Christopher Lee is a chef who specializes in

New American cuisine New American cuisine, also known as Modern American cuisine or Contemporary American cuisine, is the wave of modernized cooking predominantly served at upscale fine dining restaurants in the United States, originating in the 1980s. New American ...

Career

Lee received his culinary education from the

California Culinary Academy The California Culinary Academy (CCA) was a for-profit school, and an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu located in San Francisco, California. Danielle Carlisle established the school in 1977 to train chefs using the European education model. The origina ...

and later went on to work at many restaurants in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, such as Restaurant Daniel, under Chef

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, the Berkshires and Dubai. He is best known ...

, Jean Georges, and The Fifth Floor. Chef Lee's career took off when he accepted the

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen. Duties and functions The sous-chef has many re ...

position at seafood restaurant Oceana in New York, under chef Cornelius Gallagher. The restaurant received glowing reviews from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established i ...

''. Afterward, Chef Lee was recruited by

Gotham Bar and Grill Gotham Bar and Grill is a New American restaurant located at 12 East 12th Street (between Fifth Avenue and University Place), in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, in New York City. It opened in 1984. It closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...

's Alfred Portale for the

chef de cuisine A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are genera ...

position at Stephen Starr's remake of the Striped Bass, in Philadelphia. Lee quickly rose to the executive chef position. In August 2006, Chef Lee moved back to

to accept the executive chef position at Gilt, which earned him international acclaim. The restaurant received four stars from

Crain's New York Business Crain Communications Inc is an American multi-industry publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 non-US subsidiaries. History Gustavus Dedman (G.D.) Crain, Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain, Jr.; 1885–1973), pre ...

, and under Chef Lee's guidance, Gilt also earned its first-ever Michelin 2-star rating. In late 2008, Lee accepted an offer from Charlie Palmer to be the executive chef at Aureole in NY. He led the transformation of Aureole from the quiet Upper Eastside townhouse, to a Times Square mega restaurant. The restaurant opened with three dining rooms, with significantly different menus and price points, which all operate from the same basement kitchen. It featured a fine dining room, with grand

tasting menu A tasting menu is a collection of several dishes in small portions, served by a restaurant as a single meal. The French name for a tasting menu is ''menu dégustation''. Some restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other case ...

s; a bar/lounge with more casual seating and an a la carte menu; and a private dining room. In December 2010, Chef Lee and Charlie Palmer decided to part ways. In March 2010, Chef Lee partnered up with a Chelsea restaurant, Las Chicas Locas, to oversee culinary operations, and promoted his protégé, Chef Katie Busch to executive chef. The two were contracted for one year to redesign the restaurant, menu, and operations. She also worked alongside Chef Lee as his sous chef, at Aureole during this time. In October 2010, during his time at Aureole, Lee also opened his own restaurant, Eden South Beach, in Miami Beach Florida, with partner Larry Rizzo. Eden emulates Chef Lee's New American cuisine in a bistro setting, with the lush Garden of Eden bar and lounge, located in the back of the restaurant space. He named Matthew Duryea, formerly of New York, his chef de cuisine. Chef Lee has contributed to many local charities, such as Share our Strength (Miami Chapter), Miami Animal Services, Naples Food and Wine Festival, Miami Zoo, and Funkshion Fashion Week. Eden has participated in the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, 2011, and hosted the company party for ''Food and Wine Magazine''. In the middle of 2011, Chef Lee partnered with Larry Rizzo, picking up two more additions, Kevin McCaughan and Rocky Bruno, to open Huntington Social: a Gastropub in his hometown of Huntington, New York. ''The New York Times'' has rated this a "Don't Miss" restaurant, calling it a "hidden gem".

Charity

He has already begun donating to charity by way of the Huntington Historical Society, and a memorial for September 11. The decor of this venue channels a 1920s speakeasy, with red velvet banquettes, and white marble tabletops.

Consulting

Lee has C.LEE Consulting, which allows him to consult for other restaurateurs, including Mark Advent and the

Orange County Choppers Orange County Choppers (OCC) is an American motorcycle manufacturer and lifestyle brand company based in the town of Newburgh, located in Orange County, New York, that was founded in 1999 by Paul Teutul Sr. The company was featured on ''Americ ...

. Lee is planning the Hot Meat Truck to serve lunch in NYC later this year (2011).

Awards

* "Top Ten Best New Chefs of 2006" by

Food and Wine Magazine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and seas ...

* "Best Chef 2005" by

Philadelphia Magazine ''Philadelphia'' (also called "''Philadelphia'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "Phillymag", once called ''Greater Philadelphia'') is a regional monthly magazine published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the Lipson family of Philadelphia ...

* Striped Bass -

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

highly coveted Four Bells rating review * Striped Bass -

Travel + Leisure ''Travel + Leisure'' is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC, with trademark ...

's "Best New American Restaurants 2004" issue * Striped Bass -

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

one of the top restaurants in the country in 2006. *

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 23, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, ...

Awards "2005 Rising Star Chef of the Year" *

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...

nomination for "2006 Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic". * "2 Michelin Stars"- The Michelin Guide

References

External links