The archive · Content & Film · Product decision · 2017–2018
tvN's Youn's Kitchen: stars run a real Korean restaurant — variety TV as honest work
Producer Na Young-seok sends actors to operate an actual pop-up Korean restaurant for ten days; genuine labor becomes the show.
tvN (CJ ENM)
What it had to solve
Korean variety television was full of shows where celebrities relaxed abroad, but producer Na Young-seok — the hit-maker behind 'Three Meals a Day' and 'Grandpa Over Flowers' — wanted a format whose content was real labor: take veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung and colleagues to a small island and make them operate an actual Korean restaurant serving tourists for ten days.
How it works
In 2017, Korean variety television was crowded with travel shows in which celebrities went abroad to relax. Producer Na Young-seok, who had built his name on formats like 'Three Meals a Day', tried the opposite: he would take stars to a small Indonesian island and make them run an actual Korean restaurant serving tourists for ten days, with no safety net of scripted games.
The cast on 'Youn's Kitchen' really worked. Youn Yuh-jung, a veteran actress, became the owner and head chef; Jung Yu-mi was her sous-chef; Lee Seo-jin managed the floor and took orders; Shin Gu joined later as a helper. The small restaurant on Gili Trawangan received real customers, and the tension came from real operations — planning menus, prep, service, tired staff — rather than artificial challenges.
Audiences responded to the authenticity. The premiere recorded a 6.2% rating, and episode two reached 9.6%, taking the top spot in its time slot for cable and overall ratings alike; during its run the show's peak ratings surpassed 16%, a striking figure for a cable program. Soompi and Korea's press framed Na Young-seok's format as a genuinely new idea in variety entertainment.
tvN renewed the show for a second season, which moved to Tenerife in Spain and aired from January 2018 with Park Seo-joon replacing Shin Goo. The premise — stars running a real business abroad — became a signature of Na Young-seok's output and a frequently cited example of Korean content formats built around honest, slow-paced labor.
Why it lands
- Real work created real stakes: a single slow service day was more dramatic than any scripted challenge because the consequences were genuine.
- Casting an acclaimed veteran like Youn Yuh-jung as the restaurant owner inverted expectations and made competence itself entertaining.
- The 'slow life' concept — an unhurried island restaurant for tired urban viewers — gave the show a clear emotional promise beyond comedy.
- Proving the format with one island restaurant made it repeatable: the same engine could move to Spain, a guesthouse, or any new workplace.
What it did
The premiere drew a 6.2% rating and episode two jumped to 9.6%, taking the top spot in its time slot for cable and overall ratings alike, with peak ratings later surpassing 16% — unusually high for a cable program. tvN renewed it, and season two opened in Tenerife, Spain in January 2018 with Park Seo-joon joining the cast.
What you can take
The twist was honesty: instead of inventing games for celebrities abroad, the show gave them a real job with real stakes — audiences watched because the work, not the play, was the fantasy.
Since then
'Youn's Kitchen' ran two seasons — Indonesia in 2017 and Spain in 2018 — and became one of tvN's most successful variety programs, with ratings that peaked above 16% and a second season that premiered in January 2018 with an expanded cast. For producer Na Young-seok the show cemented a reputation, already established by earlier hits, as the creator of innovative Korean variety formats, and the 'run a real business abroad' premise continued to influence his later projects.
Sources
- PD Na Young Suk's Latest Project 'Youn's Kitchen' Starts Off Strong With Highest Ratings In Its Time Slot
- TvN's 'Youn's Kitchen 2' to air next month
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