Key takeaways
- tvN spin-off reverses Undercover Chef's format by bringing international chefs to Korea, with teams from Naples and Chengdu participating in filming.
- The original series achieved an 8.6 percent peak rating on Nielsen Korea, its highest viewership, while consistently dominating its time slot.
- Sam Kim's Parma team couldn't participate due to scheduling but plans to visit Korea in February next year for potential future collaboration.
tvN has greenlit a spin-off to its variety show “Undercover Chef,” completely reversing the original format by bringing international chefs to Korea for the first time. Announced on September 18, the spin-off carries the working title “Undercover Chef: Friends Who Came From Afar” and will premiere before the end of the year.
The Original Series: Premise and Cultural Impact
The flagship “Undercover Chef” concluded in July after following an innovative concept that proved immediately popular with audiences. The show sent South Korea’s most accomplished and recognized chefs abroad to work as entry-level kitchen staff—the lowest rung on the professional hierarchy—at restaurants in the exact countries where they had originally trained and built their culinary expertise decades earlier.
Three International Placements
Three chefs participated across the original run, each stationed in a different culinary destination. Sam Kim worked at a restaurant in Parma, Italy; Jung Ji Sun was placed at a kitchen in Chengdu, China; and Kwon Sung Jun took a position in Naples, Italy. Each encountered unfamiliar languages, different regional cooking traditions, kitchen hierarchies unfamiliar to their backgrounds, and covert assignments they were tasked with completing while maintaining their cover as inexperienced employees. The premise depended on their ability to hide their expertise and credentials despite possessing decades of culinary authority.
Ratings and Viewership Success
The series demonstrated substantial audience appeal from its premiere episode forward, consistently winning its time slot in viewership competition. When the series concluded with its final episode, it achieved a peak rating of 8.6 percent according to Nielsen Korea—the highest viewership the program attained across its entire run, suggesting sustained or growing audience engagement through to its conclusion.
The Spin-Off Format: A Complete Role Reversal
The upcoming spin-off fundamentally inverts the original concept. Rather than placing celebrated Korean chefs in positions of enforced humility within foreign professional kitchens, it brings the international chefs to South Korea—a country representing entirely new culinary and cultural territory for them. For this iteration, the Korean chefs will operate as restaurant owners, head chefs, and experienced culinary professionals welcoming their foreign counterparts into kitchens and culinary landscapes they have never encountered.
This structural reversal recreates the fundamental entertainment appeal of the original series—watching accomplished culinary experts navigating outside their zones of expertise and comfort—while introducing fresh interpersonal dynamics and allowing the Korean participants to experience the role of guide rather than subordinate.
Production Challenges and Incomplete Participation
Coordinating schedules across working chefs proved significantly complicated. Since each participant operates active restaurant businesses, aligning their availability for filming demanded substantial planning effort. The production team acknowledged this obstacle, noting: “Since the chefs run restaurants for a living, it wasn’t easy to coordinate their schedules.”
Completed Filming and Participating Teams
The Naples team led by Kwon Sung Jun and the Chengdu team led by Jung Ji Sun both successfully completed their filming segments and will appear in the spin-off when it airs this year. Both teams finished production and are included in the final broadcast.
The Parma Team’s Scheduling Conflict
Sam Kim’s Parma team encountered scheduling constraints that prevented their participation in the spin-off’s filming window. Rather than excluding them from future collaboration entirely, the production team arranged an alternative plan. According to announcements made during the original series’ finale, the Parma team is scheduled to visit Korea in February next year, leaving open the possibility of filming future joint projects if logistics and timing align. The production team stated: “We also talked about hopefully joining forces again and having fun together if the opportunity arises.”
Entertainment Value and Viewer Expectations
The production team highlighted the unexpected developments that emerged during filming with the teams that did participate. They noted: “The chefs from Naples and Chengdu will open up a new world of gastronomy in unfamiliar Korea. With the tables turned, many unexpected episodes came about.”
The appeal lies in observing highly trained culinary professionals encounter ingredients, cooking techniques, regional specialties, and kitchen operations entirely outside their personal experience, while the Korean host chefs facilitate and respond to their discoveries. The interpersonal chemistry between the visiting international chefs and their Korean professional counterparts creates the primary source of entertainment and dramatic tension.
Broadcast Plans and How to Watch
“Undercover Chef: Friends Who Came From Afar” will air on tvN before the year concludes. Viewers wishing to prepare can stream the original “Undercover Chef” series on Viki with English subtitles to familiarize themselves with the show’s format, meet all three participating chefs, and understand their overseas experiences before the spin-off launches.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Undercover Chef spin-off about?
The spin-off, titled "Undercover Chef: Friends Who Came From Afar," reverses the original format by bringing international chefs to Korea. Instead of Korean chefs working undercover as junior staff abroad, the foreign chefs from the original series will experience unfamiliar Korean kitchens while the Korean chefs operate as restaurant owners.
Which chefs are participating in the spin-off?
The teams from Naples (Kwon Sung Jun) and Chengdu (Jung Ji Sun) completed filming for the spin-off. Sam Kim's Parma team was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts but is planned to visit Korea in February next year.
When does the spin-off air?
"Undercover Chef: Friends Who Came From Afar" will air on tvN before the year ends. The original series is available on Viki with English subtitles.
