Season 1 of Culinary Class Wars sent a hundred chefs into the world's queue of reservations, and the queue has not recovered. But the show aired in late 2024, and kitchens move faster than streaming catalogues: the single most-searched booking from the season — the winner's — no longer exists. Start there, because every other guide buries it.
Who you cannot book, and why that matters
Kwon Sung-jun, "Napoli Matfia" — winner. His Via Toledo Pasta Bar in Yongsan closed in June 2026; a bigger project is reportedly in development. Until it opens, nothing bookable carries his name.
Edward Lee — runner-up. His restaurants are in the United States, not Seoul. Beloved on screen, unbookable on this side of the Pacific.
That leaves the chefs who were famous before the cameras arrived — and they are very bookable.
The bookable list
| Restaurant | Chef | Style | Price | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHOI.DOT 쵸이닷 | Choi Hyun-seok | Korean-European tasting | Fine dining | CatchTable / Naver |
| Central Reducer 센트럴리듀서 | Choi Hyun-seok | Chinese | Mid–upper | CatchTable / Naver |
| Dahlia Dining 달리아다이닝 | Choi Hyun-seok | Plant-based fine dining | Fine dining | CatchTable / Naver |
The restaurants, one by one
CHOI.DOT 쵸이닷 — the showman's main stage
Chef: Choi Hyun-seok 최현석 — the white-spoon showman of season 1
Style: Korean-European tasting menus — his signature theatre, plated
Address: 3F, 457 Dosan-daero, Gangnam-gu · 서울 강남구 도산대로 457 3층
Subway: Apgujeong Rodeo Stn (Suin–Bundang line), then a short walk down Dosan-daero
Price: Tasting-menu territory — current menus and prices are on CatchTable at booking
Booking: Naver listing · CatchTable Global, search 쵸이닷
The flagship. If you watched him salt a dish from shoulder height and want the full version of that confidence, this is the room where it lives.
Central Reducer 센트럴리듀서 — the same chef, in Chinese
Chef: Choi Hyun-seok — second kitchen, different cuisine
Style: Chinese, through a fine-dining lens
Address: 7-1 Seongsuil-ro 6-gil, Seongdong-gu · 서울 성동구 성수일로6길 7-1
Subway: Seongsu Stn (Line 2), into the warehouse side streets
Price: Mid to upper — less than the tasting rooms, more than the street
Booking: Naver listing · CatchTable, search 센트럴리듀서
Sits in Seongsu's concept-store quarter, which makes it the easiest to pair with an afternoon — the shopping-district guide covers the neighbourhood.
Dahlia Dining 달리아다이닝 — the vegetable argument
Chef: Choi Hyun-seok — the quietest of his three
Style: Plant-based fine dining, no meat on the menu
Address: 14 Dosan-daero 45-gil, Gangnam-gu · 서울 강남구 도산대로45길 14
Subway: Apgujeong Rodeo Stn (Suin–Bundang line)
Price: Fine dining — menus on CatchTable
Booking: Naver listing · CatchTable, search 달리아다이닝
Worth knowing for vegetarian travellers chasing the show: this is the one cast restaurant where the whole menu already is one.
The full top 8, by show name
Season 1's semifinal eight, each with the alias the show made famous — and the honest state of their tables in October 2026. Naver links go to the live listing, which outranks anything printed here.
| Show name | 화명 | Chef | Restaurant | 2026 status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napoli Matfia | 나폴리 맛피아 | Kwon Sung-jun | Via Toledo Pasta Bar | Closed June 2026 — winner, new space in development |
| Edward Lee | 에드워드 리 | Edward Lee | — (US only) | Runner-up; his tables are in Louisville and DC |
| — | 최현석 | Choi Hyun-seok | CHOI.DOT · Central Reducer · Dahlia Dining | All bookable — details above |
| Triple Star | 트리플 스타 | — | Trid 트리드 | Check the live listing before planning — Naver |
| Cooking Maniac | 요리하는 돌아이 | Yoon Nam-no | Dipin 디핀 | By name — Naver: 디핀 |
| Auntie Omakase No.1 | 이모카세 1호 | Kim Mi-ryung | Her own counter | By name — Naver: 이모카세 |
| — | 정지선 | Jung Ji-sun | Tian Mi Mi 티엔미미 | By name — Naver: 티엔미미 |
| — | 장호준 | Jang Ho-jun | — | By name — Naver: 장호준 셰프 |
Rows marked "by name" are real people from the final eight whose current address could not be verified to this page's standard — the Naver search is the source of truth for where they are this month, and that is deliberate: a printed address that has gone stale sends you across the city to a shutter.
How booking actually works
CatchTable is the platform — the CatchTable Global app runs in English and takes foreign cards. Fine-dining rooms release tables monthly, and the famous ones go the morning they open: find your target's release day in the app, set an alarm, and join the waitlist for cancellations if you miss. Naver works too, in Korean, through the links above.
Verified October 2026 against the booking platforms and restaurant listings themselves. Kitchens close faster than articles update — confirm on CatchTable or Naver before you build a night around any table here.
