Culinary Class Wars judge Anh Sung-jae pauses YouTube channel after wine controversy backlash

SEOUL – Korean-American celebrity chef Anh Sung-jae, a judge on Netflix’s hit reality show Culinary Class Wars (2024 to present), is taking a hiatus from YouTube after facing criticism over a wine controversy at his Seoul fine-dining restaurant.

Anh’s YouTube team said on May 13 it would pause uploads to reorganise and review the channel’s direction.

“We hope to return with more responsible content,” the statement said.

This decision follows weeks of backlash surrounding Mosu Seoul, Ahn’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant, after a diner accused the staff of serving a wine different from the one ordered and criticised the establishment’s handling of the situation.

In April, a widely shared online post claimed the customer ordered a bottle of Chateau Leoville Barton 2000 but was served the 2005 vintage instead, which reportedly costs about 100,000 won (S$85) less.

The customer said staff offered to let them “taste the 2000 vintage” after the mistake was pointed out. It also added that the staff did not apologise.

After the post went viral, Anh admitted that a sommelier had served the 2005 bottle by mistake and did not tell the customer right away when he realised it.

He also said that when the customer asked about the wine, the sommelier brought out an empty bottle of the 2000 vintage, which Anh later called inappropriate.

Anh, 44, also apologised for subsequent remarks, including that the incident could be a “learning opportunity” for comparing different vintages.

Criticism still continued after the apology, especially when a new, unrelated video was posted on Anh’s YouTube channel about an hour later.

Viewers quickly flooded the comments section of the video. They questioned the timing, with some asking, “Is this really the right time to post a video?”, and saying it made the apology seem insincere. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK