In 2004, two years after leaving for Osaka without knowing any Japanese, he entered the Tsuji culinary school in Japan. He paid his tuition with part-time jobs. The year he turned 33, he came back to Korea, worked at Sushi Hyo and went independent, starting a business with colleagues using his lease deposit. In 2011, sales of sashimi and sushi fell after the Great East Japan Earthquake, but he widened the menu and customers increased.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 39, he joined JTBC’s Please Take Care of My Refrigerator as a rookie chef and faced Choi Hyun-seok using the refrigerator of ballerina Kang Sue-jin. He lost the contest.
In 2016, he appeared on KBS’s Daesikgadeul and, on Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, beat Kim Poong for his second straight win. In 2017, he was appointed professor at the Korea Hotel and Tourism Vocational College.
In 2019, he also appeared on Channel A’s Widaehan Sujeja and KBS2’s Siktagui Gisa. In 2020, he appeared on JTBC’s Giant Veteran.
In 2021, he signed with Saenggak Entertainment. At the end of the year he won the Hot Issue Entertainer Award at the KBS Entertainment Awards for Boss in the Mirror. In 2022, he won the Best Icon Award at the same ceremony as a member of Kkondaejeu, a group formed on Boss in the Mirror.
In 2023, he opened Shabu Kaden, a shabu-shabu and sukiyaki restaurant, at Hyundai Department Store Apgujeong. On TV that year he described a failed sushi restaurant that lost 100 million won in six months, and he made a guest appearance in JTBC’s King the Land with a tuna-butchering scene.
In 2024, he opened the buckwheat noodle restaurant Soba Kaden at Hyundai Department Store Jungdong and released Kaden-brand udon and sushi ready meals with 7-Eleven. He moved to Mungchin Project and, at the end of the year, rejoined Please Take Care of My Refrigerator as an original chef when it returned after five years.
In 2025, he launched Kaden-brand cold udon and cold soba with Emart and joined Kurly’s Gourmet Hall. On Please Take Care of My Refrigerator he faced Son Jong-won for the first time on the Stray Kids episode, and in December he began appearing as a White Spoon in Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars season 2. In January 2026, the year he turned 50, he finished Culinary Class Wars 2 in fourth place. In August, Kurly launched Udon Kaden frozen udon in the United States, and in September he finished third on tvN’s Street Restaurant Fighter.
Jung Ho-young (born Nov 4, 1976) went independent and started a business in 2009, the year he turned 33, and became known on Oct 26, 2015, the year he turned 39, when he joined JTBC’s Please Take Care of My Refrigerator as a rookie chef. He appeared in Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars season 2 in 2025, the year he turned 49, and finished in the top four.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Two years after leaving for Osaka without knowing any Japanese, he entered Tsuji, counted among the world’s three great culinary schools. He paid his tuition with part-time jobs.
Source 02 · Monthly JoongAng (Korean) · A chef’s belongings: Jung Ho-young’s Tsuji diploma · opens in a new tabBack in Korea, he worked in the kitchen of Chef Ahn Hyo-ju’s Sushi Hyo before going independent. He started the business with colleagues, using a 30 million won deposit left after converting a lump-sum lease into a monthly one.
Source 02 · Monthly JoongAng (Korean) · A chef’s belongings: Jung Ho-young’s Tsuji diploma · opens in a new tab The year he opened the izakaya Kaden, named after a practice room at the Tsuji school, could not be confirmed in news reports. Monthly JoongAng writes that he went through trial and error before putting down roots in Yeonhui-dong.Orders for sashimi and sushi fell over radiation fears, but he widened the menu with dishes such as braised beef tendon and pizza, and customers increased.
Source 02 · Monthly JoongAng (Korean) · A chef’s belongings: Jung Ho-young’s Tsuji diploma · opens in a new tabHe made his first appearance as a rookie chef and faced Choi Hyun-seok using the refrigerator of ballerina Kang Sue-jin. He lost the contest.
Appeared on KBS’s Daesikgadeul.
Source 14 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Chef Jung Ho-young signs with Mungchin Project · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Jung Ho-young (chef) · opens in a new tab The appearance is confirmed by Joynews24. The year is from Wikipedia and could not be confirmed in news reports.In a “house bread” contest using actor Kim Joo-hyuk’s refrigerator, he beat Kim Poong with Bonjour Maki, a blend of Japanese and French cooking, for his second straight win.
Source 05 · Busan Ilbo (Korean) · Jung Ho-young beats Kim Poong for a second straight win on Please Take Care of My Refrigerator · opens in a new tabAppointed full professor at the Korea Hotel and Tourism Vocational College, he gave his first class on April 22.
Source 06 · Cheonji Ilbo (Korean) · Professor Jung Ho-young’s Japanese cuisine class at a culinary school · opens in a new tabAppeared on the two programs in succession.
Source 14 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Chef Jung Ho-young signs with Mungchin Project · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Jung Ho-young (chef) · opens in a new tab The appearances and broadcasters are confirmed by Joynews24. The year is from Wikipedia and could not be confirmed in news reports.Appeared on JTBC’s Giant Veteran.
Source 14 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Chef Jung Ho-young signs with Mungchin Project · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Jung Ho-young (chef) · opens in a new tab The appearance is confirmed by Joynews24. The year is from Wikipedia and could not be confirmed in news reports.Signed an exclusive contract with a new agency. Hong Rok-gi and Kim Ho-joong are on the same roster.
Source 10 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Chef Jung Ho-young signs with Saenggak Entertainment · opens in a new tabWon for Boss in the Mirror. Lee Yeon-bok, of Stars’ Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant, won the same award.
Source 11 · Celuv Media (Korean) · 2021 KBS Entertainment Awards: Lee Yeon-bok and Jung Ho-young win Hot Issue Award · opens in a new tabSource 12 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Jung Ho-young wins Hot Issue Entertainer Award · opens in a new tabWon as a member of Kkondaejeu, a group formed on Boss in the Mirror, with Heo Jae, Kim Byung-hyun, Kim Jung-tae, Lee Dae-hyung, Kwak Beom and Yoo Hee-kwan.
Source 13 · OSEN (Korean) · 2022 KBS Entertainment Awards roundup · opens in a new tab The ceremony was held on Dec. 24; news reports ran the next day.Teamed up with Hyundai Green Food to open a shabu-shabu and sukiyaki restaurant.
Source 19 · News Journalism (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars master Ahn Yoo-sung to open a Japanese restaurant at Hyundai Department Store · opens in a new tab The articles do not give the opening month, so only the year is used.On Boss in the Mirror he described running a sushi restaurant that lost 100 million won in six months. He says he rebuilt it by working from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Source 09 · Money Today (Korean) · Chef Jung Ho-young on a failed sushi restaurant: six months, 100 million won in losses · opens in a new tabAppeared as a guest and performed a show butchering a large tuna said to be worth 700 million won in the drama.
Source 07 · TV Daily (Korean) · King the Land: Yoona and the tuna head that fell on the bus · opens in a new tabSource 08 · Newsen (Korean) · Im Yoon-ah receives a 700 million won tuna head · opens in a new tabOpened a buckwheat noodle restaurant in collaboration with Hyundai Green Food.
Source 19 · News Journalism (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars master Ahn Yoo-sung to open a Japanese restaurant at Hyundai Department Store · opens in a new tab The articles do not give the opening month, so only the year is used.Released three convenience-store ready meals under the name of Kaden, a restaurant selected for the Michelin Guide Seoul seven years in a row. Two months later, two more udon products were added.
Source 17 · Biz Tribune (Korean) · 7-Eleven launches Kaden-brand udon and sushi with Chef Jung Ho-young · opens in a new tabSource 18 · Shin-A Ilbo (Korean) · 7-Eleven offers Michelin chef Jung Ho-young’s Kaden udon · opens in a new tabMoved agencies and signed an exclusive contract alongside Ahn Jung-hwan, Jung Hyung-don and Kim Yong-man.
Source 14 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Chef Jung Ho-young signs with Mungchin Project · opens in a new tabReturned as an original member, with Lee Yeon-bok, Choi Hyun-seok and Kim Poong, when the show came back after five years.
Source 15 · TV Daily (Korean) · Please Take Care of My Refrigerator 2: Choi Kang-rok joins, Choi Hyun-seok returns · opens in a new tabSource 16 · TV Report (Korean) · Please Take Care of My Refrigerator returns after five years · opens in a new tab The date is based on a report of the scheduled broadcast (TV Daily).Released cold udon and cold buckwheat soba with the food maker Hanil Foods.
Source 21 · Asia Economy (Korean) · Emart launches Kaden-brand cold udon and cold soba with Chef Jung Ho-young · opens in a new tabAlong with Lee Yeon-bok and others, his name appeared in the “Hall of Fame” section of a feature collecting ready meals from the restaurants of leading chefs.
Source 20 · MyDaily (Korean) · Kurly opens a “Gourmet Hall” of ready meals from star chefs · opens in a new tabHe faced Son Jong-won for the first time, in a dessert contest using the refrigerator of Felix and Lee Know of Stray Kids. bntNews describes him as a chef on a five-win streak who had become the “Naengbu dancing machine.”
Source 22 · bntNews (Korean) · Please Take Care of My Refrigerator: Felix x Lee Know’s refrigerator · opens in a new tab The date is from a preview article published the day of the broadcast; the result of the contest could not be confirmed in news reports.Began appearing as a White Spoon chef. He says he turned down an offer to appear in season 1 because he worried that, if he lost, he would look like someone who could not cook.
Source 23 · Ilgan Sports (Korean) · Behind the scenes: Son Jong-won and Jung Ho-young join Culinary Class Wars 2 · opens in a new tabSource 24 · TV Report (Korean) · Chef Jung Ho-young on turning down season 1 · opens in a new tab The first release date is based on the “previous day” wording of the Ilgan Sports article of Dec. 17. That article described him as a star chef known from Please Take Care of My Refrigerator.Finished fourth overall, after an elimination and revival, two ties and a head-to-head against his close friend Sam Kim.
Source 26 · Gukje News (Korean) · Will the Culinary Class Wars 2 winner spoilers be right? Episode 13 release time · opens in a new tabSource 25 · Star News (Korean) · Top 4 Chef Jung Ho-young interview · opens in a new tabSource 27 · Newsen (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars 2’s fourth place Jung Ho-young finishes third on Street Restaurant Fighter · opens in a new tab The final episode was released on Jan. 13. The release date of the episode that settled fourth place could not be confirmed in news reports.Introduced as a noodle restaurant in Yeonhui-dong and Jeju, it launched two frozen udon products in the U.S. market.
Source 28 · KPI News (Korean) · After Lee Yeon-bok’s jjajang, Jung Ho-young’s udon: Kurly pushes into the U.S. market · opens in a new tabSource 29 · The Guru (Korean) · Kurly builds U.S. distribution, teams up with Chef Jung Ho-young · opens in a new tabIn the final mission, “Everyone’s Restaurant,” he finished third, behind first-place Kim Hoon and second-place Lee Sung-hoon. Teamed with Song Hoon, he said he was satisfied with ranking first in customer star ratings.
Source 27 · Newsen (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars 2’s fourth place Jung Ho-young finishes third on Street Restaurant Fighter · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2004–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
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Food · South Korea
Nov 4, 1976 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1976: the year of the event minus 1976, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.28 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.