Chef Edward Lee Is Writing a Cookbook, Smoke & Pickles

Former Top Cheftestapant, chef/owner of Louisville's 610 Magnolia and perennial James Beard nominee Edward Lee is now also about to become a cookbook author. The chef is writing a book titled Smoke & Pickles, which tells his story as a Korean-American raised in Brooklyn who made a home in the South. The book will include more than 130 of his recipes, which he explains like so: "When I'm in my kitchen, I start with a southern ingredient, I'll add some Asian spices and a little bit of Brooklyn chutzpah and somehow it all comes together."

There will also be stories from his time on Top Chef and "tales of the restaurant world." Here's a trailer for the book in which Lee further explains: "Throughout the book, there are farmers and musicians, professors and bootleggers, preachers and cheesemakers. I break bread at their tables, I drink a little too much whiskey with them, and I catalogue their food history." Smoke & Pickles comes out from Artisan May 1, 2013.

Video: Meet Chef Edward Lee, author of Smoke & Pickles

· Meet Chef Edward Lee, author of Smoke & Pickles: Southern Food with an Asian Kick [YouTube via Eater Louisville]
· Smoke & Pickles [Workman]
· All Edward Lee Coverage on Eater [-E-]