Today we’d like to introduce you to Phil Lee.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up as a second generation Korean-American kid in Los Angeles, who never thought that he would be a chef of a Southern Comfort restaurant. Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles (La Crescenta), I lived in a typical migrant family culture. It was juggling assimilation into the American culture, eating rice & kimchi while still getting a healthy dose of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. One of the things that I always had a passion for, even as a kid, was to eat delicious food (hence, I was a chubby kid).
Two of my most distinct memories that I had as a kid was when my mom made fried chicken at home for the first time ever. I remember thinking, “how is my mom even making this chicken? I thought only KFC knew how to make this stuff?” However, taking that first bite, I realized two things…I absolutely love fried chicken and it is possible to make delicious food with your own two hands. The second memory I had, was visiting my grandma in Korea and me telling her that I was craving fried chicken. She took me to a local food market and we visited this food stall that specialized in chicken. What ensued next was sheer terror as I did not realize this food stall was a butcher who then proceeded to pull a live chicken out of a storage bin and take it apart in front of my eyes. That shock turned into a quiet intrigue, as he began the process of fabricating the chicken down into the pieces that we know, and ultimately throwing the pieces into a vat of hot oil. Again, “why is fried chicken so delicious?” I didn’t know it then, but this all served a greater purpose.
Fast forward to my college days at UC Santa Barbara. As a junior in college, I realized I was absolutely terrible at the whole world of academia. I was pursuing a Business/Economics degree, but never went to class. And the only thing that I could remember bringing me fulfillment was throwing backyard bbqs with London broils sizzling on the grill (we were poor college kids). I just remember the feeling of gathering around a table and just enjoying company and food. This was the first moment I realized that I wanted to cook for a living. I then decided immediately that I needed to drop out of college and go straight to culinary school…however, at the threat of being disowned by my parents, I was gently coaxed to “at least get a degree from a respectable university, in case you change your mind about cooking.”
After graduating from UCSB, I enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu that fall and absolutely fell in love with cooking. After I finished my time there, I was given great advice from a friend who had gone down the same culinary path as myself. He told me, “whatever you do, find a restaurant in LA that does the best food, don’t settle.” This helped me find my first job at Water Grill under Chef David Lefevre. I just remember being challenged on a daily basis just trying to keep pace in a fine dining kitchen, learning techniques that absolutely blew my mind, and understanding the work that needed to be invested to become a chef. I spent two years under Chef David, and he taught me the fundamental principles of being a good cook and to really be passionate about the craft. I felt that I knew that my path was to become a well-known chef de cuisine/executive chef of a fine dining location in the LA dining scene. I spent time working under chefs who were offshoots of the fine dining family tree in Los Angeles. I worked under Nadav Bashan (Providence, Michael’s), Jared Levy (Providence, Eveleigh), and Wolfgang Puck (Spago, WP24, Cut) who all taught me how to refine and discover how to become my own chef and cook the type of food I wanted to cook.
I was lucky enough to get my first Executive Chef position at a little wine bistro in Old Town Pasadena called vol. 94 Wine Bistro. I remember having so much fun creating and thinking about food, while being surrounded by an amazing team that was just as hungry and eager to push what we knew about food. One of the events that we ended up holding was a Fried Chicken night, just for kicks and giggles. I just remember thinking, “people love simple food, made better.”
After I left the wine bistro, that thought kept lingering in my mind. I realized that I don’t even take my wife to the restaurants I cook in. While I appreciate all the dedication and determination it takes to accomplish fine dining/elevated cuisine, I didn’t want to cook that type of food anymore. I realized that in order for me to feel fulfilled and aligned as a cook was to cook the food that I love to eat. For me, if I want a really good pastrami sandwich, I will go to Oinksters and if I want a solid slice of pizza, I will head over to Tomato Pie. I decided that I wanted to have the type of local restaurant that you can count on to make whatever it is that they are known to make, really really well.
I know many people dance around this question with me, and to be honest, it can be awkward to answer, because again, I am a Korean-American cook who runs a Southern Comfort restaurant. The question is, “Why Southern food?” A lot of people assume that I am or my family is from the South, or that I spent my formative culinary years cooking in a southern kitchen…nope. To say, it’s because I just like fried chicken would be too lackadaisical. I have a deep respect for what this cuisine represents in food history, never taking it lightly and drawing parallels between southern comfort food and Korean food. They are both very simple foods that come from humble origins but when done with love and soul, they become this amazing experience that really brings people together. When I take inventory of all my life and everything that it encompasses; the food memories, culinary experiences, and my own dream of cooking what I love, I knew it had to be southern comfort food.
So here we are operating Honeybird for the past 1.5 years and the biggest satisfaction I have from this experience thus far is simple; we are able to have a neighborhood restaurant that makes pretty delicious fried chicken (in my humble opinion).
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of my life mottos is called “The Beautiful Struggle.” With Honeybird, it hasn’t always been the smoothest road, with its fair shares of bumps. As a small business owner, we deal with all the stresses/challenges that a neighborhood restaurant worries about. We aren’t ever guaranteed business, but as I know, there is a purpose in all of it. We may not see it now, but there is always a greater good for every decision/endeavor we embark on, and so we work hard every day to still prove an amazing experience with great food.
Honeybird – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are Honeybird restaurant. Located in north Los Angeles in La Canada Flintridge, we serve up southern-inspired food, specializing in fried chicken. We are best known for our chicken, our homemade pies, and all the fixin’s (mac n cheese, collard greens, mashed potato).
We are most proud to be able to provide food that brings people to the dinner table and to give and receive support to our local community.
One of the things we set out to do differently, is to really listen to the voice of our guests. Amidst operating in a digital age, where social media and Facebook reigns, we commit ourselves to give true hospitality and seek out face-to-face encounters with our guests, good or bad.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When my parents told me that they were proud of me.
Contact Info:
- Address: 714 Foothill Boulevard
La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011 - Website: www.honeybirdla.com
- Phone: 8184150489
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: honeybirdla
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
