Chef Edward Lee to star in'Mind of a Chef'

Edward Lee (@chefedwardlee) of 610 Magnolia and MilkWood will star in the upcoming season of PBS' "The Mind of a Chef."

Lee joins famed chef Magnus Nilsson on the James Beard Award-winning series narrated by executive producer Anthony Bourdain. Lee and Nilsson each travel the world, in search of ingredients, inspiration and the perfect meal.

Lee's explorations take him around Kentucky as well as to places like Argentina. While he can't divulge the content of the Argentine show, "All I can say is that was definitely something I wanted to do," Lee says. "It's going to be mind blowing."

At home in Kentucky, Lee says that they'll feature "cool purveyors … Things like sorghum — even though it's gotten so much press it's still under the radar ... my mission with things like that is to tell people about it."

Bourbon, on the other hand, he said, "... is so overexposed … although obviously we're in Kentucky, we're going to talk about bourbon. The challenge there was how to approach it differently. We have an interesting angle and something that people will watch and be like 'wow, I never knew that.' Even the experts. We went really deep — it's fascinating."

Lee worked closely with the show's producers in determining the content. "They respect the philosophy of what I'm doing," he says. "It's really thrilling to get to have a say in everything."

The show's format, which according to PBS showcases "what it truly means to cook, think, create and live in the food-obsessed world that is the mind of a chef," means Lee can "tell the stories as fully as (he) wants," he says. "It's refreshing not to have to do 90-second sound bites."

Three episodes have been filmed so far, and that's enough to give Lee plenty to think about. "For me on a personal level, you ask yourself questions that you wouldn't normally sit down and ask," he says. "It's rare that we … ask why (we do things). It's introspective. That stuff changes you and the way you think about things."

The series airs this fall, beginning Sept. 6 on PBS.

See a trailer at https://www.youtube.com/MindofaChef.