Military
Serves as a conscripted police officer
Volunteered for the conscripted police and completed his military service.
Source 01 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Sam Kim · opens in a new tab Based on Wikipedia’s account; not confirmed in news reports.In 1997 he completed his military service as a conscripted police officer. In 1999, after discharge, he went to Los Angeles to study cooking. In 2006 he graduated from the Hollywood Kitchen Academy and returned to Korea. In 2009, the year he turned 32, he became head chef of the Italian restaurant Buonasera, the first Korean and the youngest to hold the post.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 33, he coached the cast of the MBC drama Pasta in cooking practice and became known as the drama’s real-life model. That year he was also chosen as an Asia star chef by an American star-chef association and was the instructing chef on SBS ETV’s Chef’s Kiss, with U-KISS. He also published the recipe book Pasta.
In 2011 he hosted Olive Cooking Time and, with Raymon Kim, Olive Cooking Time Duet, and the two were called the “Kim Brothers.” In 2012 he appeared as a chef in a Samsung Galaxy Note ad. In 2013 he appeared on YTN’s talk show 10 Years Later.
The year he turned 37, he appeared as an original member of JTBC’s Please Take Care of My Refrigerator and gained wide recognition.
In 2015 an appearance in a Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation ad led him to start the “Kids, let’s eat” campaign. That year he was also a guest on KBS2’s Happy Together 3. In 2016 he hosted Olive’s Sam Kim Goes! Cooking Together and made a special appearance on MBC’s I Live Alone.
In 2017 he opened the restaurant Osteria Sam Kim. In 2019 he appeared on SBS radio’s Kim Young-chul’s Power FM. In 2020 he ran the pasta and pizza delivery shop I Am Sam with Ahn Jung-hwan and others on tvN’s Will They Eat When Delivered.
In 2024 he joined season 2 of Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, which had returned after five years, from episode 3. In 2025 he appeared as a White Spoon on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars 2. In 2026 he took a job under cover at a restaurant in Parma, Italy, on tvN’s Undercover Chef. He told of his study-abroad family history on You Quiz on the Block and launched “Kwasak Mozzaking” with bhc.
Sam Kim (born May 8, 1977) became head chef of the Italian restaurant Buonasera in 2009, the year he turned 32, and became known in 2010, the year he turned 33, as the real-life model for the MBC drama Pasta. In 2014, the year he turned 37, he appeared as an original member of JTBC’s Please Take Care of My Refrigerator.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.