Jae Lee
Nowon
When Jae Lee was 8 years old, he left Seoul, South Korea with his family with a travel visa to New York City and never looked back. His hard-working immigrant parents wanted to live the American dream and to provide a better life for their children. They moved around a lot in his childhood and... READ MORE
When Jae Lee was 8 years old, he left Seoul, South Korea with his family with a travel visa to New York City and never looked back. His hard-working immigrant parents wanted to live the American dream and to provide a better life for their children. They moved around a lot in his childhood and Lee learned to adapt in different environments quickly. In 2007, he began his culinary career at the age of 18 at an East Village ramen shop to pay his rent. He immediately fell in love with cooking, working in a fast-paced environment, high energy and comradery and became hungry to learn more. Lee ultimately made the decision to go all in to become the best chef he could be.
For the next couple of years, Lee dedicated his whole time working at a wide range of restaurants to build his career. Some of his experiences include working at Tribeca Canvas, Michaels, Oceana, Zuma and later becoming executive chef of Momosan Ramen & Sake, then Hotel 50 Bowery. When Lee was turning 30 years old, with the encouragement of his then girlfriend, now wife, he decided to quit his job and take the leap of faith in venturing off and doing pop ups that represented his Korean American roots. In early 2019, he founded his pop-up series called Him, which means strength in Korean. He had a 6-month residency at a small bar in East Village where he developed the menu that gained attention quickly. The publication Gothamist wrote an article that Lee’s burger was “one of the best burgers in NYC” and the rest was history. With the success of his pop-up, he was able to find a brick-and-mortar restaurant in East Village, home of the first Nowon.
Nowon is named after Chef Jae Lee’s hometown in Seoul, South Korea. Nowon is a Korean American pocha or gastropub that serves delicious food and drinks, plays nostalgic 90s and early 2000s hip hop music and has a fun atmosphere for people to get together. Lee’s food draws inspiration from foods that he loves to eat in NYC with his own creative Korean twist. Lee learned quickly to pivot endless times to not only keep his business afloat during Covid, but also thrive and profit. He knew within 3 years of operating Nowon, it was time to venture out again and find a second Nowon location. Nowon Bushwick opened in July 2023, and is triple the size of his first restaurant. He inherited a wood fired oven and with that, he knew Korean-inspired pizzas would be perfect for the neighborhood.
Since opening two successful restaurants in New York City, Lee continues to dream even bigger. With a third Nowon that will open soon in Boston as a licensed deal. Lee envisions his restaurant expanding outside of New York City and going nationwide and later, international.
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