Susur Lee

Early Life and Education

The youngest of six children, Susur Lee preferred physical work to classroom education. At the age of 14, he landed a job as a dishwasher at a Pekingese restaurant. He credits Hong Kong’s food culture, like dim sum and street food, for inspiring his passion and curiosity for food. (See also Popular Chinese Dishes in Canada.)

After falling in love with the tools and sounds of the kitchen, Lee began an apprenticeship at the elegant Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong when he was 16. There, he absorbed the art of European cuisine and later rose to the position of chef saucier.

Early Career

In 1978, Susur Lee emigrated to Toronto. He continued to cook and to work as a chef.

In 1983, his plans to move back to Hong Kong took a tragic turn. His wife, Marilou Covey, who had left a few weeks before Lee, died tragically on Korean Air Lines flight 007. The plane had been shot down by a Soviet fighter jet after it had violated Soviet airspace.

In 1987, Lee opened his first restaurant, Lotus, in Toronto, where he blended Chinese cuisine and culinary traditions with European techniques. The tasting menu at the 12-table restaurant soon won him accolades from food critics around the world, including Zagat’s proclamation of Lee as a “culinary genius.” After a decade of rave reviews, Lee closed Lotus and moved to Singapore for three years, where he consulted for the Tung Lok restaurant group.

In 1999, he returned to Toronto and opened Susur in August 2000. His second wife, designer Brenda Bent-Lee, oversaw the restaurant’s interior. The menu included mouth-watering and inventive dishes such as Lee’s famous lobster with black truffles, Qianpang Xie-style egg white and uni (sea urchin) sauces and crispy dried scallops.

The restaurant drew deep-pocketed foodies and critics from around the world. At the peak of its eight-year run, Susur made Restaurant Magazine’s list of the world’s 50 best restaurants and helped Susur Lee earn a place as one of Food & Wine magazine’s “Ten chefs of the Millennium.”

In 2004, Susur Lee opened Lee, a more affordable and casual restaurant.

Going Global

In 2006, Susur Lee became the second Canadian chef to appear in the Food Network’s hit show, Iron Chef America, tying with Iron Chef Bobby Flay.

In 2008, Lee answered the call of global hoteliers, closing Susur and opening Shang in the new Thompson LES hotel in New York City. In 2009, he opened Zentan in Washington, D.C.’s Donovan House. Susur’s Singaporean-style slaw was a popular staple at both establishments.

The Singapore arm of his restaurant empire, Tung Lok Heen (formerly Chinois), opened in 2010 at Hotel Michael. That same year saw Lee battle for the title of Top Chef: Masters on Bravo TV, where he tied for second place in the season finale.

Projects Since 2011

In Toronto, Lee Lounge opened in 2011 as a laid-back extension of the Toronto flagship restaurant. In 2012, Susur Lee and his family opened Bent. His eldest sons, Kai and Levi Bent-Lee, managed the place. Meanwhile, their father oversaw the kitchen while their mother, Brenda Bent-Lee, was in charge of the design. Bent eventually closed its doors in 2017.

In 2014, Lee appeared as one of the judges on Chopped Canada, a culinary competition airing on Food Network Canada.

That same year, he opened Luckee, a haute dim sum restaurant in Toronto’s SoHo Metropolitan Hotel. Plans to open a restaurant inside China Center New York’s private member club at One World Trade Center in New York City were announced in 2013 but never materialized. Luckee closed in 2018.

In 2015, Lee collaborated with popular musician Drake to open Fring’s. The restaurant closed a few years later in 2018.

As of March 2026, Lee runs two restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area: Lee Restaurant and Lee Kitchen in Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

Activism and Charitable Involvement

In 2012, Susur Lee signed on to be the face of the Toronto District School Board’s “My Food My Way” campaign to overhaul its cafeteria menus. He has raised funds for the James Beard Foundation, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and regularly lends his skills to charity events.

Controversies

Susur Lee has come under fire over the years for issues related to his labour practices. In 2007, the Toronto Star reported that the Ontario Ministry of Labour was investigating “six complaints of unpaid wages from former employees at Susur and Lee.” In 2017, CBC News reported that Lee’s Toronto restaurants had violated Ontario’s Employment Standards Act by tabulating mistakes made by servers and deducting the amount from their tips. One server reported that the “IOU” practice had led to a workplace culture of “intimidation and fear.” A spokesperson for Susur Lee Restaurant Group responded that such deductions were used to pay for staff functions, and that the practice was no longer in effect. Ontario’s Ministry of Labour did not investigate the complaints, but a petition was subsequently circulated calling for Lee to pay back the money that was withheld.