Experience makes you a genius. The Genius Paik: A Concise Lesson
Another episode of food for the brain
The Genius Paik is a Korean Variety show that challenges one of the most famous experts in food business management and a top Korean chef, Paik Jong-won, to run a restaurant in a “secret” country without doing the research before. This TV show was produced by tVN and started broadcasting on April 2, 2023. For international streaming, it can be watched on VIU.
Paik Jong-won appeared with other cast members; they are Lee Jang-wo, Bambam GOT7, Yuri SNSD, and John-Park. They came to countries where K-Pop or Korean culture is not well recognized, so that would be a huge opportunity to expand and introduce Korean food and change any bad stereotypes about their culture.
I watched this show because I love cooking, and if there was Paik Jong-won, it must be fun, very insightful, especially about the culinary business, and have a lot of new recipes. It is interesting to see how Korean TV shows expand Korea widely, not only through their food but also their culture, hospitality, and creativity, and show that the giant opportunities outside are still waiting to be taken.
In sum, as a viewer, I’d love to record a concise lesson from “The Genius Paik” about things I can do if I want to run a culinary business in the future.
- Have a lot of money
Obviously, there’s no need to question how important money is to running a business. A business needs cash to provide all the necessities, including buying raw materials, paying employees, paying promotion costs, and paying for a place, accommodation, etc. Last but not least, Paik Jong-won always emphasizes that it could be trouble if we don’t have enough money to maintain our business. - Make the most of our life experience
Running a restaurant without any research sounds impossible if we do not have enough knowledge in that field. Paik Jong-won knew which country he would visit when he received the ticket right at the airport. So, he just finds out all the pieces of information in several days in the country, including the market, environment, local food and taste, culture, location, even the equipment, and the income target.
Because of the challenging business, he manages the restaurant and overcomes unpredictable situations by making the most of his experiences. Furthermore, the other members also come up with amazing ideas because they have different backgrounds, their various experiences are beneficial.
For instance, Kwon Yuri, who used to know how people queued at music concerts, drew a line for conditioning the queue, and Paik Jong-won used a lot of tricks with his cooking equipment to attract customers. - Learn your business environment comprehensively
After determining where the restaurant will be operated, acquire their culture well. Learn about the best time for customers to visit, recruit the locals to facilitate communication, and find out the locals' tastes. Furthermore, you can find out about the locals’ habits in the restaurant, how long they chitchat, the waiter's politeness, and what kind of menu they usually consume while eating. - Communicate with the customers
Language becomes a big issue when we want to communicate with foreigners. If we target them as consumers, we must at least be able to communicate with them. The Genius Paik showed that they had various ways to inform the customer, such as how to eat like a Korean, how to greet, what kind of food would be served, and many more. They take videos every day, make infographics about food and use them as table mats, and use creative body language since they can’t speak the locals’ language. - Do not draw a line
Dare to be innovative. Paik Jong-won always combines Korean and local cuisine. For example, make Korean noodle soup (Kal-guk-su) with pasta, not put any non-halal components on the menu, and many more. So, be free to be wild with your ideas. Moreover, challenge yourself to learn new pieces of knowledge like language, culture, ways to treat customers, designing restaurants, making strategies and plans, and creating a “special” nuance to attract customers. - Crisis management
In running a business, managing a crisis is like surviving the great war. The capabilities of crisis management are being examined by facing some unpredictable situations, including allergies, complaints, long queues of customers, unfunctional equipment, or even exhausting employees. - How to treat employees
Surprisingly, Paik Jong-won knows how to boost his teammate’s potential, courage to be more proactive, and initiative. He enthusiastically teaches everyone according to their task and always engages them in a discussion. He undoubtedly reprimands them if they make a mistake and gives clear instructions. - Full of strategy
Paik Jong-won, as the CEO, offers countless strategies every day. From the menu, promotion, hall management, job distribution, and improving the employee's capability, they are always changing as the day goes by.
One thing I remember is how to increase table turnover rates. This is new for me. Paik Jong-won showed his amazing strategy to increase the table turnover rate, which influenced the income, number of customers, and employee work efficiency, only through one menu. - Smart promotion
Since Paik Jong-won and the team introduce something new to foreigners, they must beat their brains out to gain customers. They not only serve authentic Korean food, but they also make the most of the culture as a marketing tool, such as the way to eat and greetings.
One of the most important is how to make the customer visit again and again or bring in another customer.
Another way to promote is to know the advantages of the product and make it interesting to order, like how John Park influences customers to order Korean raspberry wine. - Be competitive
Knowing who your competitors are is important in order to make significant moves for your business. The Genius Paik’s crews put a lot of effort into monitoring the neighbor’s restaurant and comparing it with Paik Jong-Won’s restaurant. It’s good to keep motivated and use it as a reference to set the next target and decide on strategies. - Evaluation
Identify the reason why you did not achieve your target, then evaluate, analyze, and find solutions for the next day. That is what we always do after work. In the restaurant business, we compete with time and ideas. They are flowing greatly. So, thinking constructively is required of us in order to improve and achieve a larger goal.
Throughout this show, I realized that Japanese and Chinese food is more widespread in the world than the cuisines of other Asian countries, such as South Korea, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and India. Maybe there are some people who know but are not familiar.
As an Asian, I feel like it’s a little bit sad because, due to the customer's reaction, they were curious and interested in Asian culture, especially the cuisine. Moreover, I have read some writing on Quora that someone enjoys Indonesian food on his Asian food culinary journey in Europe, and it has a lingering feeling for him. Also, the huge worldwide Korean Wave is a great opportunity to make people all over the world feel the same vibe as what they have watched. Moreover, Asian foods contain a lot of beneficial spices that need to be known.
In this show, even Paik Jong-Won hopes that his cooking could be a reference for those who are going to run a Korean Restaurant in that country. He shows his genius brain does not come up instantly; it is a long-term product that passes through hard forges.
To feed our brains, we not only need nutritious food but also experiences, failures, experiments, trying something new, brainstorming, discussion, and a lot of interaction with people. It is a long-term process and requires patience.
So, don’t give up; we are one step closer to becoming geniuses!
