Charleston Campus Welcomes Frank Lee as a DVC®

Frank Lee, executive chef at Slightly North of Broad, was honored in April by Johnson & Wales University as the Charleston campus' 17th Distinguished Visiting Chef® (DVC). During his visit, Lee shared his food philosophy with more than 75 culinary students, and advised them to be mindful of the economics of business by eliminating wasteful habits with food, time and a restaurant’s resources.

Chef Lee began his career in Columbia, S.C., where he co-owned 221 Pickens Street, a natural foods restaurant and co-op, and later apprenticed under Malcolm Hudson at Hudson’s Restaurant. Lee became interested in the techniques of French cooking which led him to work at several classical French restaurants: Le Perroquet and Les Nomades, both in Chicago, and Le Pavillion in Washington, D.C. In the Charleston area, Lee worked at Wild Dunes and the highly acclaimed Restaurant Million until restaurateur Dick Elliott recruited him as executive chef of the Colony House, then Charleston’s oldest restaurant and banquet operation. Lee has since partnered with Elliott and David Marconi in Maverick Southern Kitchens, Inc., and has been recognized as a leading expert of Southern and Low country cuisine in Gourmet, Food & Wine, The New York Times, Southern Living and the Washington Post. His Maverick Grits were selected by GQ Magazine for a Golden Dish Award in 1994 and he has twice been a guest chef at the James Beard House in New York City.

Lee spoke to Johnson & Wales students about the importance of building a cuisine by utilizing all of an ingredient to create a foundation on which to expand. He encouraged them to do frequent tastings to guarantee the quality of what’s being prepared: "Taste everything in your station everyday so you know the distinctive flavors of what you’ve got to use, and to know how to serve a consistently excellent product."

Guests at the demonstration included steering committee members of the Sustainable Seafood Initiative of which Johnson & Wales is a supporting member. Following the demonstration, student Ryan Miller, of Raleigh, N.C., received a $2,000 Distinguished Visiting Chef scholarship in Lee’s name. The DVC scholarship is funded by the Anthony Spinazzola Foundation.

Miller always had an appreciation for culinary arts, always loved to dabble and create in the kitchen, but began working in the corporate world after his graduation from high school. His career with IBM and Glaxo Smith Kline allowed him to live and travel in different areas of the United States, but after nine years he could no longer ignore his dream of becoming a chef. He enrolled in the Culinary Arts program at the Johnson & Wales Charleston Campus in the fall of 2003 and will graduate with an associate’s degree this May.

Miller says he hasn’t looked back or had regrets since that first day of class. "Taking the risk and turning my back on the security of a mundane life could possibly be the hardest decision that I ever had to make," he said. "The promise of what I could become, however, was even more alluring." This summer, he will participate in the Johnson & Wales Sommelier training program in Germany. He will continue his education in the fall at the Charlotte campus, where he will pursue a bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management.