Anh Sung-jae (), also professionally known as Sung Anh, is a South Korean chef. His restaurant,

Mosu Mosu is a village in Central District of Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with app ...

, was awarded the rare distinction of three

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

s for 2023 and 2024. He was one of the two judges for the 2024

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

cooking contest, '' Culinary Class Wars''.

Early life and education

Anh was born in South Korea but moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 1993 at the age of 12. He grew up in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

where his parents ran a Chinese restaurant. He enlisted in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

after high school, and after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

and the start of the

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, asked to serve in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Anh served as a mechanic, where he helped fuel combat vehicles like helicopters and tanks. After his Army service, Anh was set to attend mechanic school to become a Porsche mechanic. After seeing a group of culinary school students walk by in chef coats, however, Anh changed course and enrolled in culinary school.

Culinary career

After graduating from culinary school, Anh began working at Urasawa, where he washed dishes after volunteering to work without pay. Within a month, Anh was working closely with the head chef and owner, and was working behind the counter. He then moved to work for chef Corey Lee, the head chef at

The French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredien ...

, a Michelin three star restaurant. Lee then placed Anh at another of his restaurants,

Benu Benu may refer to: People * Benu Dasgupta (1928–2010), Indian cricket player * Benu Gopal Bangur (born 1931), Indian businessman * Benu Malla (8th century), 3rd king of the Bagdi Malla dynasty of Bishnupur * Benu Sen (1932–2011), Indian photo ...

, which also had a Michelin three stars rating. In 2016, Anh left Benu and founded his own restaurant in San Francisco,

. The restaurant earned one Michelin star in its first year, despite a review from the ''San Francisco Chronicle'''s Michael Bauer that felt the food was "still in the development stage" and commented on its high initial price. Mosu was consistently booked during its run in the city. After a year of operating Mosu in the United States, Anh decided to move the restaurant to

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...

. Upon opening Mosu in Korea, he priced the menu 30% higher than the city's previous most expensive multi-course meal, and it earned three Michelin stars in 2023, the only restaurant in South Korea with the distinction. In 2024, Mosu announced its temporary closure, with Anh saying to ''

The Chosun Daily ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...

'' about his coordination with CJ Group, his investment partner in the restaurant, "Our visions didn't align, so I decided to part ways. I'm currently working on a new restaurant with a different partner, not a large corporation, that better matches my vision." His style of fine dining is a fusion of Asian cooking with Korean fermented ingredients presented in the classic mode of French ''

haute cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

''. In 2024, he won a Chefs' Choice Award – an accolade of his peers across Asia.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{citation , title=Seoul's culinary landscape shines bright with a new three Michelin Stars restaurant , url=https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin_guide_seoul_2023_selection_announcement-eng , work=

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

, date=12 October 2022 {{citation , first=The Chosun Daily , date=2024-09-20 , title="I join Netflix's Culinary Class Wars to boost Korea's dining sector," says Michelin 3-star chef , url=https://www.chosun.com/english/people-en/2024/09/20/QN66ZYCMSNG7ZKCGMXVQCSU4E4/ , author=Kim Min-jeong , work=

{{citation , last=Soh , first=Joanne , date=2024-09-25 , title=Binge-worthy: Culinary Class Wars is Top Chef, MasterChef and Physical: 100 in one neat bite , url=https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/binge-worthy-culinary-class-wars-is-top-chef-masterchef-and-physical-100-in-one-neat-bite , newspaper=

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

, issn=0585-3923 {{citation , url=https://thebestchefawards.com/2023/03/19/sung-ahn/ , title=Sung Anh , work=The Best Chef , year=2023 {{citation , title=100 Taste of Seoul , date=2022-10-31 , publisher=펜립 , isbn=979-11-88155-03-3 , chapter=44 Mosu {{citation , url=https://www.theworlds50best.com/stories/News/chef-sung-anh-mosu-seoul-interview.html , title=Korean chef Sung Anh describes how a chance encounter changed his life course , work=50 Best , date=6 August 2024 1982 births Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants Living people South Korean chefs