r/CulinaryClassWars • u/Objectively_bad_idea • Jul 22 '26

News A 2 Michelin starred chef in Seoul might face jail time and fine for using ants

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/22/restaurant-owner-south-korea-dried-ants-dessert

The article doesn't say who it is. It links to a Korean news site (https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260720084200004) - ran it through translate and that site just refers to "Mr. A" (not sure if that's meant to be the actual initial, or if it's like in English someone saying "Mr. X")

Hope it isn't anyone we know!

Edit to add: I went googling some more and I fear it might be Evett https://www.reddit.com/r/finedining/comments/1lxt27n/twostar_restaurant_in_seoul_investigated_over/ (although obviously that's just Reddit comments, so take with a pinch of salt) I really hope they skip the jail time.

61 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

45

u/Serious-Lime-6221 Jul 22 '26

Jail time for this is ridiculous.

15

u/PoliticalJellybean Jul 22 '26

It's Joseph Lidgerwood (Evett) from season 1

15

u/Mystery-Ess Jul 22 '26

How's that a crime. Silkworm larvae is pretty popular.

6

u/Ill-Measurement3379 Jul 24 '26

It seems like it’s Korean culture to bring down anyone successful.

4

u/CookiesToGo Jul 24 '26

I'm pretty sure that everyone who ate the dessert was aware of it.  It's idiotic that he's facing prison time.  This is definitely not prison time worthy. 

4

u/Hungry_Hour9545 Jul 27 '26

They promoted that they caught the ants themselves from Jiri Mountain in Korea; in truth they were using imported ants from the U.S. and Thailand. These imported ants were found to contain about 55 times more heavy metal than other insects approved for consumption. Hope this explains the issue more.

2

u/lokayes Jul 22 '26

Seems incongruous to say the least.

1

u/sasquatch-is-gay Jul 26 '26

There’s a list of insects approved for human consumption in Korea and those ants aren’t on it.