Ten Asia reporter Choi Ji-ye objectively and keenly points out events that have occurred throughout the entertainment industry every Tuesday. We carefully analyze the ‘glitch’ you missed from a reporter’s perspective. If one were to choose the engine of tvN's entertainment program 'Seojin's', it would be actor Park Seo-joon without hesitation. Park Seo-joon, who was quickly promoted to manager through 'Seojin's' following 'Youn's Kitchen 2' (2018) and 'Youn's Stay' (2021), has an outstanding presence both inside and outside.
It is not something that is created overnight. Park Seo-joon, who started from scratch in 'Youn's Restaurant 2' in charge of hall serving and the dessert menu, hotteok, was in charge of kitchen assistance to Jung Yu-mi, who was the manager at the time, in 'Youn's Stay'. At the time, the main dish was tteokgalbi, and since the taste depends on how much meat is kneaded, Park Seo-joon, who had good arm strength, easily performed the main role by making tteokgalbi and grilling it over low heat. In addition, he was sincere in cooking and serving dishes, such as providing a surprise seaweed rice cake soup for a birthday guest and boiling ramen for the family. Based on this experience, Park Seo-joon, who has achieved great success, will be in charge of all dishes as a chef in 'Seojin's'.
Park Seo-joon, who is demonstrating outstanding work ability as a chef, has good interpersonal relationships and leadership skills as a middle manager. He earned the trust of his superiors, President Lee Seo-jin and Director Jeong Yu-mi, by being cooperative and trustworthy, and showed the aspect of a desirable senior to interns Choi Woo-sik and V by appropriately sharing tasks and encouraging them. As orders piled up, Park Seo-joon efficiently divided the work by ordering seasoned chicken for V and tteokbokki for Choi Woo-sik. In particular, when V made and presented the spicy sauce for the kimbap menu, he approved and said it was 'just right', which was the kind of boss that MZ generation newbies want.
The ideas and challenging spirit as a manager also attracted attention. Park Seo-joon provided a crucial idea for the creation of the new menu item, Genie Combo, based on the fact that Koreans eat kimbap and ramen, or kimbap and tteokbokki. Also, after hearing that many customers were looking for rice in the chicken menu, they experimented with making so-called 'chibap' by frying chicken and rice, which led to the launch of the menu. When asked by Lee Seo-jin if he could take orders quickly during break time when customers were waiting, he answered, 'I ask you to come in first and sit down, and I will prepare quickly on time.'
Park Seo-joon, who serves as the engine of 'Seojin's', was also recognized by Lee Seo-jin, the strict and cool-headed president. Lee Seo-jin, who began evaluating employees, called Park Seo-joon his successor. Lee Seo-jin said about Park Seo-joon, “He is the person who will continue in the future, saying, ‘It’s Seo-jin,’ and then ‘It’s Seo-jun.’” In addition, he said, “He is good at cooking, gets along well with his younger siblings, and comes up with a lot of ideas.” At the same time, he gave 9.5 points, close to 10 points, saying that if he were to pass on 'Seojin's', there would be no one but Park Seo-joon.
Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr