In 2018, the year he turned 30, he became an opening member of Atomix in New York. Before that he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked at Gramercy Tavern in New York and Geranium in Denmark. Around 2020, he says, he began preparing to open his own restaurant.
The breakthrough yearIn 2025, the year he turned 37, he appeared on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars 2 as a Black Spoon chef under the name Culinary Monster. That year he was also named the first fellow of the Korean-cuisine talent program Nanro Next, and in the episodes released on Dec. 30 he survived a consolation round after all the Black Spoons were eliminated.
On Jan. 13, 2026, the year he turned 38, he finished as runner-up behind Choi Kang-rok in the Culinary Class Wars 2 finale. The next day he apologized in a Netflix Korea interview for his words and actions on the show, and in February he appeared on Sung Anh’s YouTube channel, Insaeng84 and SBS’s The Korean Chef. On May 5, he opened his first independent restaurant, Oyatte, in Murray Hill, New York, and in July Oyatte was newly listed in the Michelin Guide New York. In August, BTS members visited Oyatte.
Hasung Lee (born 1988) became an opening member of Atomix in New York in 2018, the year he turned 30, and became known on Dec 16, 2025, the year he turned 37, when he appeared on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars 2 as Culinary Monster. He finished as runner-up on Jan 13, 2026 and opened his first independent restaurant, Oyatte, in New York on May 5, 2026.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.