Cosmic Rice Cake Shop faces backlash over service mistakes

Na Yeong-seok's tvN variety show 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop' has become embroiled in an unexpected controversy as it began operations at its Seoul location. As the atmosphere of the business-themed variety show, which had been relatively relaxed in Goheung, shifted to a situation where the cast had to deal with a large number of actual customers in Seoul, viewers' opinions are divided on how much the cast's sloppy management and mistakes should be accepted as variety show entertainment.

In the 8th episode of 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop' aired on the 18th, the process of Lee Eun Ji, Mimi, Lee Young Ji, and An Yu Jin conducting evening operations at the Seoul store was depicted. Additionally, aespa's Karina joined as a new part-time worker, acting as a reinforcement by moving between the kitchen and the dining hall.

The problem occurred when customers flocked in. Lee Eun Ji accidentally discarded an order slip, causing a menu item for a specific table to be missing, and subsequently, the missing menu item was delivered to the wrong table. An Yu Jin also made various small and large mistakes in the kitchen, such as confusing the order of ingredients while making a mint carrot cake, necessitating a remake.

From the grammar of variety shows, such mistakes can serve as devices to create laughter. In fact, 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop' is a program that observes the process of entertainers, rather than skilled food service workers, diving into unfamiliar labor. The trial and error occurring in every process—from rice cake production to cooking and serving—and the rapid back-and-forth banter among the members have functioned as important elements of entertainment for the program.

However, the situation changed during the Seoul operations. Unlike the chaotic situations occurring in a set space designed for broadcasting, there were actual customers who had made reservations and visited. On the opening day of the Seoul store, interest was so concentrated that the number of people on the online reservation waiting list exceeded 3,000 before operations even began.

In a situation where demand surges so explosively, some argue that it becomes difficult to give the cast a free pass simply for being 'variety show novices.' In fact, some viewers expressed disappointment not with the mistakes themselves, but with the attitude and response following the mistakes. This is because the moment the food and service provided to customers become the subject matter of a variety show, the cast's inexperience becomes part of the actual customer experience rather than just a source of laughter.

Counterarguments are also significant. The essence of the program 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop' does not lie in showing a perfectly functioning restaurant, and the process of the cast fixing mistakes and dividing roles is also part of the program's narrative. A counterargument can be made that if everything in a variety show is required to meet the level of professional food service, the cast's clumsiness and the sense of spontaneity on site might actually disappear.

Ultimately, the core of the controversy lies not in the existence of mistakes themselves, but in the boundary between variety show clumsiness and the responsibility of actual business operations. While the fact that the cast is unskilled can be a source of laughter, it is pointed out that if that clumsiness causes inconvenience to actual customers, the production team needs to consider separate safety measures and operating systems.

In particular, the operating environments of Goheung and Seoul differed in scale. While they created the fun of business in Goheung by directly soliciting customers and maintaining a relatively relaxed flow, in Seoul, a high-intensity operating environment was created where they had to handle many customers in a short time due to the explosive pre-reservation demand. Even with the same cast, the required density of labor and speed of service has completely changed.

In this context, criticism toward the production team has also been raised. Rather than targeting only the individual mistakes of the cast, some view it as a question of whether the production team should have sufficiently prepared professional personnel, task distribution, and ordering systems if they designed a store for variety show entertainers to handle actual customers from the start. This means that the devices to minimize unexpected situations that may occur for the fun of the program and the inconvenience of actual customers should be considered separately.

Interestingly, the atmosphere of the store changed after Karina's involvement. Despite it being her first part-time job, Karina performed her duties relatively skillfully, handling pomegranate ade, hall serving, table cleaning, dishwashing, and even ingredient procurement. On the broadcast, Lee Eun Ji was even surprised by Karina's movements, saying, "Those are the hands of someone who has worked part-time before.""

Karina's performance had an effect beyond a simple guest appearance. In fact, the first day of operations at the Seoul store in the 8th episode recorded a record-high revenue of 1,082,800 won. While a direct causal link between a specific cast member's arrival and the rise in sales cannot be definitively established, it serves as a scene illustrating how crucial manpower is in a crowded operating environment.

Considering the nature of 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop,' this controversy may signal that the program has entered a new phase. While business in Goheung was a 'variety show experiencing unfamiliar labor,' in Seoul, it has become closer to a service industry reality show where famous cast members face actual customers directly. As the number of customers increases, the cast's labor process itself becomes content, which inevitably increases the responsibility for the results of that labor.

Na Yeong-seok has previously transformed the observation and laughter of ordinary daily labor through programs like 'Three Meals a Day,' 'Youn's Kitchen,' and 'Jinny's Kitchen.' In particular, programs featuring restaurant management have built a narrative around stars working in unfamiliar environments and forming relationships with customers.

However, 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop' has a slightly different tone from existing restaurant variety shows. With the core cast consisting of Lee Eun Ji, Mimi, Lee Young Ji, and An Yu Jin, who shared chemistry in 'Earth Arcade,' the program features strong variety energy and spontaneity, where the cast's clumsiness in labor is converted into laughter. Therefore, both minimizing the cast's mistakes too much or criticizing them excessively could cause the program to lose its essence.

That said, the viewers' discomfort cannot be dismissed simply as a reaction that fails to see variety as variety. The moment there are people paying real money to use a service, the broadcast is no longer content that is completed only within a filming set. Especially for a store that garnered such high interest through fierce reservation competition, how the production team manages the cast's trial and error and provides service to customers becomes a factor that determines the quality of the program.

Ultimately, the challenge for 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop' is not to demand that the cast become professional chefs or skilled employees. Rather, it needs a sense of balance: preserving the process of clumsy people growing while running a real business, while supplementing any inconvenience caused to actual customers through the production team's systems.

Laughter may come from the cast's mistakes, but trust is built from how those mistakes are handled. To continue the simple joy of business found in Goheung within the massive consumer space of Seoul, 'Cosmic Rice Cake Shop' must now put not only the cast's variety skills but also the production team's operational capabilities to the test.