A 2025 Kikkoman Kitchen Cabinet inductee, this celebrated chef has built a career defined by reinvention—and rediscovery. His greatest breakthrough? Learning that the most powerful ingredient is knowing who you are.

Chef Kevin Lee’s story traces more than a culinary career—it maps a search for identity. Born in Oklahoma to Korean parents, he grew up ping-ponging between Korea, Connecticut, Seattle, and back to the Midwest.

“Every time we moved, the first thing I noticed was how food expressed the spirit of each place,” he recalls. “I grew up realizing that a meal tells you everything about where you are.”

He didn’t set out to be a chef. After high school, he enrolled in hospitality management at UNLV, hoping for a career in hotels. But a part-time restaurant job changed everything.

“I walked into a kitchen looking for a paycheck,” he says. “I walked out knowing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Under Chef Joon Choi, Lee immersed himself in Japanese cuisine—and by 21, he was executive chef at Mandalay Bay. “It was a dream and a trap,” he admits. “When you’re that young, you think being in charge means you’ve arrived. But I realized I was too young to stop learning.”

So he went home to Oklahoma to start over—this time in French fine dining. Over the next decade, he ran some of the state’s top kitchens and eventually oversaw 16 restaurants as a culinary director. From the outside, it looked like success. Inside, something was missing.

“I was running huge operations,” he says, “but I wasn’t feeling the food anymore. It had become a job.”

Looking for a reset, he opened Birdie’s by Chef Kevin Lee, a Korean fried chicken shop. The plan was to slow down. The reality? “It was the hardest two years of my life. I knew how to cook, but not how to be a restaurateur. Selling ten-dollar chicken baskets teaches you humility fast,” he laughs. “But it also taught me how to run a business.”

Then came a wild card: an invitation to compete on Food Network’s Tournament of Champions.

“It was surreal,” he says. “I didn’t win, but I found something better—my confidence. And that’s when I started cooking food that actually felt like me.”

He transformed Birdie’s into a modern Korean steakhouse—a mashup of his heritage, training, and instincts. The gamble paid off. Birdie’s took off immediately, and so did his career. Lee has since won Guy’s Grocery Games and Alex vs. America, and in 2025, became a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Southwest.

“After 20 years in kitchens, I finally feel like I’m cooking with purpose again,” he says. “Every dish on my menu tells a story. It’s Korean, it’s American, it’s personal—and it’s cooked with heart.”

Lee’s pantry staple? Kikkoman. “Kikkoman has always done what I’m trying to do—honor tradition while evolving,” he says. “They’ve never lost sight of quality or integrity. That’s why I count on their products. And it’s how I want to cook too—staying true to my roots while always moving forward.”