The Vietnamese Chef Jack Lee is one of the most interesting personalities on the current Los Angeles culinary scene. He migrated to the United States with a relative when only eight-years-old, without his parents. In time, he made it through one of the top American culinary schools. At one point, a mouth surgery affected his taste buds. But that was no obstacle for this brilliant Vietnamese chef who is currently making waves and winning fans in Los Angeles.
Chef Jack Lee has cooked food for the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Streisand and even former US First Lady Nancy Reagan. But the Vietnamese chef is not hitting the headlines for his high-profile clientele and fans. The newsmaker here is Chef Lee’s extraordinary seven-course meal, a collection he has named “Beyond the Blue Seas”.
The cuisine style of “Beyond the Blue Seas” is “Chinoise”. Chef Lee describes it as a blend of Chinese and French cuisine. The style has won the chef numerous fans in the world of gourmet food. The Chef is now quite the star in the fine dining circuit. And when you look at his food bouquet, you realize why.
Each course in the seven course meal features a wine pairing. Seafood comprises the first course – Toro, eel, sea urchin and jumbo prawns form the menu. The second course features Chef Lee’s hugely popular $100 egg roll, with its super-expensive ingredients including truffle, caviar and Alaskan King Crab. Chinese art scroll (a dish made of sea bass, rice noodles and asparagus scrolls) figures in the third course, while a French-inspired foie gras makes it to the fourth and a pistachio-crusted rack of lamb adorns the fifth. Chef Lee’s specialty is the sixth course, which features slow-braised kurobuta pork belly, diver scallop and calamari. Finally, we have the indulgent dessert – mango crème brulee, and a warm chocolate cake with Macadamia nut crème anglaise.
Isn’t it a feast fit for a king?
