Judy Joo

In 2003, after earning an engineering degree from Columbia University and a career on Wall Street, Judy Joo traded in her spreadsheets for saucepans, to chase her true love: cooking. She enrolled in the prestigious French Culinary Institute in New York, and earned a Grand Diplôme in Pastry Arts, and then sharpened her knives as a test kitchen and editorial assistant at

SAVEUR magazine.

By 2006, Judy caught wind of London’s sizzling food scene and hopped across the pond. There, she joined Gordon Ramsay’s group and cooked at iconic spots including, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Maze, Claridge’s, Pétrus, and Boxwood Café. Not one to stay in one kitchen too long, she jetted off to stage at culinary temples like the 3 Michelin-starred The French Laundry in

California, Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray, and Bangkok’s Michelin-starred Nahm.

In 2011, Judy became a famed name as the fierce Iron Chef UK—the only female to claim that title in the UK and just the second worldwide. From there, she sliced and diced her way into TV stardom, becoming a regular face

on Food Network, and hosting her own shows: "Judy Joo’s Return to Korea" and two seasons of "Korean Food Made Simple." Her Korean culinary prowess also spilled onto the pages of her cookbooks, Korean Soul Food (2nd edition, May 2023) and Korean Food Made Simple (2nd edition, Aug 2024).

Judy’s a TV regular, dishing out culinary wisdom on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Talk, and Food Network in the USA, while popping up on UK favorites like Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch, and James Martin’s Saturday Morning. She has been featured in The New York Times, People, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine magazine, and more.

In 2021, she turned up the heat on ITV’s primetime "Cooking with the Stars", and in 2022, she started penning a monthly column for Us Weekly, grilling celebrity chefs for juicy insights. In 2023, she cooked up a diplomatic feast at 10 Downing Street for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol.

In 2014, Judy brought her bold flavors to London’s Soho with Jinjuu, a modern Korean hotspot that later expanded to Mayfair and Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong. In 2019, Judy bid farewell to Jinjuu to launch Seoul Bird, her ode to Korean street food. It debuted in Shepherd’s Bush, then soared to Las Vegas at the ARIA Hotel and Casino in 2022. The fast casual empire grew to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (home of the NY Nets) in 2023, Citi Field (home of the NY Mets), and London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024. In 2025, Seoul Bird landed in Edinburgh, and New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Judy also starred the primetime show "House of Knives", a Food Network cooking competition that premiered in March 2025. Her third book, K-Quick: Korean Food in 30 Minutes or Less, hit shelves in May 2025 (2nd edition, August 2025) across the USA and UK. Her fourth book, Mukja: Fan Favorite Recipes from K-Pop, K-Dramas, and More…, is set to debut and dazzle in Fall 2026, featuring a scrapbook-style feast of Korean pop culture-inspired dishes.

Judy Joo: engineer and finance exec turned chef, restauranteur, author and TV personality… cooking up storms, and spreading the love of Korean flavor wherever she goes.