The second season of Netflix’s intense Korean cooking competition, Culinary Class Wars, is now underway. The new season, which premiered on December 16, 2025, brings back the high-stakes battle between elite “White Spoon” chefs and rising “Black Spoon” challengers, but with fresh rules and surprising returns. With a total of 13 episodes, the season is rolling out in weekly batches, leading to a finale in January 2026.
Fans of the show’s first season, which became a global hit on Netflix, can expect the same tense atmosphere and blind judging, but producers have promised new challenges designed to test the chefs in different ways. The core format remains: 100 chefs enter the kitchen, but only one will win the grand prize.
Complete Episode Release Schedule
The new season is being released in batches every Tuesday. This schedule allows viewers to binge several episodes at once while building anticipation for the next week’s culinary battles.
Here is the full release plan for Culinary Class Wars Season 2:
- Episodes 1-3: Released on December 16, 2025
- Episodes 4-7: Releasing on December 23, 2025
- Episodes 8-10: Releasing on December 30, 2025
- Episodes 11-12: Releasing on January 6, 2026
- Episode 13 (Finale): Releasing on January 13, 2026
New episodes drop on Netflix at 12:00 AM Pacific Time (PT) / 3:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) / 8:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The show is available globally, with multiple subtitle and audio dub options.
The Judges and the Returning Cast
The judging panel remains unchanged, with two of Korea’s most respected culinary figures overseeing the competition. Paik Jong-won, the veteran restaurateur and television star, and Anh Sung-jae, Korea’s only Michelin three-star chef, return to deliver their strict, flavor-focused evaluations.
The show’s unique class structure also returns, featuring 20 elite White Spoon chefs and 80 up-and-coming Black Spoon chefs. However, the lineup of White Spoons for Season 2 features an impressive roster of new and established stars. Notable names include two-Michelin-star chef Lee Jun, Michelin-starred chef Son Jong-won, and Venerable Sunjae, Korea’s first master of Buddhist temple cuisine.
“Fifty-seven years is not that long. The path of cooking has no end,” said veteran Chinese cuisine master Hou Deok-juk, who brings 57 years of experience to the White Spoon team.
The Black Spoon challengers, who compete under creative aliases, appear more formidable than ever. Their nicknames, such as “Three Star Killer,” “Culinary Monster,” and “Barbecue Lab Director,” hint at their confidence and skill.
Major New Twists in Season 2
While the core contest remains a brutal survival game, producers have introduced key changes to keep the competition unpredictable.
The most talked-about twist is the introduction of the “Hidden White Spoons.” Two popular chefs from Season 1—Choi Kang-rok (winner of MasterChef Korea Season 2) and Kim Do-yun (a Michelin-starred chef)—returned to compete in secret. They entered the competition disguised as Black Spoons during the first round, facing the same harsh judgment and instant elimination rules. Producer Kim Hak-min explained the choice, saying, “We invited back two chefs who received tremendous love in Season 1. By framing it as a ‘Hidden White Spoon’ comeback, we hoped to spark curiosity”.
Another significant change is in the head-to-head duel round. In Season 1, chefs selected from random refrigerators. In Season 2, they choose their battles by stepping onto a large map of South Korea laid out on the kitchen floor. Each location on the map reveals a different regional specialty ingredient that both chefs must use.
Producer Kim Hak-min noted this was a strategic decision to highlight local Korean cuisine for the show’s international audience, stating, “As the show has gained attention overseas, we wanted to contribute to Korea in our own small way by actively highlighting lesser-known regional specialties”.
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What Happened in the First Three Episodes?
The season began with the intense Black Spoon elimination round. All 80 challengers had 100 minutes to prepare their single best dish for the judges. The stakes were immediate, with well-known chef Shin Dong-min being eliminated early after Judge Anh Sung-jae criticized his concept as outdated.
The Hidden White Spoon twist was revealed mid-round. Choi Kang-rok and Kim Do-yun entered the kitchen and were subjected to an even stricter rule: both judges had to individually approve their dish for them to advance. A single “no” meant instant elimination. Kim Do-yun was cut after his perilla oil noodles failed to impress both judges. By the end of this brutal opening, only 19 Black Spoons advanced to face the 18 White Spoons.
The final part of the premiere batch shifted to the new map-based duels. The first match, featuring Black Spoon “Three Star Killer” against White Spoon Son Jung-won using Wonju beef tongue, ended with the challenger’s elimination. The third episode concluded on a cliffhanger, with a duel between Venerable Sunjae and a Black Spoon known as Dweji Gomtang using Gapyeong pine nuts. The judges could not reach an immediate decision, leaving the outcome for the next batch of episodes.
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