Chef Edward Lee states food, at its very best, tells a tale. And the tale he desires told with the food he’s whipping up for up coming week’s White Residence point out supper is of the deep connection among the United States and its ally South Korea.
President Joe Biden is internet hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday for a state take a look at, which includes a glitzy point out meal, and the White Household invited Lee, a Korean American chef and restaurateur, to assist get ready the meal.
The White House gave The Related Press an exclusive preview of its designs to use Lee as a “guest chef” for the meal and of its higher-wattage lineup for the after-evening meal amusement: Broadway stars Norm Lewis, Lea Salonga and Jessica Vosk.
In an job interview with the AP, Lee explained “Korean food and American food items can merge jointly and make this stunning hybrid that is unique and delicious.”
He explained any iconic American meals, if spiked with a “little Korean taste or Korean spice,” will nonetheless be familiar, but it will just be unique and distinctive. Real food items for thought, he reported.
“Your thoughts becomes curious about additional than just the flavors,” Lee explained. “When foods is at its best, it tells a tale.”
A condition go to is the best diplomatic honor the U.S. reserves for its closest allies, and Biden so far has prolonged just two this sort of invitations. The initial went to France final December.
Each individual element of a state check out, from the booming 21-gun salute for the leader’s arrival, to the glitz and glamour on show at the black-tie point out evening meal, is built to emphasize ties in between the U.S. and its ally. Yoon’s take a look at will mark 70 a long time of U.S.-South Korea relations.
White House social secretary Carlos Elizondo reached out to the New York Metropolis-born chef about two months in the past to seek out his assistance with the evening meal. Lee’s cooking design and style is just one that meshes two cuisines: Korean food items and food items from the Southern U.S.
Lee not too long ago put in two times at the White House screening recipes and plating foods, giving tastes to 1st girl Jill Biden and her workers, who are liable for the evening meal and who assisted develop the menu. He worked with White Residence executive chef Cristeta Comerford and her staff members.
The practical experience was nerve-wracking.
“I’ve been on ‘Top Chef,’ the place I have experienced to cook dinner for some really significant-driven cooks who were being critiquing my food stuff, and this was possibly more strain than the Tv show,” Lee reported of possessing the 1st woman be the choose of his kitchen creations.
The 50-calendar year-aged spouse and father couldn’t say what is actually on the menu. The White Dwelling will be releasing people particulars on Monday. But the menu has been finalized, Lee stated, nearly breathing a sigh of relief in the course of Thursday’s telephone job interview.
Lee begun doing the job in dining establishments when he was 14 years aged. He attended culinary faculty immediately after graduation from New York University but dropped out following a week. A cafe he opened in reduced Manhattan folded soon after the terrorist assaults of Sept. 11, 2001.
He took a crack to journey all over the United States and check out destinations he’d only questioned about even though escalating up in New York. He was ready to scratch the Kentucky Derby from his bucket checklist — and though there he fell in like with Louisville and its Southern culture.
It is really wherever, Lee mentioned, “I discovered my culinary voice.”
He has a person restaurant, 610 Magnolia, in Louisville, and is months absent from opening a further. He life part time in Washington, D.C., in which he is culinary director for a third restaurant, Succotash. He won a James Beard Award for his e book “Buttermilk Graffiti.”
Lee states Southerners and Koreans are alike in how they consume — big tables, a great deal of foods, aspect dishes, grazing and barbecue. Different spices, flavors and techniques, he said, “but the philosophy is the exact same, the feeling is the same.”
The determination to recruit Lee to be the visitor chef revives a exercise that Michelle Obama generally applied when she arranged state dinners as initial lady. Marcus Samuelsson, Mario Batali and Anita Lo were being among the movie star cooks she enlisted to add a splash of pizazz.
Jill Biden chose Lee for the reason that of his Korean-influenced American delicacies, her office claimed.
Following supper, Broadway stars Lewis, Salonga and Vosk will entertain attendees with a blend of solo, duet and trio performances.
Lewis’ profession spans movie, tv and theater. He built historical past in 2014 as Broadway’s initial Black phantom in “The Phantom of the Opera,” which not long ago closed following a file 35-calendar year operate. He currently stars in the national tour of the Tony Award-profitable output of “A Soldier’s Engage in.”
Salonga is regarded for her award-successful part of Kim in “Miss Saigon.” In Disney films, she was the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in “Aladdin” and Fa Mulan for “Mulan” and “Mulan II.” She also experienced roles in “Les Miserables” on Broadway.
Vosk is a singer and actor who has appeared in “Wicked” and in the most latest revival of “Fiddler on the Roof,” both of those on Broadway.
