“‘Im-jjang’ Im Seong-geun effect” “Are people in their 20s30s into gastronomy”?… The real reason Black-and-White Chef 2 is a hit - 경향신문

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Chef Im Seong-geun grills ‘bakpo galbi’ on <Black-and-White Chef 2>. Netflix YouTube screengrab

The Netflix variety show <Black-and-White Chef: Culinary Class War Season 2 (Black-and-White Chef 2)> is making waves. Even before the finale airs, the chefs are already appearing on various variety programs, and related products are set to launch. Why is it popular? Dot-Line-Plane has organized what enabled its box-office run, and what ripple effects it is having (no spoilers).

According to Netflix, <Black-and-White Chef 2>, which premiered on the 16th of last month, ranked first for two consecutive weeks in Netflix’s Non-English TV shows category. Although it paused at third place last week, it still drew 3.4 million views and continues to be popular. These are figures that suggest it has overcome the limits of a seasonal format.

Chef Im Seong-geun introduces traditional cooking methods. Screengrab from Chef Im Seong-geun’s YouTube

At the center of Season 2’s success are figures with distinctive personalities. Leading the pack is Chef Im Seong-geun, nicknamed ‘Im-jjang’. Online, compilations of Im’s performances and remarks are circulating and drawing attention. Im’s charm is ‘swagger with substance’. In a team battle, he declared, “I know about 50,000 sauces,” then, without measuring, created a tasty sauce that drew teammates’ thumbs-ups. His dashing around as if teleporting to produce dishes quickly initially looked eccentric, but as he delivered results, evaluations shifted to seeing a sincere approach.

Chef Son Jong-won, who earned one star in the ‘Michelin Guide 2025’ in both Korean and Western cuisines, also drew interest for an unexpected background. Having enrolled at the prestigious Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the United States, he showed strategic, quick-on-the-draw cooking on the show. Chef Choi Kang-rok, with a distinctive speaking style and a single-minded focus on ‘braised dishes’, Chef Hudeokjuk, whose ease born of experience stood out, and Chef Yoon Nara, a ‘dirt spoon’ who showed the diverse possibilities of Korean cuisine and runs ‘Yoon Jumo’, also drew notice.

Bloomberg, analyzing the popularity of <Black-and-White Chef 1> in 2024, wrote that it “is creating various memes and distinctive characters online, drawing huge buzz.” Whereas early attention in Season 1 centered on an underdog uprising, some analyze that in this season, respect for the careers built by those born with silver spoons is one factor behind the popularity.

Chef Choi Kang-rok. Netflix YouTube screengrab

Unpredictable battle rules and outsized themes add to the fun. Creative dishes made with top-tier ingredients are a feast for the eyes. At a press conference last month, Kim Eun-ji, the <Black-and-White Chef 2> PD, said, “We reflected a lot of viewer feedback that ‘it would be nice to have head-on battles decided by cooking.’” Season 2 removed the elimination system that sparked controversy last season and strengthened the concept of a ‘cooking showdown’.

Some also analyze that strong interest among younger generations in restaurant-hopping and gastronomy has influenced the popularity. In fact, within the dining industry last year, analysis held that demand for differentiated gastronomic experiences, centered on people in their 20s and 30s, rose and boosted fine dining. Cultural critic Kim Heon-sik told Dot-Line-Plane by phone, “With Black-and-White Chef, people can actually go to restaurants run by the chefs,” adding, “Because the culture of posting ‘proof shots’ of what one experienced on social networking services (SNS) is commonplace among younger generations, it seems to create synergy.”

The success of <Black-and-White Chef> has also led to various ripple effects. The restaurant-reservation app ‘Catch Table’ analyzed app-use data for participating chefs and restaurants before and after <Black-and-White Chef 1> aired; reservations increased 3.5 times after the broadcast compared to before. In other words, content influence translated into dining-out consumption.

A dish by the ‘Yoon Jumo’ chef. Netflix YouTube screengrab

As it gained popularity on the global platform Netflix, there was also a boost in interest in K-food itself. In a column last November, Chef Park Joon-woo wrote, “Not long ago, I received a proposal to host a Korean cooking show in Spain,” adding that Korean foods like ‘gochujang’ and ‘gimbap’ are starting to be called by their own names. Writer Mo Eun-seol of <Black-and-White Chef> also emphasized at a Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry forum last November that “well-made K-content not only grows sales across related industries such as tourism, dining, and distribution, but also becomes a national brand that creates wide-ranging economic ripple effects.”</>However, some say the effect is limited to certain establishments featured on the show. Restaurant and small-business owners in downtown Seoul whom the Kyunghyang Shinmun met in 2024 all said they did not feel any impact from the <Black-and-White Chef 1> boom. A restaurateur surnamed Kim said, “What consumers want is the special experience of visiting the restaurants that appeared on Black-and-White Chef,” adding, “There is no sales-boost effect at other restaurants.”

This is because <Black-and-White Chef> sparked interest not in dining out across the board, but specifically in ‘fine cuisine and fine dining’. Mr. Bang, who runs a beef short rib restaurant, said, “Places that were doing well are doing even better, and ordinary places are having a harder time.”

It is also regrettable that the number of women chefs remains small, and that evaluators are all men. It was also repeated in some cases that women chefs were nicknamed with traits unrelated to cooking such as ‘auntie’, ‘mother’, or ‘goddess’. Lee Jin-song, publisher of the quarterly ‘Hollo’, pointed out in a column about <Black-and-White Chef 1> that “the stories of women chefs, minorities in the industry, are distinctive but were not selected, as the dramatic elements that make the show entertaining were prioritized,” criticizing the editing for excluding women’s narratives.

Venerable Sunjae explains his dish. Netflix YouTube screengrab

Despite the impression of being out of touch due to high prices and difficult reservations, how does <Black-and-White Chef> enjoy mass popularity? Some note that although it is a survival format, an eliminated contestant is not immediately regarded as a dropout. In fact, Chef Lee Mi-young, the ‘school-lunch master’, and Chef Ahn Yoo-sung, among others who showed outstanding cooking skills in <Black-and-White Chef 1>, were eliminated early yet won much affection. Yoon Hyun-joon, head of Studio Slam, the production company behind <Black-and-White Chef>, said in an interview with the Kyunghyang Shinmun that the program was made on a foundation of respect for the participants.

These accumulated narratives have also turned into support and cheering for individual chefs. Just by highlighting cooking itself and the attitude toward cooking, without sensational editing, the show captivated viewerslike Venerable Sunjae’s ‘pine nut noodles’, which drew praise as “delicious” by bringing out the ingredients’ inherent flavors without spices. Ultimately, the success of <Black-and-White Chef 2> is the result of directing that respects food and people, combined with a broader trend of valuing the attitude one brings to competition over its outcome.

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