Popular chef on new cooking show menu

Baek Jong-won / Screen capture from YouTube

Chef and entrepreneur Baek Jong-won will appear on a new cooking entertainment program, “The Three Kings of Baek Jong-won,” this month.

The show will air on Aug. 28 on SBS.

Three top chefs from different areas will join the competition under the title “Cook World Cup” on the program. Baek will be a “commentator,” and comedian Lee Hwee-jae a “caster.”

Baek’s popularity has risen through appearances on TV cooking show “House Cook Master Baek” on tvN and “My Little Television” on MBC.

Cooking shows have been mushrooming on public TV and cable channels since last year. But SBS has been sluggish in terms of entertainment shows. Many of its programs have failed to achieve popularity in the first half of the year. The focus is now on Baek to see whether his new show will help the broadcaster reclaim its glory.

Baek, 48, is CEO of several national restaurant franchises.