A newly revealed White Team poster―stacked with ingredients on a Ferris wheel-like rig―teases the show’s leveled-up scale. The elite White Team chefs stride in with swagger, ready to win on flavor alone.
The talent roster is stacked: two-Michelin-star chef Lee Jun; Son Jong-won, who’s earned Michelin nods in both Korean and Western fine dining; Venerable Seonjae, Korea’s first officially recognized master of temple cuisine; 57-year Chinese-cuisine legend Hu Deok-juk; 47-year French-cuisine master Park Hyo-nam; celebrity chefs Jung Ho-young, Sam Kim, and Raymond Kim; "MasterChef Korea" Season 4 judge Song Hoon; and "Korean Food War" Season 3 winner Lim Sung-keun―all suiting up for the White Team.
The main trailer cuts between the show’s split black-and-white kitchen, spotlighting Black Team underdogs who’ve sharpened their knives for a no-script, all-stakes culinary clash. “I’m ready to go global,” declares the head of a barbecue lab. “I’ve only worked at No. 1 restaurants around the world,” boasts a kitchen phenom. Nicknames like “three-star killer,” “Prince of Seochon,” “food scientist,” and a “Chinese-cuisine renegade” hint at a field of heavy hitters you wouldn’t expect to find on the challenger side.
The show’s signature blind tasting―judging on taste alone―returns to turn up the drama. Season 2 also introduces new rules, teased with the line, “There’s a new twist this season,” and the entrance of two veiled figures, one announcing, “I’m back for another shot,” setting off speculation about who’s returning―and why.
Season 1 of "Culinary Class Wars" became the first Korean unscripted series to spend three consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Top 10 for Non-English TV. It also topped Gallup Korea’s “Koreans’ Favorite Programs” in September 2024―the first OTT variety series to do so―sparking a wave of buzz at home and abroad.
"Culinary Class Wars" Season 2 premieres Dec. 16 on Netflix.
[Photo: Netflix]
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)