[A Self-Made Man in the USA] [(Rain's best friend)]
Typically, yesterday's sales were...

It's about 100 million won a day. Then, what about your annual sales? It's over 30 billion won in just three restaurants.

[Just out of curiosity]
What is the size of your total assets? It's about *** billion won.

What? [Season B Season] [Second video for Rain's "Memory Trip to LA" last July]

[Hello, everyone]
It's my third day in LA. The third day in LA. Today...

My childhood friend who succeeded in LA. I'm going to see my high school friend. [Today's video / A Meeting with a Self-Made Man In the USA]

How long haven't you seen him? It's been a year. [(I meet him every time I visit LA)]
It hasn't been that long.

[Introducing my friend]
We went to Anyang Art High School together. [Today's guest / (A graduate from Anyang Art High School)]

He's running his own restaurants now. His sales must be in the tens of billions of won already. [(Today's guest / A self-made restaurant CEO)]

I've never thought I would see a self-made man among your friends, which is amazing. I know.

[(Best trip to LA)] I think he's the most successful among our high school graduates.

[On the way / (to his restaurant in Silver Lake)] [Arrived / (Hello)]

[(The guest is already welcoming us)] [Seeing him after a year] [Cho Min-sang / A graduate of Anyang Art High School / Chef & Restaurant CEO]

[His restaurant is famous as a must-go restaurant] [Min-sang's appearing in this video]
Other graduates from the high school would be quite surprised.

I think almost nobody knows about this restaurant. Nobody knows. They don't know that [(Now, everyone will know after watching this video)]
Min-sang has become a successful businessman in the USA.

[How many restaurants are you running?]
This one, and... [A city next to LA]
Another one in Irvine.

Two in LA, one in Irvine, and a few more in San Francisco... [(An owner of 4 restaurants in total)]

[This guy]
He's so cool because he's rich and then... [Expressing what's on my mind]

He’s impressive because he always puts in a lot of effort. [Starting from the bottom]
He started at the bottom of a restaurant in the USA.

And now he's fully settled in. [(Growing from the bottom to the top)] [Respecting him since he's a self-made man]

How did you end up moving to the USA? Initially, I moved to the USA for my studies.

We went to high school together. [(Directing) / (Acting)]
I studied directing.

[Went abroad to study more]
I went to UCLA to study directing. Then, I quit.

[(One of the top three cooking academies)]
And then, I studied at Le Cordon Bleu.

Then, I came back. [Changed his major from directing to cooking]
Do you know Nobu?

Nobu Matsuhisa is a very famous chef. He's Japanese. He launched his restaurant called NOBU.

It's the first-ever [A legendary chef contributing to the globalization of Japanese cuisine]
Japanese restaurant to achieve global success.

I started working there from the ground up. I was the first Korean man to work there. That's how I started working.

By working for him, I was able to obtain permanent residency. And, I moved to San Francisco.

I opened my own restaurant. [(Min-sang hustled in his twenties)] [Let's pause the conversation for a while and order in]
Do you have a sushi serving platter?

[Feeling like a real boss here]
Do you want me to order for you? [Order List / Ankimo (Monkfish liver dish)]

[Sushi Omakase] [Omakase Ball] [Miso Crab Salmon] [Toro Roll]

That's all for now. [One more]
That chicken dish... [(Chicken Meatball)]
Chicken Tsukune.

[The table might collapse under the weight of all the dishes] [(Overjoyed) / I'm happy to be your friend, bro!]

[Talking continues]
I hadn't seen him for almost 20 years. We met only three or four years ago.

That was an unexpected encounter. [An encounter after 20 years / (in this vast USA)]

It was my wife, not me, who met him first. She told me, "It's your friend!"

What? Who? [Amazed]
Then, there he was! So, we started talking out of curiosity.

We were like "How have you been?" Then I said, “I run my own restaurant here.”

I was thinking like, "Well, it must have only been a few years since he arrived here and started his business."

Then, he said he had a couple of restaurants. [The next day]
So, I visited his restaurant the next day.

[Ta-da]
It was a top-class restaurant. When I entered, [There were so many customers]
it was heavily crowded.

If I hadn't made a reservation in his name, I wouldn't have had the chance to dine there.

[(Can't enter without a reservation)] I saw it for myself. His business is thriving. [(So proud of what he's doing)]

[The proud dishes are coming] [Sushi Omakase / Tuna, white fish, crustaceans, uni, etc.]

[Monkfish liver / Gourmet cuisine] [Tsukune / It's very savory.]

[(Gulping) / Can't decide what to eat first; they all look so good.]

[(Starting with the white fish.)] Have some. It's so good. [Next is the seafood bowl with Ecklonia cava.]

[On top of the sheet of Ecklonia cava:] [Minced tuna, uni, and salmon roe. / A huge amount added.]

[(Dipped in soy sauce.)] A bit. [Heavenly!] [(Ecklonia cava is so good.)]

[Ecklonia cava in America.] How did you think of this? [Menu development]
I always look up different dishes at home.

There was a period when Omakase was a big hit in Korea. [Ecklonia cava is a common ingredient in Korea.] It's been used a lot.

[(Inspired by Korean-style Omakase.)] I got a Toro roll. [(Toro roll) / The never-ending sushi party.]

[Toro roll / The fatty part of a tuna's belly. / Fancy toppings] [(Toppings: Caviar and gold flakes.)]

It seems like you serve high-quality ingredients! Yes! When I dine at other restaurants, they don't serve food up to this level.

[Approved by the foodie.] These are high-quality dishes. [Grabbed a piece of glowing Toro roll.]

[Glowing Toro roll wrapped in Ecklonia cava.] [(In one bite.)] [Natural buttery flavor.]

Hey! This is so good. [(Loving all the dishes.)] [No more empty tables.] Was it fully booked last night?

[It was Sunday, the previous day in LA.] Our average daily sales are approximately 30 million won.

This location alone. This location alone? Yes, this location alone. [(He owns two more locations.)]

[Ji-hoon visited the Irvine location last time.]
The store located in Irvine that you visited last time earns

[45 million won]
between $34,000 and $35,000. When combined, all three

earn 100 million won a day. Excluding tips? [The total daily sales of all three locations is 100 million won.]
Just net sales.

If you don't mind me asking, what about the annual profit? [(Very curious.)]
The total annual profit of the three locations?

Approximately 30 billion won. During the initial phase, my wife struggled. [When he ran his first business 15 years ago.]
I made a lot of money when I was in San Francisco.

I made a lot of money. [(This is his second attempt.)]
But making a huge amount of money in my early days

I got sidetracked and got into other business opportunities. That's how I lost all the money.

[He lost all his money in a real estate business.]
What did you do? I was trying to build a building in San Francisco.

I poured a huge amount of money into it. What? [(Pardon?)] That didn't go well.

That's how I lost all my money. You lost all that money? [(A huge amount of money.)]

[Ji-hoon looks momentarily disconcerted.]
Let's hear the whole story. How did you get back on your feet?

I had suicidal thoughts, but I wanted to see it through. [Get right back up.]
I had to get right back up.

That's when I worked at a hotel restaurant as a chef. [Climbed up the ladder. / (He didn't give up and he pulled it off.)]

It taught me a lesson: I won't get into businesses I'm not familiar with. Exactly!

I really think highly of you. You lost everything you'd built over seven to eight years.

It's not just limited to you, Min-sang, but it applies to all. There's no easy way to

become successful.  If you don't mind me asking, how much wealth do you hold?

About fifty to sixty billion won. Did Ji-hoon tell you that he saved my life?

When we were in high school, he saved my life. What happened? - The electricity.
- Oh!

There was a metal rebar sticking out from the concrete, so I grabbed it.

Apparently, it was a high-voltage power line. 

If it weren't for him, I would have been dead. Did I kick you? He pushed me.

He pushed me when he noticed I was in danger. That's how he saved my life.

Wow, he's your lifesaver. I saved quite a few people.

You guys seem to have a long history. True. Since there were only a few boys in our school,

we were all close. Ji-hoon's career took off pretty early. I wonder how you felt about that.

It would have been an interesting phenomenon. I knew about his difficult childhood and

I knew he worked really hard. Well... Do you approve?

You've worked harder than anyone. My classmates would know that I worked really hard in my life.

[Hoonie gave his all since he was little.] Not just Min-sang, but even my other classmates

would have been happy for me when I succeeded. [The dream of becoming a celebrity].
It's not like I just suddenly decided this on a whim.

I've been working towards this.  You might remember, but ever since my first year of high school

I told my friends, [Seventeen-year-old Jung Ji-hoon]:
'I can't hang out with you guys much.

[I'm too busy becoming a singer.] [The legendary trainee begins.]
After school, he almost always went to the practice room

and practiced a lot. Once, we went on a school field trip, and

another school and our school had a dance battle at the subway station. [Subway high school dance battle] / [The emotional days of the 20th century]

They were dancing, and they were good. [At first],
but on our side, Ji-hoon wasn't there

and other kids were dancing and we were losing. But Ji-hoon stepped in and saved the day.

[Embarrassed] / [Hoonie established the dance hierarchy] Actually, my high school memories are everything to me.

[EN] 자수성가로 미국에서 300억 매출 셰프가 된 안양예고 동창 만난 비(정지훈)ㅣ시즌비시즌4 EP.49

가수 비(정지훈)의 하고 싶은 거 다하는 채널!
매주 재밌는 영상으로 찾아뵙겠습니다 :)

비즈니스 문의 :
rain@episodegroup.kr

