Edward Lee to host pop-up dinner with interns

The first Smoke & Soul Pop-Up Dinner from chef Edward Lee is set for Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Wine Studio at 610 Magnolia. The dinner features recipes developed by the inaugural class of interns in the restaurant training program Lee launched last year with YouthBuild.

“We have four students in the program now and they're doing great,” Lee said. “It really exceeded my expectations. They’re so stoked, they’re vibrating with energy; it reminds me of 20 years ago starting out, this is how I felt, excited to just put butter on a piece of toast. To be able to pass on this to these kids is great. But first and foremost it's going to be delicious.”

The  dinner — the first in a series of pop-ups that will take place throughout the fall and winter —  is “the result of a year's worth of working with these kids, recipe testing and talking about food and heritage and why it's important to keep soul food on the map,” Lee said. “We meet every week to talk about the philosophy, and what your grandmother cooked that you loved and how do you translate that to a dinner dish.”

None of the recipes featured at the dinner came out of a cookbook, Lee said.

“(The recipes) come directly from family history. We're asking kids to go to their grandparents and aunts and uncles and sisters and ask for recipes," he said.

Lee is just there to help execute the dishes for 40 people. “It's their recipes, their history, their culture. … Let these kids be proud of this and claim it as their own.”

While the dinner will serve as training for the kids and as a fundraiser for the training program, Lee said he has "always said Louisville lacks a really good soul food scene." His eventual goal is to open a soul food restaurant with the kids on board.

With four students currently enrolled, "there's at least a dozen more in the wings," he said.

"I just need funding and opportunities. If the soul food dinner goes well, we open a restaurant and I can employee 12, maybe more. I'm going backward, most people open a restaurant and go crazy looking for staff — I’m opening just to give them a place to work.”

The family style soul food dinner costs $30 per person, plus beverages, tax and an 18 percent tip. Call (502) 636-0783 for reservations. Visit 610 Magnolia here to learn more.

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