Lee Chan-won is looking back on the 18 years he spent working at his parents’ makchang restaurant — and the youth he gave up for it.
According to a MoneyToday report, the trot singer shared the story on episode 62 of tvN STORY’s ‘남겨서 뭐하게’ (‘Leaving Food Behind’), aired October 12, while visiting a famous gopchang restaurant in Guri, Gyeonggi-do with Lee Young-ja and Park Se-ri.
When Lee Young-ja asked when his parents started the business, Lee said it began the year he entered elementary school — when he was 7 — and ran until he turned 25. He helped out between classes as a child, then joined full-time right after the college entrance exam, learning kitchen work from his parents, handling charcoal, and prepping ingredients in the mornings.
The shop was open 365 days a year — even on Seollal and Chuseok — since rival makchang restaurants lined the same street. ‘If I was out for a day, they’d have to hire someone new. In a small shop, one person’s share was big,’ he said, adding that he gave up nights out drinking with friends and trips to the karaoke.
He also recalled the smell clinging to his clothes — friends told him he reeked after late-night meetups — and said he would shrink into empty bus seats out of embarrassment. Showing two knife scars on his fingers, he added, ‘I cut myself doing knife work. There’s no feeling around these two spots.’
Lee looked back on those 18 years calmly, calling it simply part of family life.
