Jae Lee

The Path

Early kitchen work as ramen cook at Unnamed Korean restaurant in the city in New York City put Jae Lee in the repetition-heavy rhythm of a professional line. It is the kind of post that teaches pace, consistency, and what it means to work close to the pass. From there, the role widened at Nowon in New York, where he served as chef/operator from 2020, joining daily kitchen responsibility with the demands of running the room. Since 2020, the work at Nowon has carried both authorship and ownership. That combination is the point: a chef’s judgment shaping the menu, and a founder’s hand shaping the structure around it.

The Work Today

At Nowon in New York City, the chef/operator role keeps the kitchen at the center of the operation. The title is practical, not decorative: it signals that the cooking remains the core labor, even as the business side sits beside it. In Lee’s case, the chef and founder labels do not compete; they describe the same working logic from different angles. The restaurant’s point of view comes from the overlap of Korean heritage and New York American heritage, which Lee has named himself. That duality gives the food its charge without turning it into an abstract concept. The work reads as a matter of translation — turning identity into dishes that can carry flavor, memory, and the pace of the city.

Signature

Jae's signature dishes include Legendary Cheeseburger, Chopped Cheese Rice Cakes, Kimchi Mayo Burger, Kimchi Burrata, and Royal Kimchi Fried Rice. The list shows a kitchen working in a direct register, where comfort references and kimchi recur as a clear through-line.

In Their Words “I wanted to display my Korean heritage, but as well as my New York American heritage, cuz I'm both.” “I knew it was time to stop something I loved when I no longer felt joy cooking.”

Acclaim

Jae's honors include StarChefs New York City Rising Stars Award (2020).