All throughout May, WTOP is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with stories about the people and places shaping the D.C. region.
Raised in Brooklyn, New York, in a family of Korean immigrants, Chef Edward Lee eventually moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he said he immediately became transfixed with the local traditions.
“A lot of what we think of as American food really started in the South,” Lee said. “And I was fascinated — and I still am fascinated — with all the ingredients and the culture there.”
Lee is best known as the author of the James Beard Award-winning book, “Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting Pot Cuisine” and for his appearances on TV shows like “Top Chef,” “Iron Chef America” and “Culinary Class Wars.” He also works as the chef and owner of two Louisville restaurants — 610 Magnolia and Nami — and serves as culinary director for two Succotash Prime locations in the D.C. area.
Lee told WTOP that he prefers not to cook “traditional” Korean food.
“There’s something unique about creating ingredients that just really blend well with lots of other techniques and other ingredients and other traditions,” he said.
With his new D.C. restaurant, SHIA, he wants to create a new type of Korean cuisine that is modern and forward-thinking.
Since opening in November of 2024, SHIA has been described as “boundary-pushing,” “pioneering” and “ambitious.” He said he wants his restaurant to also be “a part of the solution,” referencing his commitment to zero plastic, zero gas and waste reduction.
Along 4th Street NE, SHIA has an intimate 22-seat dining room that accommodates just two seatings per night. Each meal encompasses a tasting menu of seven courses for $185 per person, or five courses for $90 per person.
The menu includes staple Korean ingredients like doenjang (a fermented soybean paste, pronounced “denjang”) and ssamjang (a spicy combination of doenjang, red chili paste called “gochujang,” and other spices).
One of the menu’s first dishes, “Black Sesame Gooksu,” is especially important to Lee. The dish includes house-made noodles flavored with a Korean variety of mugwort, topped with a black sesame and tofu sauce with a little caviar.
“There’s kind of the myth that mugwort is related to sort of this mythical legend of a tiger who gives birth to a person who is the founder of the Korean dynasty,” he said. “We mostly see Korean food through the lens of Korean barbecue, which is delicious and great, but oftentimes, we overlook all the other ingredients, all the other techniques, and all the other wonderful things that Korean food has to offer.”
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