As Chef de Cuisine of The French Laundry, Corey Lee is responsible for the daily supervision of the kitchen and ensuring that the restaurant's high standards are met. Lee has been with The French Laundry since 2000, when he was first hired as chef de partie. Two and a half years later, he was promoted to sous chef. He was later tapped to be opening sous chef at Per Se, Thomas Keller’s restaurant in New York City, to provide support to Per Se’s chef de cuisine, Jonathan Benno. Recognizing Lee’s remarkable talents, Keller invited him back to Yountville to fill in departing chef de cuisine Eric Ziebold’s position.

Lee collaborates daily with the Per Se kitchen, facilitated by a state of the art video conferencing system. Although unique and separate from each other, this creates a smooth exchange of ideas between both kitchens. It also ensures the philosophy envisioned by Keller is upheld by the entire staff.

Lee has worked at fine dining establishments including Lespinasse in New York City, and at Restaurants Interlude and Pied à Terre in London. He also spent time at The Oak Room at the Le Meridian and La Tante Claire, both 3-star Michelin restaurants based in London. Recently, he traveled to Paris to stage with widely acclaimed Chef Guy Savoy at his eponymous restaurant, as well as at Chef’ Alain Senderen’s Lucas Carton to further expand his culinary knowledge and repertoire.