ALERT: Tickets available for second Birdie’s by Chef Kevin Lee event
Next pop-up event in the new dining room is next Friday
The second Birdie’s by Chef Kevin Lee pop-up dinner is set for Jan. 12, and Food Dood Feed subscribers have an exclusive opportunity to be first to dine in the newly remodeled space.
Tickets just went live for pop-up No. 2 with only 20 seats are available for the dinner next Friday at 6:30 p.m. Subscribers to the Feed have an exclusive window to purchase seats before they go live to the rest of the public.
At the first pop-up dinner, Lee dazzled diners with succession of family-style dishes blending Korean cuisine with others for menu that included classic bibimbap, seafood tteokbokki and Korean pancakes but also a variation on Hamachi Crudo and a Wagyu strip steak that made my list of top 10 dishes for December.
The next one promises to build on it, as the former Vast chef and Food Network veteran readies for the grand opening. Lee closed Birdie’s Fried Chicken on Dec. 23 to convert the restaurant into Birdie’s by Chef Kevin Lee. The space has undergone a drastic remodel. Next Friday’s dinner will the first in the new dining room. Lee decided to change from fried chicken to nouveau fine dining after a trip to California last summer presented him with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cook shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the country’s most celebrated chefs.
“It was really inspiring,” he told me after the trip. “The whole experience reminded me of who I am. Who I want to be, and that’s a chef.”
Those who attend can expect Korean food filtered through French and Japanese technique and tradition crafted into distinctly Oklahoman cuisine like Kevin created for the original menu at Chae Modern Korean Restaurant. I was able to hang out with Kevin last week as he worked on recipes, and I can report the Korean short ribs and Sticky pork ribs are delectable. The Wagyu Strip remains divine, but the Hamachi Crudo got a new presentation.
Plan to be there myself; hope to see you next Friday. Cost is $100 per person.
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