Debut
Starts cooking
Began cooking in 1990.
Source 01 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · First master chef from Honam · opens in a new tab The article gives the year only; the month and day were not confirmed.The year he turned 18, he started cooking. In 1997, he was recruited as executive chef of Mudeung Park Hotel in Gwangju.
In 2002, he left the hotel and opened the Japanese restaurant Gamae Ilsik in Gwangju. Around 2010, he set up a gallery inside the restaurant. In 2019, as head of the Gwangju-Jeonnam chapter of the Korea Cooks Association Central Federation, he held the WACS-certified Gwangju Chef Challenge. The year he turned 51, he was selected as a Korean Master Craftsman in cooking, the first from the Honam region.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 52, he appeared as a White Spoon on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars and became known. He says he decided to appear when told that no contestant had come from Honam.
In 2025, he delivered food to Andong wildfire evacuees in March and joined KBS2’s Boss in the Mirror in May. He held the National Sushi King Contest in June, and appeared on MBC’s Puk Swimyeon Dahaengiya in October and tvN STORY’s Yongyeo Hankki in December. In 2026, he appeared on EBS’s Seo Jang-hoon’s Millionaire Next Door and received a citation for the 40th anniversary of the Master Craftsman system. In September, his appearance at a cooking show at the Yeosu World Island Expo was announced, and plans to open Gamae Ilsik at The Hyundai Pangyo were reported.
Ahn You-seong started cooking in 1990, the year he turned 18, and on Aug 30, 2023, the year he turned 51, was selected as the first Korean master craftsman in cooking from the Honam region. He became known on Sep 17, 2024, the year he turned 52, by appearing on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.