Jae Lee with Nowon

Jae Lee isn't shy to let you know where he's from, where he's been, and who he represents. Jae Lee is Chef-Owner of Nowon, serving nontraditional Korean fare in the East Village. Formerly, he worked for heavyweight chefs such as Masaharu Morimoto and Dale Talde. From a ramen line cook in his college days to picking up the late Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential to opening Executive Chef at Momosan, Jae’s journey is cemented in hustle and hard work. Eventually, he struck out on his own via his pop-up concept Him, which featured a kimchi burger that spawned a media frenzy. In an unusual and unprecedented manner in a notoriously slow-to-open industry, Jae opened the doors to Nowon in a matter of simply two months from signing the lease.