Chef Kwon Seong-jun revealed that the income from broadcasting and collaborations is greater than the prize money from ‘Black and White Chef’.
In a career exploration content on the YouTube channel ‘Mimi Mi Nu’ released on the 13th, when asked about the average income of chefs, Chef Kwon responded, “Chefs are known for their low salaries, and fine dining chefs earn the least among all chefs.”
He added, “There are many people who want to do it and many who have done it, so the supply is high, which drives down the prices. I also started with zero won. I had a little dining experience in Korea, and based on 6-7 years ago, my salary was about 1.5 million won per month.”
Chef Kwon further stated, “Even now, there are hardly any chefs who earn over 3 million won a month.”
Regarding his income as an owner-chef, Kwon Seong-jun said, “My restaurant did well right after opening in Yeonnam-dong. It’s actually absurd for a place to do well immediately after opening. Usually, it takes about 3 to 6 months to build a regular customer base,” and explained, “Since I’m alone, there are no labor costs, the rent is cheap, and there was no investment cost, so I made about 100 million won a year after tax, which I consider to be the peak.”
When asked about his earnings after winning ‘Black and White Chef’, Chef Kwon said, “The store’s sales have only slightly increased,” adding, “I received 300 million won as the first prize for ‘Black and White Chef’. I earned more from broadcasting, events, and advertisements than the first prize money.”
He continued, “If I were to be reborn, I would never become a chef. I wouldn’t do any job related to cooking. I don’t think I could work as hard as I did in this life,” and confessed, “Back then, I did it without any thoughts, but looking back, I don’t think I could do it again.”
Chef Kwon Seong-jun gained attention by winning the Netflix variety show ‘Black and White Chef: Culinary Class War’ last year.
