Netflix ‘Black and White Chef’ winner Napoli Mafia (Kwon Sung-jun) shared his thoughts.

On the 8th, Kwon Sung-jun shared his thoughts on winning ‘Black and White Chef’ on his SNS. He said, “Rather than expressing joy, I would like to first apologize and express my gratitude”, and “I had a hard time hiding the news of my victory for 7 months, so I think I got excited without realizing it at the end. “Even though I’m not young, I think I acted and thought a little young,” he said, and apologized first.

Kwon Sung-jun then said, “Through the broadcast, I heard a lot of advice from people around me to be humble, and I also felt a lot from seeing how the chefs who were my final opponents, Chef Edward, Triple Star Chef, and Chef Dol-ai, who cooks, were always humble and not show off,” and “When these three people were left at the end of Tofu Hell, I honestly thought they were all opponents that I would have a hard time beating, so I bragged even more in order not to be intimidated or scared. When I saw myself in person through the broadcast, I saw a lot of my arrogant and lacking sides, and it became an opportunity for me to reflect.”

He then expressed his gratitude and apology to Chef Edward. The statement, “I‘ll step on you carefully,” was intended as a stimulus to encourage everyone to keep going and not give up until the end, as this was the last dish they were all tired of, but I think it turned out to be an arrogant and reckless statement that was different from my intention. I’d like to apologize once again,“ he said, explaining, ”That‘s why I actually gave them some words of encouragement and told them to meet up at the top when I had some free time at the end of the Tofu Hell mission.“

Kwon Seong-jun also said, ”My first team match opponent, the leader of the second team match, and the last boss of the finals, I think I was able to win by chance by mustering up all my luck in my life. I probably won’t be able to win again. If we ever meet again in a team match, I‘d gladly join Chef’s team then too. I‘d like to win first place together then. Thank you and thank you for your hard work, Chef.“

Finally, he added, ”It was a year in which I learned a lot. I also want to express my gratitude to the hundreds of hard-working production staff members, the 99 chefs who worked together, and everyone who congratulated and cheered me on. Thank you.”

After reading Kwon Sung-jun’s post, Edward Lee left a comment saying, “You deserved to win. Never lose your confidence in the future,” and “(‘Black and White Chef’) was a competition program, and we all competed to win. There’s no need to apologize at all. Congratulations.”



Meanwhile, ‘Black and White Chef: Culinary Class War’ is a fierce culinary class war between 100 chefs, the ‘Black Spoon’, who are considered to have the best taste, and the ‘White Spoon’, the best star chefs in Korea. In the final episode of ‘Black and White Chef’, ‘Black Spoon’ Kwon Sung-jun, the ‘Black Spoon’, defeated ‘White Spoon’ Edward Lee, the ‘White Spoon’, to win the championship, taking home 300 million won in prize money.


● Here is Kwon Sung-jun’s full speech from Naples Mafia

Rather than expressing my joy, I would like to first apologize and thank you.

After having a hard time hiding the news of my victory for 7 months, I think I got excited without realizing it at the end. Even though I am not young, I think I acted and thought a little immaturely. Through the broadcast, I heard a lot of advice from people around me to be humble, and I also felt a lot from seeing chefs who were better than me, including my final opponents Chef Edward, Triple Star Chef, and Chef Dol-ai, who cooks, always being humble and not showing off. When these three were left at the end of Tofu Hell, I honestly thought that they were all opponents that I would have a hard time defeating, so I bragged even more in order not to be intimidated or scared. When I saw myself in person through the broadcast, I saw many arrogant and lacking aspects of myself, and it became an opportunity for me to reflect.

And I would like to express my gratitude and apology to Chef Edward. Although my story about Chef Edward was mostly edited out on the broadcast, I said in an interview that I was so impressed by Chef Edward‘s crazy tofu competition, creativity, and spirit of challenge that I couldn’t help but get goosebumps. That‘s why I went down at the end of the Tofu Hell mission when I had some time to spare and said, “Let’s meet up at the top.” And the comment, “I‘ll step on you step by step,” was meant to be a stimulus to everyone to not give up and keep going since it was the last dish that everyone was tired of, but I think it was an arrogant and reckless comment that was different from my intention. I would like to apologize once again.

My first team match opponent, the leader of the second team match, and the last finalist of the finals @chefedwardlee I think I was able to win in the finals by gathering all my luck in my life. I probably won’t be able to win again. If we ever meet again in a team battle, I would gladly join Chef‘s team then too. I would like to win first place together then. Thank you and thank you for your hard work, Chef.

Lastly, it was a year in which I learned a lot. I would like to express my gratitude to the hundreds of hard-working production staff members, the 99 chefs who worked together, and everyone who congratulated and cheered me on. Thank you.

Lee Seul-bi, Donga.com Reporter misty82@donga.com