Chef Son Jong-won’s Motivational Quote on Culinary Class Wars
Chef Son Jong-won is not a chef who speaks often, but when he does, his words carry the weight of experience forged in real kitchens under real pressure. From Michelin-starred fine dining in the United States to leading two Michelin 1-star restaurants in Seoul, his philosophy has been shaped by discipline, failure, and relentless problem-solving. The quotes he has shared—whether on television or in interviews—are not polished slogans, but practical principles drawn from moments when things did not go according to plan. This post brings together Chef Son Jong-won’s most memorable quotes and unpacks the mindset behind them, offering insight into how a top-tier chef thinks, decides, and endures.
Who Is Chef Son Jong-won?
Chef Son Jong-won is a Korean fine-dining chef known for his modern interpretation of Korean cuisine. With experience in Michelin-starred kitchens in the U.S. and Korea, he leads Eatanic Garden with a philosophy rooted in precision, balance, and calm decision-making under pressure.
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Chef Son Jong-won’s Motivational Quote and His Defining Moment on Culinary Class Wars
In Episode 9 of Culinary Class Wars: The Battle of Culinary Hierarchy Season 2, released on December 30, 2025, a solo competition unfolded among the black-spoon chefs who had been eliminated in the earlier team round. Through this intense showdown, only two black-spoon chefs advanced to the next stage. As a result, a large-scale elimination round took place in which half of the 14 remaining chefs—12 white-spoon chefs and 2 black-spoon chefs—were sent home.
The rules for this round were relatively complex. Contestants were allowed to freely form teams of two, after which the judges divided them into “survival candidates” and “elimination candidates.” The team ranked first among the survival candidates secured advancement for both members, while the team ranked last among the elimination candidates saw both chefs eliminated. The remaining five teams then faced internal one-on-one sudden-death cook-offs, with only one chef from each team surviving. Ultimately, only seven chefs advanced to the semifinals, and it was clearly stated that there would be no additional wild-card advancements beyond this round. As such, finishing first in the team challenge was crucial to avoid the sudden-death matches. In a situation that demanded collaboration beyond differences in experience and culinary genre, each duo had to showcase perfect synergy—leveraging their individual strengths to deliver a collaborative dish that left the judges with a clear sense of satisfaction and emotional impact.
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| Chef Son Jong-won and “Cooking Monster” Lee Ha-seong discussing which dish to present ahead of the duo mission in Culinary Class Wars Season 2, Episode 9 (Image source: YouTube video capture) |
In this round, black-spoon chef “Cooking Monster” Lee Ha-seong teamed up with white-spoon chef Son Jong-won. The two chefs share several notable commonalities. Both have backgrounds at the Culinary Institute of America—Son Jong-won having left before graduation, and Lee Ha-seong as a graduate—and both previously trained at the Michelin three-star fine-dining restaurant benu. Their careers also overlap in that both spent significant time working in the United States. Given these shared experiences, expectations were high that their collaboration would set them apart from the other teams.
After discussion, the duo settled on the concept of a Waldorf salad. Widely known through the film Scent of a Woman, the Waldorf salad originated at the Waldorf Astoria New York and has become an iconic dish representing New York City. Rather than recreating the classic combination of apples, celery, and walnuts, the chefs chose to reinterpret it in an entirely new form. They prepared a salad using lump crab meat, placed it atop a genoise sponge, and rolled it into a cylindrical shape. The apple component was transformed into a jelly sphere, while the final plate was completed with a brioche tart filled with a spoonful of caviar. The challenge lay in executing this complex, highly ambitious dish within a strict two-hour time limit.
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| A glimpse of the detailed timetable Chef Son Jong-won created in five-minute increments to efficiently manage the two-hour cooking time before the duo mission in Culinary Class Wars Season 2, Episode 9 (Image source: YouTube video capture) |
To manage the time efficiently, Chef Son Jong-won created a detailed timeline, breaking the two hours down into five-minute intervals. The plan was to complete all components within the first 90 minutes, conduct a test tasting, and then spend the remaining 30 minutes refining flavor, structure, and plating. This approach allowed the team to quickly reorient themselves whenever unexpected variables arose. Judge Ahn Sung-jae, upon reviewing their timeline, nodded in agreement, commenting that “a timeline like this provides a sense of mental stability.” However, it was also a high-risk strategy, as there was no Plan B if anything went wrong. Addressing this, Son Jong-won stated clearly, “There are safer ways to approach it, but without taking risks, you can’t create anything new.”
The cooking process went relatively smoothly in the early stages. The brioche tart with caviar and the apple jelly were completed without issue. Trouble arose, however, during the preparation of the genoise meant to wrap the crab salad. The genoise, which was handled by Lee Ha-seong, turned out drier than expected, resulting in a texture that was firm rather than soft. When rolled around the salad, it cracked and broke apart. The cause was the unfamiliar oven used in the competition kitchen, which baked the sponge more dryly than anticipated.
It was at this moment that Chef Son Jong-won’s ingenuity came into play. To restore moisture and improve the texture of the already-baked genoise, he switched the oven to steam mode and decided to reuse the existing sponge rather than starting over. While the result wasn’t perfectly aligned with their original vision, the genoise softened enough to successfully wrap the crab salad, allowing them to shape, slice, and plate the dish.
It was during this moment that Son Jong-won delivered a memorable remark:
““당황스럽죠. 사실 시간이 막 많이 남은 상태가 아니었고, 이걸 다시 만들 수도 없는 시간이었잖아요. 시간이. 그래서. 그런데 제 역할은 당황스러워하는 게 역할이 아니고 설루션을 찾아야 되는 거잖아요. 근데 주방에서 항상 그런 일이 일어나거든요. 계획대로만 흘러가면 얼마나 좋아요. 근데 항상 변수가 있고 예상치 못하게 일이 되는데 이제 그거를 어떻게 보면은 가장 알맞게 대처하려고 제가 있다고 생각을 해요." ("Of course I was flustered. We had only 18 minutes left, and there was no time to remake it. But panicking isn’t my role. My job is to find a solution. Things like this happen all the time in the kitchen. It would be great if everything went according to plan, but it never does. There are always variables, unexpected situations. And I think my role is to respond to those moments in the best possible way.")
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| An interview moment from the duo mission in Culinary Class Wars Season 2, Episode 9, where Chef Son Jong-won overcame a potential failure caused by an overly firm genoise through quick thinking and adaptability (Image source: YouTube video capture) |
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| The reinterpreted Waldorf salad created through the collaboration between Chef Son Jong-won and “Cooking Monster” Lee Ha-seong during the duo mission in Culinary Class Wars Season 2, Episode 9 (Image source: YouTube video capture) |
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| Chef Son Jong-won and “Cooking Monster” Lee Ha-seong waiting anxiously for the judges’ final evaluation during the duo mission in Culinary Class Wars Season 2, Episode 9 (Image source: YouTube video capture) |
This single statement clearly reveals the kind of chef Son Jong-won is—and the philosophy with which he has long led the kitchens of L’Amant Secret and Eatanic Garden.
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