Nine Michelin-Starred Restaurants Including "Mingles" Join the Program

CJ CheilJedang announced on May 27 that it is recruiting participants for the 6th class of its Korean fine dining practical training program, "K-Stage."

"K-Stage" is a flagship program of CJ CheilJedang's K-Food talent development platform, "Cuisine K," offering opportunities to gain hands-on experience at leading Korean fine dining restaurants. Applicants selected through a document review and interview process will be assigned to each restaurant and participate in a paid internship for three months. Applications for the 6th class will be accepted through the official Cuisine K website until June 5. Young people with either a background in culinary studies or at least two years of work experience in a restaurant are eligible to apply.

This 6th class will involve a total of nine restaurants, marking the largest scale to date. For the first time, "Mingles," the only Michelin 3-star restaurant in Korea, as well as Michelin 1-star restaurants "Onjium," "East," and "Binho," are participating in K-Stage in partnership with Cuisine K. In addition, Michelin 2-star "Jungsik," and Michelin 1-star restaurants "Restaurant Jueun," "Solbam," "Seoul Dining," and "Restaurant San," which have joined previous sessions, will also take part in the 6th class.

 
CJ CheilJedang announced on the 27th that it is recruiting participants for the 6th class of "K-Stage," a Korean fine dining practical training program.  Photo by CJ CheilJedang

K-Stage was launched alongside the inception of Cuisine K in 2023 and has produced a total of 26 graduates to date. Some participants have been hired as full-time staff at the restaurants where they completed their internships after the program ended.

The 6th class will feature a variety of sessions each month, including expert training, visits to research institutes, and gastronomy tours, to support the growth of the next generation of chefs. Outstanding participants will also have opportunities to join future programs as alumni chefs of Cuisine K.

Park Soyeon, head of the Hansik245 team at CJ CheilJedang, stated, "This 6th K-Stage program has been designed to help young chefs build differentiated Korean culinary skills through hands-on experience at the highest level of fine dining in Korea. We will continue to focus on discovering and developing professional talent to lead the globalization of K-Food."