Smoke & Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen

The restauranteur and host of The Mind of a Chef offers more than 130 exceptional recipes combining Korean roots and Southern soul.

Much like the food he creates, Chef Edward Lee's story could only happen in America. Raised in Brooklyn by a family of Korean immigrants, he settled in Louisville, Kentucky, where he owns the acclaimed restaurant 610 Magnolia. A multiple James Beard Award finalist for his unique patchwork cuisine, Edward invents recipes filled with pickling, fermenting, frying, curing, and smoking that reflect the overlapping flavors of his heritage and his adoptive home.

Dishes like Chicken-Fried Pork Steak with Ramen Crust and Buttermilk Pepper Gravy; Collards and Kimchi; Braised Beef Kalbi with Soft Grits and Scallions; and Miso-Smothered Chicken all share a place on his table. With a Southerner’s gift for storytelling, Lee fills his cookbook with tales of the restaurant world, New York City, Kentucky, and his time competing on Top Chef.