Chef Edward Lee: Cooking at the White House, opening Nami pre-Derby

During the span of a few days, Edward Lee will help prepare a state dinner at the White House for the visiting South Korean president, and open his much anticipated Nami Modern Korean Steakhouse in Butchertown.

It sounds like an exhausting, yet rewarding, week spent working in two very different kitchens. Darlene Superville has the story at the Associated Press, as relayed by the Courier Journal.

WASHINGTON — Chef Edward Lee says food, at its best, tells a story. And the story he wants told with the meal he’s whipping up for next week’s White House state dinner is of the deep connection between the United States and its ally South Korea.

President Joe Biden is hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday for a state visit, including a glitzy state dinner, and the White House invited Lee, a Korean American chef and restaurateur, to help prepare the meal.

The chef elaborated in an interview with the AP.

He said any iconic American food, if spiked with a “little Korean flavor or Korean spice,” will still be familiar, but it will just be different and unique. Real food for thought, he said.

“Your mind becomes curious...Read more