Corey Lee (born 1977) is a Korean-American chef and restaurateur based in San Francisco. In 2014, his flagship restaurant, Benu, became the first in San Francisco to receive three stars from the Michelin Guide, making Lee the first Korean chef to garner that accolade. [1] [2] In 2019, Benu made its debut on The World's 50 Best Restaurants. [3] Lee is also a two-time James Beard Award winner, a former Food & Wine Best New Chef, and a Goodwill Ambassador to Seoul. [4] [5] [6]
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lee moved to the U.S. with his family in 1982. At age 17, he began his career in restaurants at Blue Ribbon Sushi in New York. [7] He then went on to work and stage at fine dining institutions such as Pied à Terre, The Restaurant Marco Pierre White, Lucas Carton, Guy Savoy, Daniel, and Lespinasse. [8] In 2001, he began what would be his nine-year working relationship with Thomas Keller at The French Laundry. During that time, he also spent a year opening Per Se in New York City, returning to The French Laundry as head chef. [9]
In 2010, Lee opened Benu in San Francisco and within 6 months was included in The New York Times list of "10 Restaurants Worth a Plane Ride". [10] Benu has maintained three stars from the Michelin Guide since 2014. [11] It has also won the AAA Five Diamond Award, 5 stars from the Forbes Travel Guide, and a James Beard Award for Best Wine Program. [12] [13] [14] Benu’s fixed menu incorporates ingredients and techniques from many different cuisines, including Korean and Cantonese. [15]
Lee has presented at several international culinary events such as Madrid Fusion, Gastronomika, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Global Leaders Forum, and Seoul Gourmet. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] He has also given guest lectures at Harvard University and UCSF. [21] [22] His television appearances include Charlie Rose and Korean documentaries produced by KBS, Olive TV, Arirang, and TV Chosun. [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]
In 2015, he authored Benu–a collection of recipes and essays that explores the restaurant's food, influences, and collaborators–with forewords by Thomas Keller and David Chang, published by Phaidon and designed by Julia Hasting. [28]
Lee also acted as food consultant for the film Coming Home Again , directed by Wayne Wang and based on The New Yorker short story by Chang-Rae Lee. [29]
Drawing on his training in traditional French cooking, Lee opened the bistro Monsieur Benjamin in 2014. [30] In 2016, he opened In Situ inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. [31] Its website describes it as an exhibition restaurant that “[brings] together a revolving collection of culinary influencers, innovators, and icons to make their contributions accessible for greater public engagement.” [32] Hailed as “America’s Most Original New Restaurant” by The New York Times , it earned one Michelin star and won the 2018 James Beard Award for Best Restaurant Design (76 Seats and Over). [33] [34] In November 2021, he opened SAN HO WON, a “Korean, charcoal BBQ restaurant located in the Mission District of San Francisco.” [35] It was named #1 Best New Restaurant in America by Robb Report and included in The New York Times 2022 list of their 50 favorite restaurants in America. [36] [37]
Benu is a three-Michelin star New American restaurant located in the SoMa district of downtown San Francisco opened in 2010 by chef Corey Lee, the former Chef de cuisine at the French Laundry. Benu made the list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2019.
Thomas Aloysius Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The restaurant was a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World; the voting process has since been changed to disallow previous winners from being considered.
The French Laundry is a three-Michelin-star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredients; she was a visionary chef and pioneer of California cuisine. Since 1994, the chef and owner of The French Laundry is Thomas Keller. The restaurant building dates from 1900 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Momofuku is a culinary brand established by chef David Chang in 2004 with the opening of Momofuku Noodle Bar. It includes restaurants in New York City, Toronto (defunct), Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, a bakery established by pastry chef Christina Tosi, a bar (Nikai), and a quarterly magazine.
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Daniel Humm is a Swiss plant-based chef and owner of Eleven Madison Park.
Anthony Eric Myint is an American restaurateur, chef, activist, author and food consultant based in the Mission in San Francisco, California. He is a founder of Mission Chinese Food, "The Perennial", Mission Street Food, Mission Cantina, "Mission Burger", "Lt. Waffle", and "Commonwealth Restaurant". He is a pioneer in the environmental and charitable restaurant movement.
Melissa Perello is an American chef, she is best known for holding a Michelin star at her restaurant Frances in San Francisco. She had previously won a star at restaurant Fifth Floor, and has won awards from both Chronicles and Food & Wine magazines.
Christopher Kostow is the executive chef at The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley, California. Under chef-owner Kostow, The restaurant was awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide consecutively from 2011 to 2019. In 2013, Chef Kostow was awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for "Best Chef: West".
Saison is a San Francisco restaurant that earned the highest rating of three stars from the Michelin Guide in 2014. It is located in the SoMa district. The founder is Beverage Director and Winemaker for Saison Winery, Mark Bright. The Executive Chef is Richard Lee.
Grace was a restaurant in the West Loop neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It had been ranked 3 stars by the Michelin Guide each year since 2015. Before closing on December 20, 2017, Alinea and Grace were the only Chicago restaurants with three Michelin stars.
Quince is a restaurant in the Jackson Square neighborhood in San Francisco, California. Opened in 2003 by chef Michael Tusk and his wife, Lindsay, in Pacific Heights, the restaurant has been located in Jackson Square since 2009. A sister restaurant, Cotogna, opened next door in 2011.
In Situ was a restaurant located inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The concept was conceived by Corey Lee (chef), who is also the owner and chef of the nearby 3-Michelin-star-rated Benu.
COTE Korean Steakhouse is owned and operated by Simon Kim, a Korean-American restaurateur. The first location was opened in the Flatiron District of New York City in 2017 and has been awarded one Michelin star and several accolades from the James Beard Foundation. COTE is the only Michelin-starred Korean barbecue restaurant in the world. COTE's second location opened in Miami Design District in February, 2021.
State Bird Provisions is a San Francisco restaurant founded by chef-owners Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski.
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize culinary professionals in the United States. The awards recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists each year, and are generally scheduled around James Beard's May birthday.
Kasama is a Filipino restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. The restaurant has received a Michelin star, making it the world's first Filipino restaurant to earn one.
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