CHRISTOPHER LEE
I’ve been a professional cook and chef my entire career. In college, I was urged by an Irish friend and knowledgeable cook to consider cooking as a career, and in 1976 moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue cooking professionally. 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; for leading food and wine events in the California wine country, including the internationally renowned Napa Valley Wine Auction; and most important, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to mentor many young cooks, chefs, butchers, salumiere, and food writers.

I was born and raised in Chicago to people who migrated north in 1917. My family is one of extraordinary artisans, who were for many years the top fine art picture framers, custom mirror manufacturers, and art restorers the country. My grandfather’s business, Armand Lee & Company, established in 1940, catered “to the fine art trade only” – art museums, collectors, and interior designers. It still does business under my grandfather’s name, Armand Lee & Co., on the near-north side of Chicago.

WORK HISTORY
1976-85
Catering Director
NARSAI’S, Kensington, CA
Narsai David’s food empire was built around his classic French restaurant, Narsai’s, in Kensington, CA. In addition to his esteemed restaurant and internationally-renowned wine list, his businesses included a specialty gourmet food market and wine shop; a first-class bakery and patisserie; and a definitive charcuterie making on-point French classics. Narsai’s Catering produced events for everyone from legendary music producer Bill Graham, to the Rollings Stones, the Bay Area’s social and cultural elite, many important wineries in California’s then rapidly-growing wine country, several years of the Napa Valley Wine Auction, and the the British Royal Family. In San Francisco, we opened and ran Narsai’s Café at I. Magnin, and the Phyllis Wattis Founders’ Dining Room at Davies Symphony Hall.

1985-87
Chef, Owner
CHRISTOPHER & CLARK
In the mid-1980’s I co-owned a high-end catering company, Christopher & Clark, catering to many Napa and Sonoma Valley Wineries, society events in San Francisco and the East Bay, museums, and other cultural events.

1987-2004
CHEZ PANISSE, Berkeley, CA
Cook, Chef
5 years Downstairs restaurant team cook, 11 years Co-Chef
As Chef, I began curing meats – initially prosciutto – in a temperature-and-humidity-controlled shed we built behind the restaurant. During my tenure, we received Four Stars from the San Francisco Chronicle; were named "Best Restaurant in America" in 2001 by Gourmet Magazine.

2004-10
ECCOLO, Berkeley, CA
Chef, Owner
My Italian restaurant in Berkeley, where our food received three stars from the San Francisco Chronicle. We were one of the Chronicle’s “Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area.” I was able to continue my mentorship of young cooks, many of whom went on to become chefs and owners of their own food businesses.

2010-2012
POP-UP GENERAL STORE, Oakland, CA
Chef, Co-Owner
A widely influential pop-up and food artisan incubator to a 15-member group of cooks, bakers, farmers, and craftspeople offering retail products monthly. PUGS was the first of its kind in the Bay Area and inspired many others of the kind, locally, nationally, and internationally.

Consulting
Clarke’s, London, England
il Buco Alimentari e Vineria in New York, NY
Noho Star, Elephant and Castle, New York, NY
Elephant and Castle, Dublin, Ireland
Bartavelle Café, Fava, and Zut, Berkeley, CA