Chef Lee grew up in Alabama, where his family enjoyed food and entertaining, then moved to Redlands as a high school junior.  

After graduating from Redlands High School in 1984, he attended Marymount College in Palos Verdes and Cal State San Bernardino, He graduated from the University of Redlands and entered the banking world, followed by 10 years in marketing at Esri in Redlands.

“The desire to work for myself asserted itself and I wanted to enjoy what I was doing, especially when I thought back to what I enjoyed as a kid,” Chef Lee said. He enrolled in the culinary program at the Art Institute of San Bernardino and went on to work as a private chef and in catering, where one of his mentors was beloved Redlands chef Leonard Corbett.

The idea of teaching appealed to him as well and his dream job was to teach cooking to young people. This became a reality when he volunteered in the youth programs at the Burrage Mansion. Teaching kids about healthy cooking and eating and enjoying their enthusiastic response gave him a sense of satisfaction and purpose.

This experience led to his developing culinary teaching programs for youngsters, which he has employed successfully for the Perris School District, the Redlands YMCA and other venues, including adults in health care, municipalities and non-profits.