What Defines Michelin-Star Success? Son Jong-won's Rare Double Case

On October 23, 2026, Shinsegae Group announced its largest executive reshuffle of the year, promoting 36 people to new roles, according to Digital Daily and Money Today. Only one of them came from a kitchen rather than an office: Son Jong-won, head chef at Chosun Hotel & Resorts, was named a specialist executive (전문임원), a title the group reserves for individuals who show exceptional expertise in a specific field rather than general managers.

The promotion put a spotlight on a question many readers search after headlines like this one: what actually separates a Michelin-starred chef from any other skilled cook? Son's own record, and the Michelin Guide's own published criteria, give a concrete, sourced answer.

The five standards Michelin inspectors use

The Michelin Guide states that its inspectors judge every restaurant, from street stalls to formal dining rooms, against five fixed criteria: ingredient quality, harmony of flavours, mastery of culinary technique, how clearly the chef's personality comes through in the cooking, and consistency across the entire menu and over time. The guide stresses that décor, service style and wine lists play no role in the decision — stars are awarded for food alone.

Per the same Michelin source, a one-star restaurant uses top-quality ingredients and delivers distinct flavours to a consistently high standard; two stars require that a kitchen team's personality and talent shine through refined, inspired dishes; three stars are reserved for cooking the guide says elevates the craft to an art form. Consistency is described as the criterion that matters most, since an exceptional meal has to be repeatable rather than a one-off.

Who is Son Jong-won

Son Jong-won, 41, originally studied civil engineering in the United States and only discovered cooking during a senior-year visit to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), according to Tatler Asia. He trained at the CIA and then worked in the kitchens of Quince and Benu in San Francisco and Noma in Copenhagen — all Michelin-starred restaurants — before returning to South Korea in 2018, per Tatler Asia and The Fair News.

That year he joined L'Escape Hotel in Seoul as head chef of its French restaurant, L'Amant Secret, on the 26th floor. In 2022 he additionally took on the role of head chef at Eatanic Garden, a contemporary Korean restaurant on the 36th floor of the Josun Palace hotel, according to The Fair News. Both restaurants currently hold one Michelin star each, according to the official Michelin Guide listings for Seoul.

Two kitchens, two cuisines, one chef

Several outlets describe Son as the only chef in South Korea currently running two separately one-starred restaurants representing different culinary traditions — Western technique at L'Amant Secret and reinterpreted Korean cuisine at Eatanic Garden. The Michelin Guide's own restaurant pages describe L'Amant Secret's food as "Korean-style Western cuisine" built on modern interpretations of local ingredients, and Eatanic Garden's as pairing traditional Korean flavours with modern technique, with dishes introduced through illustrated ingredient cards rather than a fixed menu.

Korean outlets differ on exactly how long each restaurant has held its star. The Fair News reported that L'Amant Secret earned its first star in 2020, two years after opening, and that Eatanic Garden earned its star in 2022. Money Today put the dates at 2021 and 2023 respectively. Digital Daily described six consecutive one-star years for L'Amant Secret and four consecutive one-star years for Eatanic Garden in the 2026 guide, while Tatler Asia said both restaurants have held one star for five consecutive years. The sources agree, however, that both restaurants currently hold one star each and have done so for multiple consecutive guide editions.

From kitchen to boardroom, and to television

Son has also become known to a wider public through television. He was a competitor on Netflix's "Culinary Class Wars 2" as a so-called "White Spoon" chef, and has appeared on JTBC's cooking programme referred to in Korean coverage as "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator"/"Chef & My Fridge," according to Money Today and Tatler Asia. Money Today's report on the promotion also noted that part of his public recognition stems from his on-screen presence, separate from his restaurant work.

The Fair News described Son's promotion as an unusual case of a chef reaching executive level inside a major hotel and retail group, pointing to his consecutive Michelin stars at both restaurants and his international collaborations with Michelin-listed restaurants in Singapore and Hong Kong. Son was the only specialist executive named among the 36 promotions that round, per Money Today.

Why this matters beyond one chef

The Michelin Guide's published framework makes clear that a star is not a one-time award for a standout dish or a viral television moment — it has to be re-earned through repeatable quality across an entire menu, inspected over time. Son's case shows what sustaining that standard across two different restaurants and cuisines looks like in practice, which is part of why his career has drawn attention beyond the restaurant trade press, into general business and entertainment coverage, this week.