Plant-based proteins were everywhere at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, including as part of Succotash Chef Edward Lee’s cooking demo May 23. “It feels like a movement,” Lee said while using plant-based steak in his dishes.
“I’ve been here for two days. I’ve only had plant-based stuff,” Lee said while cooking down pieces of steak that are charcoal grilled, and were offered to taste-test at the nearby Plantspired booth. Nasoya, a brand of tofu and plant-based foods, launched Plantspired Steak in U.S. grocery stores in spring 2022. “To me there’s something very cave man-ish” about the flavor.
Lee, who’s been featured on “The Mind of a Chef” and “Top Chef” and is known for his philanthropy during the pandemic, grew up in Brooklyn, “and these old apartment buildings have laundry rooms in the basement.” He’d go there with his grandmother and grab magazines from the bin: Gourmet and Bon Appetit.
“It was weird. I would steal them and I would keep them under my bed,” Lee said. “Other boys would keep Playboys under the bed.” When he was a bit older, “I would take my allowance and buy ingredients,” but his “old-school Korean family” didn’t necessarily appreciate his Duck a l’Orange. “They thought I was a weird kid and I never proved them wrong.”
The plant-based steak snacks at the Plantspired booth were indeed tasty, as was the spicy plant-based tuna salad offered by Good Catch nearby. Plant-based chicken nuggets, too, were on offer, all trying to convince customers “you’d almost swear it’s the real thing,” as Good Catch handouts said. The National Restaurant Association Show was May 21-24.
Lee believes plant-based proteins will catch on with “flexitarian” customers, those who aren’t strict vegetarians or strict carnivores, but who go back and forth. “To me it’s just like someone who eats,” he said about the definition of flexitarian.
Lee had a small restaurant in New York when 9/11 happened and destroyed the downtown restaurant business. “I was looking to get out of New York. The Kentucky Derby was on my bucket list. I found a chef that needed help. I fell in love with it,” he said about the South and ended up buying out the owner for 610 Magnolia. “We just celebrated our 20th anniversary. Now I’ve a Kentucky chef which I never would have imagined.”
His Southern-inspired Succotash, at National Harbor outside of Washington, D.C., is a hit. His book “Buttermilk Graffiti” won the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Book of the Year. He also wrote and hosted the feature documentary Fermented, and said at the NRA Show he’s writing another book about bourbon. Also in the works: “After 27 years I’m opening my first Korean restaurant, in Louisville, Kentucky,” he announced to applause.
His young foundation, The Lee Initiative, was busy during the pandemic handing out “over 2 million meals to unemployed hospitality workers,” Lee said. “We chefs have a good heart. It’s indicative of how we run our businesses. You can’t run a successful restaurant and be apathetic or lukewarm.”
He is judging the finale of the latest season of “Top Chef,” where he appeared as a contestant. What was the most challenging part of that competition? “Their job is to make you miserable because happy chefs don’t cry. Things that happen on those shows wouldn’t happen in real life,” Lee said, adding at one point he’d had enough. “They throw all these things at us. I yelled—can you just let us F-ing cook?”