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| Chef and food chain entrepreneur Back Jong-won serves as a mentor in SBS' reality show "Alley Restaurant." He visits small eateries which are struggling for various reasons and gives the owners advice on how to fix their problems to be reborn as trendy eateries. / Korea Times file |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
A small mom and pop eatery tucked away in the corner of a street near Ewha Women's University in western Seoul has invited a slew of furious reactions from viewers of an SBS late night food show, for failing to live up to the standard of clean and healthy meals.
The middle-aged husband and wife, who own the home-style meal restaurant, are being bashed by internet users after the 77th episode of "Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant" aired Wednesday.
Some blamed the couple for forgetting their humble past, lamenting their self-serving use of the publicity did a disservice to their business. Some said their business tactic of going back to their old, bad recipes was stubborn, short-sighted and was virtual business suicide.
Over a year ago before it made the SBS food show, the restaurant appeared to have no future.
The kitchen was small and messy and the food there was nothing special.
The chef had no prior proper training in the culinary industry and made dishes based on her own experience.
Her husband took orders from customers and when ready, he took the dishes to them. It was no surprise that business was slow.
The once unpopular restaurant transformed into a trendy place for younger people after the "Alley Restaurant" aired an episode about the eatery.
Since it premiered last year, Baek, a star chef and an entrepreneur of a successful food chain, has visited hundreds of small eateries which are struggling for various reasons and gave the owners advice on how to fix their problems to be reborn as trendy eateries.
Baek checked with the eatery near Ewha to figure out what was wrong with their business and gave them tips to make clean and fresh home-style meals.
The star chef also advised the couple to streamline the menu. The eatery had over 10 different dishes but Baek asked them to focus on only three ― kimchi stew with tofu, curry and spicy stir-fried pork with rice. The couple committed to following his advice.
The impact of the SBS show was incredible. Young people flocked to the small restaurant and at its peak, the eatery had 300 to 400 to four hundred customers every day for a month after it was featured on the popular show.
In the 77th episode which aired Wednesday, over a year later, Baek visited the restaurant unannounced.
Prior to his visit, SBS was informed that the eatery now had a bad reputation that was spreading quickly through social media. People who visited the restaurant gave it bad reviews and some said the restaurant was disgusting and they wouldn't go there again.
Two SBS crew members visited the eatery as customers. The undercover staff ordered three different meals. They testified that the taste and flavor of all three dishes they had were not what they used to be. According to them, the kimchi stew was too spicy, and other dishes were too salty or not fresh.
The couple also were no longer following Baek's advice, introduced two new menu items and lied about their dishes, saying they faithfully followed Baek's recipes.
Business at the eatery slowed again. The 77th episode ended there, giving a sneak preview of the forthcoming episode that will air next Wednesday.
The home―style meal eatery near Ewha made the list of most searched words on the nation's largest internet portal Naver the following day. Internet users called the couple "liars" and some described them as ego-centric people who went back to their old bad ways and tried to deceive their customers with cheap, junk meals. Some called for a boycott.
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