Netflix's 'Black and White Chef' Judge Chef An Seongjae
Shares Behind-the-Scenes Stories in JTBC 'Newsroom' Interview
"Respects Baek Jongwon but Not Compatible... Strives for Fair Judging"
"Will Create Opportunities to Serve Food to Many People"
Chef An Seong-jae, who gained attention as a judge on the recently popular Netflix show 'Black & White Chef: Culinary Class War,' shared behind-the-scenes stories, including his thoughts on Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, who also served as a judge. In an interview with JTBC's 'Newsroom' on the 20th, when asked about his chemistry with CEO Baek, Chef An replied, "It was not good."
He explained, "By 'not good,' I mean that the standards and perspectives on food between the CEO and me are not one-sided but come from various angles, which I thought could make the judging a bit more fair. CEO Baek did very well, and as conversations went on filling in the gaps in our knowledge, I found him very respectable. However, even if we meet again, I will not bend my opinion," he said.
Chef An revealed that he was asked by the production team to go on a diet before appearing on the show. He said, "They told me I couldn't participate unless I went on a diet. I like eating, and at that time, I had gained some weight because I ate a lot. I was losing weight, and this became an additional motivation to work harder on it," he said with a smile. It is known that he expressed confidence to the production team, saying, 'If I am judging, no one will object.' Regarding this, he said, "I have experienced a lot and studied extensively, so if there are two judges, I thought I am the person who can judge fairly," he said.
Regarding the most impressive contestants and dishes, he said, "Since the cuisine I do is basically Western, Japanese, and Korean, I was impressed by Chef Jeong Ji-seon, a Chinese cuisine specialist, and his 'Bath' (Chinese-style sweet and sour dish). The ingredients were definitely dried radish greens, but I was amazed thinking, 'How did he come up with this using dried radish greens?'" He also commented on the performances of chefs he had worked with in the past, such as Triple Star (Kang Seung-won), saying, "I almost cried seeing their progress. They have put in much more thought, consideration, and development than I expected, and as colleagues I worked with, I was very proud."
Regarding the perception that he looked excited before the elimination of star chef Choi Hyun-seok during the final mission, 'Infinite Cooking Hell,' he denied it, saying, "(The stories circulating online) are absolutely not true." He added, "At that time, Chef Choi's dish had many ingredients like Mapo tofu, lamb, and saffron. The taste was more complex than expected," and emphasized, "I was thinking about how to express it and probably said to Chef Choi that it was 'very delicious and fun,' but there was nothing like that at all."
With growing public interest in fine dining following 'Black & White Chef,' when asked if he plans to increase the accessibility of his cooking, he said, "I didn't think about it before, but it is meaningful to be able to make my food for more people," adding, "Such opportunities definitely need to be created. I will try to prepare for that."
Chef An led the restaurant 'Mosoo Seoul,' which received the highest rating of 3 stars in the latest Michelin Guide Seoul (2024). 'Mosoo Seoul,' which opened in 2017, closed earlier this year after the contract with its investor CJ CheilJedang ended, and it is known to be reopening around early next year.
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