Eunji Lee
South Korean and French pastry chef
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eunji Lee (Korean: 이은지) is a South Korean and French[citation needed] pastry chef based in New York. She is best known for her work running the Lysée Bakery, which she created and has headed since 2022. She is a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist and was named a Best New Chef by Food and Wine in 2023 and North America's Best Pastry Chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2026.
Eunji Lee | |
|---|---|
| Born | Busan, South Korea |
| Culinary career | |
Current restaurant
| |
Awards won
| |
Biography
Lee was born and raised in Busan[1] to two artist parents.[2] At 14, she watched a show about making pastries and decided to become a pastry chef.[1] At 18, she wrote in her notebook that she wanted to create an "edible gallery".[3]
At 19, she moved to France and studied at the Institut National de la Boulangerie Patisserie in Rouen and the École Grégoire-Ferrandi in Paris. She worked at Ze Kitchen Gallery and Le Meurice, in the latter location becoming the head of the pastry chefs.[4] In 2016, she became Executive Pastry Chef of Jungsik, and moved to New York.[4] Her tenure was described as "celebrated" and resulted in the restaurant's signature dessert, a fake banana[5] and a dessert tasting menu.[6] In 2017, she participated in a pastry chef show in France, where she was the first-ever non-European finalist.[7]
In 2022, she opened Lysée, which she described as a food "boutique".[5] It was backed by Korean-focused restaurant group Hand Hospitality.[8] The pastries she makes there are described by her as inspired by her Korean and French heritage and New York residence.[9][10] The "dessert gallery"[11] is capable of accommodating 15 people in the dine-in lower level, and features museum-like glass cases of desserts in the take-out focused upper level.[12] It includes Korean materials in its construction.[13][14] She launched a wine pairing menu in 2023, described as unique by Vogue,[15] and launched a ten-course dessert tasting menu in 2026.[7][16]
In 2024, she collaborated with Botanist, a restaurant in British Columbia, for a six-course half-and-half tasting menu.[17]
Her style of desserts is considered trompe l'oeil.[18] She is known for her soy sauce caramel sesame cookies,[19] a rice mousse and praline dish her restaurant was named after,[20] and her realistic corn desserts,[21] which have been described by Eater as one of the first examples of the viral corn dessert trend[22][23] and which she first created in 2017.[20] She has stated she's frequently inspired by art[24] and views her works as edible art.[25]
She was named a Best New Chef by Food and Wine in 2023,[3] was named a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2024[26] and 2026,[27] and was named North America's Best Pastry Chef of 2026.[4]
