YOUNTVILLE, CALIF. — As the new chef de cuisine of The French Laundry, Corey Lee is at the helm of one of the most famous kitchens in the country. The 27-year-old is responsible for creating the renowned recipes and menus, training the staff and overseeing all of the award-winning cooking during lunch and dinner at the five-star restaurant in Napa Valley.
Lee reports to legendary chef and owner Thomas Keller, who took over the 1,600-square-foot river-rock and timber space in 1992 and put the city of Yountville on the culinary map. Today, the restaurant is so highly regarded that reservations must be made two months in advance, and foodies come in droves to experience the $175 nine-course tasting menus, which showcase the best seasonal products available. Silver queen corn pudding and grated truffles, sauté of Moulard duck foie gras and herb roasted lamb saddle are just some of the savory items on the menu.
By the time he was 23, when most people are still figuring out what to do with their lives, Lee was hired by The French Laundry to be a chef de partie, one of the lower-level chefs in charge of one area like sauces or meats. Two and a half years later he was promoted to sous chef and eventually took on the same role at Keller’s Per Se restaurant in New York City. Recognizing Lee’s talents, Keller invited him back to Yountville to replace departing chef de cuisine Eric Ziebold. Lee still collaborates daily with the kitchen at Per Se, facilitated by a state-of-the-art video-conferencing system to ensure that the Keller philosophy is upheld by the entire staff on both coasts (Keller also operates Bouchon in Napa Valley and Las Vegas).
Born in Seoul, Lee moved to New York City with his family when he was 7 years old. “My mother cooked every meal that we had, and my grandmother would make very traditional Korean dishes like muk, which is made of acorn flour and isn’t done much anymore,” he says, noting that lobster and short ribs were his favorite dishes growing up.
“I don’t think the term ‘self-taught’ really works for anyone, but I didn’t go to culinary school,” says Lee.
After graduating from high school, he skipped college and chose to work in the kitchen at Manhattan’s Blue Ribbon, a late-night bistro and Japanese restaurant. “It was pretty amazing because the owners took me under their wing and would tell me what I should do next,” he says. They encouraged the aspiring chef to work in Europe, so in 1997, Lee packed his bags and moved to England. He spent a year and a half bouncing around from kitchen to kitchen, including The Oak Room at the Le Meridian and La Tante Claire, both three-star Michelin restaurants in London.
Now a typical day in Lee’s life starts with reading the newspaper and then heading out to work (he conveniently lives right next door) at about 10 in the morning, where he sets the menu for that day. “We prep until about 4:30 and have a pre-service meeting where we go over the entire menu with the waiters, captains and the runners,” he explains. Dinner is served from 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., and then Lee sits down with the entire kitchen crew to discuss the produce and other incoming ingredients. The French Laundry changes about 40 percent of its menu everyday, with people coming from around the world to sate their palates. Lee usually returns home around 1 a.m., only to do it all over again the next morning.
