The Genius Paik Season 1

Paik Jong-won, the top restaurateur in Korea, suddenly finds himself in Africa! In a huge night market, Jong-won must compete with around 150 other stalls to set up a new food business. With only 72 hours and 3,000 dollars to get started, Jong-won scrambles to find his footing from the start. With Lee Jang-woo and BamBam flying in from Korea to help him, they must get their food stall up and running.

CEO Paik and his employees get off to a good start at their Korean food stall in a famous night market in Marrakech. However, they soon face some unexpected hurdles and are forced to shut down their stall. The next day, the production crew busily searches for a new location to set up shop, and CEO Paik anxiously waits to find out if they can open their business again.

Since having to move to the new location, CEO Paik and his crew are off to a great start. Selling out their ingredients for the night, the group goes home feeling satisfied with their sales. The second day at their new location arrives, and Jong Won believes this day is the most crucial. However, things do not seem as lively as they were the night before.

CEO Paik opens for business on the last day in Africa. They aim to sell as much food as they can during the peak time in the markets of Morocco. Will their last day of selling tteokgalbi burgers and braised galbi be a success? Meanwhile, CEO Paik gets dropped off in Italy, the second country he will be opening a restaurant. How will he fare in Naples, where there are no Korean restaurants at all?

CEO Paik and Jang-woo arrive in Naples to start their new restaurant in a city that has never had a Korean restaurant before. With John Park and Yu-ri joining them, the preparations to open up their shop goes quite smoothly. However, opening day arrives, and they have trouble getting customers to come in and try the unfamiliar cuisine.

After a rather disappointing first day of sales in Naples, CEO Paik and the crew make some changes to the way they run the business. They take customer feedback into consideration to add to the drinks menu and even film a video to show the customers how to properly enjoy the spicy pork meal with ssam. Will the second day be better and give their sales a boost?

Baekbanjip’s second day of sales goes better than the first, but the rise in sales only stokes the fire of competitive spirit in the staff. As they open up for the third day, CEO Paik has some more marketing strategies up his sleeve. As things get busier than they expected, the staff start to encounter some new challenges as well. Lastly, a surprise guest appears while the staff prepare for dinnertime.

Baekbanjip sets a new record for sales on the third day. While they prepare to have dinner themselves, Kim Min Jae, the legendary defender of the soccer team in Naples, comes to the restaurant. As the staff at Baekbanjip are starstruck by the star soccer player, Kim Min Jae is also starstruck by the celebrity staff. Meanwhile, the fourth day of sales starts off, and it’s the busiest day ever.

Baekbanjip finally reaches its goal of being the number-one restaurant in the area after a successful fourth day. On the fifth day, CEO Paik decides to open up for dinner, which will help them make a lot more money. However, they must try out a new system in the kitchen and hall so they don’t become overwhelmed like they did the day before. Will the new strategy work out?

Baekbanjip’s fifth day comes to a close with their first successful dinner. However, seeing their rank in sales go down again, CEO Paik is determined to boost sales once more. In order to increase their table turnover rates, the staff implement some changes, such as a quick and unified menu, a new system for customers to line up outside, and staff positions in the kitchen and hall.

As the Baekbanjip Avengers continue serving gukbap meals like hotcakes, they expect to see the highest sales record to date. However, nobody expects just how big a hit it will be. Meanwhile, the employees grow tired from working nonstop for six days straight and demand that they get some time off. CEO Paik agrees, but he also has another trick up his sleeve to get the crew back to work.

CEO Paik opens Baekbanjip on a Sunday evening despite the staff’s protests. However, everything seems to be going wrong. The streets are empty, and the weather doesn’t cooperate with them either. With the last day of sales dawning on them, the Baekbanjip Avengers must come up with a plan to finish the day strong and meet the goal of creating a restaurant with annual sales of 500,000 dollars.

The Baekbanjip Avengers work hard until the very end of their last day of sales as they try to make enough to reach their goal. As they start to run out of ingredients, CEO Paik uses his genius skills to make as much money as they can with everything they have left. After a tearful goodbye, the cast members gather again in Seoul to share their memories.