CHRISTOPHER LEE
I’ve cooked professionally for over 40 years.

Urged by an Irish friend and knowledgeable cook to consider cooking as a career, I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976 in search of an apprenticeship.

I’ve had the opportunity to cook and consult for some of the best restaurants, butchers, and retail shops in the San Francisco Bay Area; in New York City; in Florence, Italy; London, England; and Dublin, Ireland. I’ve cooked for American presidents; English royalty, Michelin starred chefs, artists, musicians, and writers; and for leading food and wine events in the California wine country, including the internationally renowned Napa Valley Wine Auction. Most importantly, I’ve been fortunate to mentor many young cooks, chefs, butchers, salumiere, and food writers. After cooking in restaurants, I consulted in the U.S. and overseas.

I’m originally from Chicago. My family are extraordinary artisans, who for 50 years were the top fine art picture framers, custom mirror manufacturers, and art restorers the country. Armand Lee & Company, established in 1940 by my grandfather, Armand Lee, Sr., catered “to the trade only” – art museums, fine art collectors, and top interior designers. After 85 years, it still does business under the name Armand Lee & Co., in Chicago.
————————————
WORK HISTORY

ECCOLO RESTAURANT, Berkeley
2004-10
Chef, Owner
Eccolo was my Italian restaurant, where we perfected making cured meats and sausages, and produced daily housemade pastas. We received three stars from the San Francisco Chronicle and were one of the Chronicle’s Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area for many years. At Eccolo, I was able to continue my mentorship of young cooks, many of whom went on to become chefs and owners of their own restaurants.

CHEZ PANISSE RESTAURANT, Berkeley
1987-2004
Co-Chef
During my tenure at Chez Panisse we won several James Beard awards. We were named “Best Restaurant in America” by Gourmet Magazine in 2001. We were listed among Restaurant Magazine’s Top 50 Restaurants in the World (2002-08). Chez Panisse was among the creators of what is now called farm-to-table cuisine, a term that now pervades the food world. We built relationships with farms, ranchers, and other suppliers, in an effort to procure the finest products, a practice that defines restaurants of today.

NARSAI’S RESTAURANT and CATERING
1976-85
Catering Director
Narsai’s catered events for everyone from famed music impresario Bill Graham and his legendary productions (The Band, Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones), to the Bay Area’s social and cultural elite. We catered for countless wineries in California’s wine country, and for the formative years of the Napa Valley Wine Auction. In San Francisco, we created Narsai’s Café at I. Magnin store, and the Phyllis Wattis Founders Room at Davies Symphony Hall.

CHRISTOPHER & CLARK
1985-87
Chef, Owner
In 1985, I formed a high-end catering company, Christopher & Clark, in Oakland, CA, along with Diane Clark, an experienced caterer in D.C.. We produced many exclusive society events in San Francisco and the East Bay, for museums, the San Francisco Ballet, Davies Symphony Hall, the Asian Art Museum, De Young Museum, and other cultural institutions, and for countless Napa and Sonoma Valley Wineries.

CONSULTING
Clarke’s, London, England
il Buco Alimentari e Vineria, New York, NY
Noho Star, New York, NY
Elephant and Castle, New York, NY
Elephant and Castle, Dublin, Ireland
Bartavelle Café, Berkeley
Fava On Vine, Berkeley
Zut, Berkeley, CA
Bombera, Oakland, CA
Farmstead Hudson Valley, Stuyvesant, NY