“Chef Edward Lee deserved to be the real winner” — Culinary Class Wars finale leaves internet disappointed after an underwhelming showdown battle

Netflix's reality cooking show, Culinary Class Wars, aired its last two episodes on October 8, 2024. However, the show's finale disappointed viewers after an underwhelming showdown battle between Korean-American celebrity chef Edward Lee and up-and-coming chef Napoli Matfia aka Kwon Sung-jun.

For the unversed, Culinary Class Wars introduced 20 culinary maestros called the "White Spoons" alongside 80 new chefs from different walks of life called the "Black Spoons." While the White Spoon chefs were introduced with their real names from episode 1, the Black Spoons chefs were given a nickname and only the winner (if any) could reveal their real name.

In the last two episodes, the Top 7 semi-finalists competed in a task called the "Endless Cooking Hell," where they had to cook non-stop till only one contestant remained. After battling for over 3 hours and 30 minutes, Edward Lee—the winner of Iron Chef—made it to the finale and squared off against Napoli Matfia.

Episode 12 had two finalists—White Spoon Edward Lee and Black Spoon Napoli Matfia—who went toe-to-toe to showcase their culinary prowess. Although Napoli Matfia aka Kwon Sung-jun, won the title and the 300 million won (approximately $223,564.44), Edward Lee won the viewers' hearts globally. Viewers strongly felt that Edward Lee should have won the Culinary Class Wars title.

One X user stated that for them Edward Lee is the real winner and wrote:

“Chef Edward Lee deserved to be the real winner”

Netizens discussed the Culinary Class Wars finale and lauded Edward Lee for his creativity. Viewers resonated more with Edward Lee as he shared his emotional journey of finding his Korean roots. They stated that he "is the winner" for them.

"The Black Spoons revealed his true identity and won the competition, but Edward Lee found something deeper—his Korean name," an X user wrote.

"From that tofu challenge alone, Edward Lee is the winner, agree with what others are saying that the final round was underwhelming. Felt like they gave it to the black spoon on purpose (not saying he don’t deserve to win, but just looking at it innovatively)," another user wrote.

"Literally have a huge respect to chef Edward Lee! His creativity was on another level and beyond the box… he always put his heart and soul into his dishes.. you are the true winner," one other user added.

Others highlighted that after cooking non-stop for over 3 hours, Edward Lee not only displayed his decades-long culinary skills but also presented creative recipes, breaking stereotypes. They expressed their disappointment over Napoli Matfia winning Culinary Class Wars instead of Edward Lee.

"For me, chef Edward Lee should've won. Not only he is a great cook, he always incorporates Korean dishes, always inventing plus he's a charmer. I also think Triple Star should be in the top 2." one X user said.

"Unpopular opinion, I think Triple star and Edward Lee are the more deserving top2. They think out of the box and they are the ones who actually pushes the limit of Korean Cuisine. Still, congratulations to Napoli Matfia," another user added.

"I personally think that Edward Lee should’ve won the Culinary Class War. A desert inspired by tteokbokki was seriously so creative I couldn’t even think of it. But again, Napoli Matfia’s dishes seemed to always get easy approval from the judge so congrats Chef Kwon!" one user stated.

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More about the Top 8 semi-finalists of Culinary Class Wars

The White Spoons who made it to the top 8 semi-finalists were, Choi Hyun-seok, who is the owner of Seoul’s fine-dining Korean-European restaurant Choi Dot and Central Reducer; Chef Edward Lee, winner of the Iron Chef America and a judge at Gordon Ramsay’s Culinary Genius; Jung Ji-sun, head chef at Tian Mimi; Jang Ho-jun, chef and CEO of Negi Company.

The contestants from the Black Spoons were, Napoli Matfia aka Kwon Sung-jun, owner-chef of Via Toledo; Triple Star aka Scott Kang, chef and owner of Trid; Auntie Omakase #1 aka Lee Mi-ryeong, owner of the popular eatery Drinks and Merriment; and Cooking Maniac aka Yoon Nam-no, head-chef at Deepin.

Notably, the Korean-American chef, Edward Lee, had also cooked for the President of the United States besides winning the Iron Chef America contest. And Scott Kang (Triple Star) has worked in three Michelin-starred restaurants including Ahn Sung-jae's three-starred Michelin restaurant, Mosu Seoul.

Culinary Class Wars was judged by the Korean celebrity chef, Paik Jong-won and Ahn Sung-jae.

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Culinary Class Wars is available on Netflix for global streaming.