Edward Lee (chef) facts for kids
Lee in 2018
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| Born | July 2, 1972 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
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| Cooking style | New American Southern Korean |
| Education | New York University (BA) |
| Spouse | Dianne Durcholz Lee (m. 2010) |
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Current restaurant(s)
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Award(s) won
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| Korean name | |
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| Hangul | 이균 |
| Revised Romanization | I Gyun |
| McCune–Reischauer | I Kyun |
Edward Lee (born July 2, 1972), Korean name Lee Kyun (Hangul: 이균), is an American celebrity chef, author and restaurateur. He has made numerous television appearances on shows including The Mind of a Chef, Iron Chef America, Top Chef, and Culinary Class Wars. He owns multiple restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky and Washington, D.C. and has garnered several James Beard Foundation Award nominations. In 2019, Lee was awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for his book Buttermilk Graffiti, as well as the James Beard Humanitarian Award for his organization, the LEE Initiative.
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Early life
Lee was born on July 2, 1972, in Brooklyn, New York, to Korean parents. He began cooking at age 11 and credits his grandmother with first sparking his interest in food. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in literature from New York University.
Career
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Lee began cooking professionally at age 22 in a French Moroccan restaurant called Chez Es Saada in the East Village of Manhattan. One summer, he traveled to France and cooked in several restaurants, after which he spent five years learning Korean cuisine, as well as the cuisine of other parts of East Asia and Southeast Asia.
On a trip to the Kentucky Derby in 2001, Lee fell in love with Louisville and Southern cooking. He moved to the city in 2002 and began working at 610 Magnolia with former chef and owner Eddie Garber. Barely a year after he moved to the city, he became owner of 610 Magnolia.
In 2010, Lee appeared on Season 8 of Iron Chef America. The next year, in 2011, Lee was one of the "cheftestants" on season 9 of Top Chef. He won two elimination challenges and finished fifth in the competition. He was also the host chef featured in the third season of The Mind of a Chef, for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Culinary Host.
In 2013, Lee published a cookbook, Smoke and Pickles. It received positive reviews from food journalists and other chefs including David Chang and Anthony Bourdain. The next year, in 2014, Lee partnered with YouthBuild and IDEAS 40203 to create a culinary training program based in the Smoketown neighborhood of Louisville. The program trained youth, who may not be able to afford expensive culinary schools, with skills in all aspects of the restaurant industry. In 2015, Lee's trainees launched a pop-up diner called Smoke & Soul.
In 2017, Lee was the chef judge for the American adaptation of Culinary Genius. The same year, Lee founded the LEE Initiative; Lee is an acronym for "Let's Empower Employment." The Initiative identifies issues surrounding diversity in the restaurant industry and creates solutions to help the restaurant community grow. The initiative includes two programs: Smoke and Soul, and Women Chefs in Kentucky. During the COVID pandemic, the initiative developed the Restaurant Workers Relief Program to support workers laid off by shutdowns. In 2024, the initiative won a James Beard Humanitarian Award.
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In 2023, Lee was selected as the guest chef at the April 26 state dinner at the White House during South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to the United States.
In 2024, Lee published his third book, Bourbon Land, which collects several recipes involving bourbon and elaborates its history and regional significance. The same year, Lee participated on the Korean cooking competition show Culinary Class Wars on Netflix, finishing as runner-up. There, he revealed his Korean first name, Kyun, in the finals round after making a dessert inspired by tteokbokki. Shortly afterward, it was announced that Lee would be making an appearance on a reboot of the Korean show Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, which involves chefs cooking for celebrity guests using any ingredient in their refrigerators. The show is due to air in December.
Cuisine
Edward Lee's approach to cooking frequently blends the flavors of his Korean heritage and culinary traditions with the ingredients of the southern United States including sorghum, ham, and bourbon. In The Mind of a Chef, Lee said he believes that food that grows in the same latitude often blends well together, even if the locations are thousands of miles apart.
Personal life
Lee is married to Kentucky native Dianne Durcholz Lee. They have one child.
Restaurants
In Louisville, Lee has owned 610 Magnolia, a modern restaurant specializing in Southern cuisine, since the early 2000s. There, in 2007, Lee opened a venue for special events called the Wine Studio.
Lee also owns Succotash, a restaurant combining Southern and Asian cuisine, the first location of which opened in National Harbor in 2015. Later, in 2017, he opened a second location for Succotash in Washington, D.C.
In 2020, Lee closed his Louisville restaurant, Milkwood, and briefly reopened it as McAtee Community Kitchen, named for David McAtee, which helped feed the West End, Shelby Park and Russell neighborhoods in Louisville during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, Lee opened Nami Modern Korean Steakhouse in Louisville, which was named on USA Today's best restaurants list of 2024.
In November of 2024, Lee opened a fine dining restaurant in Washington, D.C., called Shia, that aims to serve Korean American fusion cuisine, including his take on bibimbap which appeared in the tenth episode of Culinary Class Wars. The restaurant also intends to be environmentally conscious through sustainable practices such as alternatives to plastic packaging.
Current restaurants
- SHIA (Washington, D.C.)
- 610 Magnolia (Louisville, KY)
- Succotash Prime (Washington, D.C.)
- Succotash Prime (National Harbor, MD)
- Nami Modern Korean Steakhouse (Louisville, KY)
- NaCl – located in Hodges Bay Resort & Spa (St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda)
Closed restaurants
- Milkwood (Louisville, KY)
- Whiskey Dry (Louisville, KY)
- Clay (Manhattan, NY)
Awards
- 2008–2010 James Beard Award for Best Chef Category Semifinalist
- 2011–2017 James Beard Award for Best Chef Category Finalist
- 2019 James Beard Award for Best Book of the Year in Writing
- 2024 James Beard Award for Humanitarian of the Year – Awarded to LEE Initiative
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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| 2010 | Iron Chef America | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | The Mind of a Chef | Himself | 7 episodes |
| 2017 | Fermented | Himself | Documentary |
| 2021 | The Next Thing You Eat | Himself | Episode: "Restaurants: A Reckoning" |
| 2024 | Culinary Class Wars | Himself | 12 episodes |
