Eunji Lee
Jungsik | New York
February 2019
Eunji Lee knew she wanted to study pastry arts after seeing a television show about the life of a pastry chef in her native Busan, South Korea. She began making cookies and cakes in her parents kitchen, and loved it. She convinced mom and dad of her chosen career path and moved to France in 2006 to begin classical training at the Institut National de la Boulangerie Pâtisserie in Rouen. During this time, she also worked for a year in the bakery Au Pain de Mon Grand-Père in Strasbourg, Alsace.
Upon completing her pasty studies, Lee followed up with another degree, studying pastry at École Grégoire-Ferrandi in Paris. She spent her first three years after graduation at Michelin-starred, French-Asian restaurant Ze Kitchen Galerie, working for Chef William Ledeuil. Wanting to focus on pastry, Lee then landed at five-star hotel Le Meurice in Paris, working with Pastry Chef Cedric Grolet at the hotel’s three Michelin-star restaurant for four years.
After spending a decade in France, Lee decided it was time for a change and challenge and moved to New York to work at Korean fine-dining Jungsik. Her five-course dessert tasting menu features Korean flavors with French techniques. Eater has called the restaurant “the most elegant Korean restaurant in America,” and Lee’s menu was featured in The New York Times in 2017. She also was the first non-European finalist in French competition show, “Qui sera le prochain grand pâtissier?” Her “Baby Banana” dessert is Insta-famous.
