Via Toledo

1—1 / 59

In 2024, a Netflix series rearranged the landscape of Korea's food industry. Culinary Class Wars exploded in popularity from the moment it premiered. Restaurants run by chefs who were eliminated in the first round became nearly impossible to book. The winner's restaurant was a different matter entirely. As of 2026, the busiest and most talked-about chef in Korea is Kwon Sung-jun, Season 1 champion, known on the show by the nickname 'Napoli Matpia,' a coinage suggesting an obsession with Naples.

I had visited Kwon's restaurant, Via Toledo Pasta Bar, twice before Culinary Class Wars ever aired. I had no idea it would become one of the hardest reservations in the country. I used to send the chef photos I had taken during those visits. For a while, those memories felt almost unreal.

Via Toledo is the name of the busiest street in Naples. For Kwon Sung-jun, that city is something close to a second home. He did not live there long, but he says it is where his character and his sense of life changed most. After studying at the ALMA culinary school in Italy, he trained at three-Michelin-starred Le Calandre in Padua, northern Italy, and two-Michelin-starred Dani Maison in the south. He returned to Korea, opened Via Toledo Pasta Bar in Yeonnam-dong in July 2021, and relocated to Namyeong-dong in Yongsan in early 2023.

2—4 / 59

I first heard about this restaurant when I was living in Yeonnam-dong. I was excited when the news came out, but the timing kept not working. Then, in February 2023, shortly after the move to Namyeong-dong, I finally made it as part of a six-person private booking arranged by a friend. It was not just a regular dinner that night. It was a Via Toledo x Bimirya Boutique collaboration course, built around a caviar brand. Seven courses, 93,000 won.

5—12 / 59

I was not sure whether to bring the big lens, expecting other guests. I brought it anyway, only to find the room was entirely ours. The space felt like a studio, and I moved through it like a fish that had just found water, shutter going the whole time. That evening became the start of a personal connection with the chef, one that would later become the thread allowing me to return to Via Toledo after his Culinary Class Wars victory made it the hardest table in Korea to book.

11—15 / 59

That evening became the start of a personal connection with the chef, one that would later become the thread allowing me to return to Via Toledo after his Culinary Class Wars victory made it the hardest table in Korea to book.

The course opened with a series of small bites arranged on Italian-style serveware, each finished with Bimirya Boutique caviar and shaved truffle. The first pour was Ferrari Rose Trentodoc, a methode classique sparkling from Trentino. I made a weak joke about the car brand. The chef received it with a deadpan smile.

7—34 / 59

There was no set pairing, but four bottles carried the evening. After the Ferrari, we moved through two Italian whites: Livio Felluga's Pinot Grigio from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Casa E. di Mirafiore's Langhe Nascetta 2020, a rare native Piedmontese grape that nearly disappeared before being revived. For the mains, we opened a Buganza Nebbiolo d'Alba. Pairing Nebbiolo, the grape behind Barolo, with the Barolo-braised beef ravioli was the obvious call. The Nascetta against a risotto built from Korean ingredients turned out to be a less obvious pairing that worked better than expected.

24—25 / 59

The first proper pasta was Linguine con Bisque di Gamberi, linguine in a shrimp bisque with caviar laid on top. The direction was set immediately. Within the frame of the caviar collaboration, it showed how the chef draws from both ends of Italy into a single line.

26—33 / 59

Lasagna al tartufo con crema di funghi came next. Truffle lasagna with mushroom cream, a substantial plate following the grammar of central and northern Italy. The weight of it felt right.

35—37 / 59

At the center of the course was Barolo, Guancia e Cavolfiore. Barolo-braised beef cheek and cauliflower ravioli over a creamy base, with truffle on top. The ravioli was underneath, hidden. You had to push the spoon down to reach it. In one plate, the richness and precision of northern Italy, held in balance.

38—46 / 59

Risotto alle cime di rapa con lo sgombro, a risotto made with mukcheong (Korean turnip greens) and samchi (Korean mackerel), finished with caviar. Korean ingredients inside the structure of an Italian rice dish, and it did not feel like a stretch. The acidity and basil note that had been running through the course reappeared here. The chef explained that this is what defines southern Italian cooking.

47—52 / 59

Korean ingredients inside the structure of an Italian rice dish, and it did not feel like a stretch.

A Sorbetto di limoncello came to reset the palate.

53—54 / 59

The close was Monte bianco al tartufo, a mont blanc on chestnut cream with truffle. It confirmed what the whole course had been saying: alongside the caviar, truffle was the second axis running through the evening from first bite to last.

55—56 / 59

Near the end of the meal, one of the group insisted I see the bathroom. Neapolitan posters, the right music. I brought the camera in. The whole space held the chef's Naples story, and the bathroom was no exception.

57—58 / 59

Until that evening, Naples had been little more than a vague notion in my head, a city I associated with a safety concern and not much else. One meal and a conversation with the chef changed all of that. Leaving, I decided Naples would have to be on the next Italy trip. Via Toledo is that kind of place. Not one that simply feeds you, but one that reshapes how you feel about an entire city.

59—59 / 59