On the April 3 episode, KBS 2TV's "New Release Pyeonstorang" (hereafter "Pyeonstorang") introduces a rookie chef whose skills left Chef Lee Yeon-bok genuinely impressed. The contestant is Hyomin — once a member of the nation’s chart-topping girl group T-ara and now an entrepreneur. She made headlines last April when she married a finance professional 10 years her senior.
Reports identify Hyomin’s husband as Kim Hyun-seung, a managing director at Bain Capital’s Korea office. Insiders say Kim is a core dealmaker at Bain Capital, spearheading major transactions and managing the firm’s portfolios. He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in industrial engineering, worked at Bain & Company and Unison Capital, and joined Bain Capital in 2018.
In the episode’s pre-recorded segment, Hyomin is shown frantically prepping a private anniversary dinner for just the two of them to celebrate their first year of marriage. Before she cooks, she pulls out three thick notebooks and, with a serious look, goes through them page by page. The contents are jaw-dropping: detailed recipes, layouts for each cooking station’s tools, visual sketches for every dish and its plating, and a full table-setting plan — all handwritten by her. Seeing Hyomin’s meticulous playbook, Chef Lee said, “This is the kind of thing fine-dining chefs do...” — a compliment to the kind of obsessive planning that borders on genius.
“It took me a week just to plan it,” Hyomin admits. She prepared a seven-course Japanese tasting menu — the first of its kind on Pyeonstorang. It turns out she holds a certified Japanese cuisine cooking credential. She shaved daikon so thin it was paper-like, executed the advanced three-part fish fillet technique with precision, and made a variety of sushi, soba, tempura, and desserts by hand, leaving everyone stunned.
Impressed by her cooking, the menu structure, and the plating, Chef Lee said, “At this level, she should be on ‘Black & White Chef.’” Her arrival — a top-tier talent who raised the bar and put the other Pyeonstorang chefs on notice — and her Japanese full-course set, billed as "Hyomin Dining," will be revealed on KBS 2TV's "New Release Pyeonstorang" on April 3 at 9:40 PM, airing right after the Friday Night Baseball broadcast.
Ryu Ye-ji, TenAsia reporter
