President Lee Jae Myung is to host a dinner on Friday evening in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, welcoming around 1,000 leaders and ministers from the 21 member economies to the Lahan Select Gyeongju Hotel’s grand ballroom.
While the full menu remains under wraps as of Friday afternoon, it has been revealed that the official welcoming dinner is being curated and overseen by Korean American celebrity chef Edward Lee, celebrated for his inventive fusion of Korean heritage and contemporary American flavors.
“Whenever we have these gatherings, whether with political leaders or CEOs, I think it’s important that we gather over good food,” the chef told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a YouTube interview released on Oct. 2. “It’s very difficult to argue when you are having good food. Good food makes people feel better, and hopefully that leads to good things.”
At the Gyeongju APEC dinner, Edward Lee is expected to offer a modern take on Korean cuisine, presenting fusion dishes that blend traditional ingredients with contemporary flair.
Lee said he hopes the dinner will celebrate the timeless beauty of traditional cuisine while demonstrating its potential for innovation on a global stage. For the event being held at Lahan Select, Lee will collaborate closely with chefs from Lotte Hotel, with some dishes prepared by him and others by the team.
“To me, innovation is really just looking at history and finding a new story to tell. … I don’t invent anything new. I look at history and find different ways to make combinations. If you don’t understand history, your innovation becomes empty. You have to understand the past in order to look to the future. A future without connection to the past is useless.”
Lee, who has become one of the most sought-after figures in the country’s food and beverages scene in recent years, rose to prominence after finishing as runner-up on Netflix's hit cooking competition “Culinary Class Wars.” He was named a Seoul city ambassador this year and has collaborated on various advertising and hotel projects.
Well before “Culinary Class Wars,” Lee was already a celebrated chef in the US, making television appearances on shows including “The Mind of a Chef” in 2012, “Top Chef” in 2011 and “Iron Chef America” in 2010.
He also drew attention as the guest chef for the 2023 White House state dinner during the US-Korea summit, held for then-South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit, where he served braised short ribs with pine nuts.
Born in 1972 in Brooklyn, New York, Edward Lee, whose Korean name is Lee Kyun, studied English literature at New York University before pursuing a culinary career. He began cooking professionally at 22, mastering French and Moroccan cuisines, and later settled in Louisville, Kentucky, where he developed a distinctive style blending Southern American and Korean flavors, pairing ingredients like bourbon and ham with staples such as doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (red chili paste).
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
