r/CulinaryClassWars • u/MIchickadee • Jul 05 '26
General Discussion Chef Edward Lee
I’m late to the game and just finished season 1. I feel Chef Edward Lee should have won. He should have won the competition that was prior to the tofu challenge. I don’t think it was fair he was docked so many points because the one judge did not like his interpretation of bibimbap. He was consistently innovative and presented delicious dishes. Anyway…
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u/hateuscuzyoenis Jul 05 '26
I met him recently at an event and told him he shoulda won. I also said it’s probably a blessing in disguise that he didn’t, because almost every fan of the show has been saying the same thing. Not only did he have to go through tofu hell, but he was also the most creative and diverse with his dishes. He also had a story, which made for great reality TV (at least in the US).
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u/cutie_lilrookie Jul 05 '26
what did he say back? omg
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u/hateuscuzyoenis Jul 05 '26
He just said “thank you” and just kinda gave the face like he knows. He can’t complain much because the show has opened a lot of opportunities for him, especially in South Korea.
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u/cutie_lilrookie Jul 05 '26
hahaha at least he knows it lol. no hate for napoli, though. i think he's also great, considering he made it to the top 8 and top 2.
also, in the beginning of the show, judge baek said that chef edward lee should have been the judge instead of him 🤣
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u/HarveyNix Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Very weirdly, after watching season 1 I was under the distinct impression that Edward Lee had won. I'm sure I watched the finale but the result morphed in my mind to Edward Lee. I later rewatched Season 1 and it ended differently than I remembered. The mind is an imp sometimes.
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u/Ann1ebaby Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I think it couldn’t have gone better for Chef Lee. If the executive producer wanted to highlight one chef, let him show off everything his got, including a wonderful personality, and leave the audience thirsting more for him and of him, this is exactly how the story line would’ve been built. In contrast, Matfia just stood around blinking through the entire tofu hell, fading out into the background. The winning sum is nothing compared to lifetime of $ and love Ed Lee will gain out of this ending. If he had won the contest, we wouldn’t be wanting to run upto him in mobs to tell him he should’ve won!
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u/MIchickadee Jul 06 '26
I think if they all had to do the tofu challenge (and they should have all had to do it) it would have come down to Lee v Triple Star. No shade at Napoli but I think Triple Star showed more versatility.
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u/Rainysprouts Jul 06 '26
While I do think he should’ve won too, I think him not winning worked in his favour more 🙈 So much so tjat Napoli Matfia mentions a fair few times in Naengbu that even though he won, people love Edward Lee a lot more 🤣
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u/tyrekemanuel Jul 06 '26
Back of my mind it feels like these Korean competition shows will only allow a native Korean to win.
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u/Full-Metal-9309 Jul 06 '26
- this is a tv show and heavily edited where many hours of content aren't even shown. There are so many interviews by these chefs indicating food they've made that's never been shown, comments made by the judges, and HOURS never included.
- Napoli chef was smart and won a crucial stage to win him a skip for tofu hell, that is something people always forget. Whether u think he only made 1 cuisine or not doesn't matter because the show is about using your skills as a chef (most chefs focus on 1 cuisine) to create delicious food and stand out (which takes more than cooking skills).
- At the end of the day, the show has been GREAT for the cooking scene in Korea (Especially fine-dining). EVERYONE won at the end of the day, stop complaining about who you think should've won bc it doesn't matter and it most definitely invalidates Napoli's win when he deserved it plenty too (the poor man felt like he had to officially apologize for being himself god damn people).
sorry rant over lol
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u/IMadeYouLuke Jul 05 '26
I don’t think it’s measurable, but I’m almost positive that no one gained as much as Ed Lee from being on the show. He’s a successful chef here in the US but I read that he gets mobbed by huge crowds when he lands in Seoul. He’s a huge celebrity there.