Debbie Lee plans Korean pub in L.A.Debbie Lee plans Korean pub in L.A.

Lisa Jennings

LOS ANGELES Debbie Lee, a finalist in the 2009 series of "The Next Food Network Star," is launching a pop-up version of a Korean-style pub that will be the theme of her first restaurant, which she plans to open here in the fall.

From Feb. 24 through April 10, Lee will serve as a guest chef offering “SeoulTown Tapas” at the Los Angeles bakery-restaurant Breadbar, known for its ongoing guest chef program during the dinner daypart when the venue is otherwise closed.

Lee said the menu will feature a modernized version of the traditional Korean “pub grub” found in “soot jeep,” or drinking houses, common in Seoul or Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood.

“In Korea or Koreatown, soot jeep are places where people gather after work, before going out to dinner,” Lee said. “Typically these places have big communal tables, so people are forced to mingle, and they meet their family or friends.”

At Breadbar, Lee said she plans to test $8 small plates, such as robata-style skewers with kimchee-citrus pork and roasted Fuji apples; slow-cooked cod with chile-scallion sauce, roasted daikon and mountain rice; spicy chilled buckwheat noodles with poached octopus, scallions and winter pickled vegetables; and butterscotch cream puffs with chile-chocolate mousse and almond Anglaise.

Lee said she has a location for her restaurant in Hollywood, with the backing of private investors. There, plates will range in price from $2 to $10, and the full bar will feature a range of beers, as well as cocktails made with shochu and chungha, a vodka-like wine that Lee said is made with sweet potato.

Lee's previous experience includes working at La Folie in San Francisco with renowned chef Roland Passot, as well as Le Dome in Los Angeles and the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, Calif.

She finished as one of three finalists in the fifth season of "The Next Food Network Star," which was won by Melissa D'Arabian.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].