'Undercover Chef': Italian and Chengdu Chefs Coming to Korea..Broadcast Confirmed for Second Half of This Year [Official]

*This content was translated by AI.

'Undercover Chef: Friends Who Came from Afar,' a spin-off program of 'Undercover Chef,' will air in the second half of this year.

According to tvN on the 18th, the spin-off program 'Undercover Chef: Friends Who Came from Afar' (directed by Hong Jin-ju and Yoon Min-jun) promises another layer of fun by moving its stage to Korea. Local chefs who cried and laughed together with contestants while teaching them in 'Undercover Chef' will directly experience unfamiliar Korean kitchens.

'Undercover Chef,' which concluded last July, is a variety show featuring star chefs who go undercover as the youngest kitchen staff at restaurants in their home countries—the nations where their culinary foundations were built—and take on hidden missions by setting aside their status. Sam Kim went undercover at a restaurant in Parma, Italy; Jeong Ji-sun at one in Chengdu, China; and Kwon Sung-jun at a restaurant in Naples, Italy. The show depicted their journey of overcoming barriers of unfamiliar environments and languages to earn the trust of their kitchen colleagues.

Beyond simply completing missions, the program captured how people with different languages and cultures grew closer through the common ground of 'cooking,' eventually becoming like true family. This brought both laughter and emotion simultaneously. From its first broadcast, it recorded number-one viewership in its time slot every week, drawing intense interest throughout its run. The final episode achieved a peak viewership rating of 8.6% (provided by Nielsen Korea), concluding its journey with a new personal record.

Above all, there is keen interest in what new flavors and cultures these individuals, connected through food and cooking, will discover in Korea. It remains to be seen how local chefs who have preserved the authenticity of their respective regions will react when directly facing Korean cuisine and food culture, and what unexpected discoveries and stories will emerge from the meeting of different culinary traditions. Another key viewing point is how they, who were 'the youngest' overseas, will welcome these grateful friends as owner-chefs in Korea.

The production team stated, "Since these are people who run restaurants as their livelihoods, coordinating schedules was not easy. Kwon Sung-jun's Naples team and Jeong Ji-sun's Chengdu team have completed filming, but unfortunately, Sam Kim's Parma team will not be able to join this spin-off."

They continued, "However, as mentioned in the final episode of 'Undercover Chef,' we understand that the Parma team is also planning a visit to Korea in February next year. If the opportunity arises, they exchanged words about happily joining forces again at that time," conveying their enduring connection.

Furthermore, they added, "The Naples and Chengdu chefs will open up a new world of fine dining in unfamiliar Korea. In this role-reversal situation, many unexpected episodes have emerged. We hope you look forward to diverse fun and new chemistry."

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*This content was translated by AI.