humility and never stopped enjoying the process.

While typical survival programs are filled with trash talk aimed at rattling opponents, Park offered words of encouragement to his one-on-one rival, “French Papa,” chef Lee Dong-jun, saying he hoped his opponent would “carry me on his back and soar.”

In the team round, clips of the oldest contestant, Hu, quietly following younger chefs’ instructions as he dressed Korean melon were repeatedly cited as an example of an “adult worth looking up to,” spawning short-form videos with millions of views.

Pop culture critic Jeong Deok-hyeon said viewers “realized what truly mattered through the process, rather than the win-or-lose outcome.”

A similar pattern appeared in the first season. Although Black Spoon contestant chef Kwon Sung-jun, aka “Napoli Matfia,” won, White Spoon chef Edward Lee drew even greater support for channeling his identity struggles as a “bibim human” into intense cooking.

Critic Kim Gyo-seok said the second season made it even more apparent that viewers, captivated by White Spoon contestants’ careers, skills and stories, were not simply cheering for Black Spoons just because they were underdogs.

That said, the trend also weakened the survival show’s usual competitive dynamic at times and, in some cases, spilled into controversy over the attitudes of certain Black Spoon contestants.

Food columnist Jeong Dong-hyeon said challengers need the bold spirit to surpass the established generation, adding that the fact that “attitude controversies” emerged reflects a Korean tendency, and that treating a survival program as if it were real life and judging contestants’ character is not desirable from the standpoint of diversity in popular culture.

The second season began under a cloud of concern as judge Paik Jong-won, CEO of Theborn Korea, faced controversies, including allegations of false labeling of product origins. In the released episodes, the show minimized viewer backlash by placing greater emphasis on judge Anh Sung-jae, the chef-owner of Mosu, and his meticulous, cutting evaluations, rather than on Paik.

Ultimately, the season is being seen as one in which the essence of cooking and the contestants’ personalities really stood out. Kim said that while the first season stayed true to the cooking-survival genre with tension and fun driven by the Black-versus-White rivalry, the second season placed more emphasis on the charm of people and the food itself.

After the first season sparked a frenzy of reservation “open runs” around contestants’ restaurants, the second season is also shaking up the dining scene. A saved list on the Naver Map app that collects restaurants run by contestants from the second season has already logged about 600,000 views and about 100,000 saves.

KakaoMap is also operating themed collections titled “Culinary Class Wars 2 White Spoon restaurant roundup” (translated) and “Culinary Class Wars 2 Black Spoon restaurant roundup’ (translated).

BY KANG HYE-RAN [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]