Edward Lee

Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Edward Lee is the chef/owner of the critically acclaimed restaurants 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky, and Succotash Prime in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. Lee has authored two books — Smoke & Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen (2013) and Buttermilk Graffiti (2018), his James Beard Award-winning memoir. An outspoken advocate for diversity and equity in the restaurant industry, he founded the LEE (Let's Empower Employment) Initiative in 2017 to identify and implement solutions to help the restaurant community.

As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, Edward Lee was exposed to all kinds of foods. However, in his traditionally patriarchal Korean home where recipes and cooking techniques were handed down to his older sister, he had to fight his way into the kitchen. Consequently, his parents were none too thrilled when Lee decided to cook professionally at the age of 22. He went to France, then worked his way through the U.S. to learn about different regional cuisines and cooking methods — eventually settling in Louisville, Kentucky, where he worked with 610 Magnolia's former chef/owner. Lee was a contestant on season 9 of Top Chef and has made numerous other television appearances, including season 3 of PBS's Mind of a Chef, Gordon Ramsay's Culinary Genius, and the documentary Fermented, which he wrote and hosted.

Edward Lee graduated from New York University with a degree in literature.

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