Katherine Lee (born September 14, 1981) is an American

cookbook author A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cou ...

, television

food critic The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

, and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

born in West Virginia. She has worked in several restaurants and published two cookbooks. She served as a contributor to several magazines and TV shows, including ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

,'' an American cooking show competition, where she was a judge in 2007. She is a co-host of Food Network's talk show '' The Kitchen'', and the host of Cooking Channel's ''

Beach Bites with Katie Lee ''Beach Bites with Katie Lee'' is an American food travelogue television series that airs on Cooking Channel. It is presented by chef Katie Lee. The series features Lee traveling to different beach A beach is a landform alongside ...

''.

Early life and education

Lee was raised in

Milton, West Virginia Milton is a town in Cabell County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,831 at the 2020 census. Milton is a part of the Huntington- Ashland, WV- KY- OH Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). History The town was named after Milto ...

. Lee studied journalism and food science at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, where she graduated in 2003. While there she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She spent a semester abroad in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at The British Institute.

Personal life

Lee met

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

at the rooftop bar at The Peninsula hotel while visiting New York City for a weekend. After dating for a year, she and Joel married at his home in Oyster Bay,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, on October 2, 2004. Alexa Ray Joel, Billy Joel's daughter from his marriage to Christie Brinkley, served as maid of honor. After nearly five years of marriage, Billy and Katie Lee separated in June 2009. On March 22, 2018, Lee got engaged to

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

Ryan Biegel at La Réserve Hotel and Spa in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. They were married on September 1, 2018, at Lo Tommaso Allo Scoglio in the seaside village of Marina del Cantone on Italy's

Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast ( it, Costiera amalfitana) is a stretch of coastline in southern Italy overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Salerno. It is located south of the Sorrentine Peninsula and north of the Cilentan Coast. Celebrated worldwide ...

. On February 26, 2020, Lee announced on Instagram that she was expecting her first child. On September 2, 2020, Lee gave birth to a daughter.

Career

Lee has worked in several restaurants and gourmet food and wine stores. In 2003, she helped to open Jeff and Eddy's Restaurant where she served as the house fishmonger. In July 2005, Lee created the foodie website OliveAndPeach.com with partner Aleishall Girard. The web site ceased updating in September 2006. In 2006, she hosted the first season of Bravo's ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chef ...

''. Subsequently, Bravo replaced her with

Padma Lakshmi Padma Parvati Lakshmi (; born September 1, 1970) is an Indian-born American author, activist, actress, model, philanthropist, and television host. She has hosted the cooking competition program ''Top Chef'' on Bravo continuously since season 2 ( ...

. She later returned as a guest judge on '' Top Chef All Stars'', Episode 2 ("Night at the Museum") in 2010. Lee's first cookbook, ''The Comfort Table'', was published by Simon & Schuster. In October 2009, Simon & Schuster released Katie's second cookbook ''The Comfort Table: Recipes for Everyday Occasions'' In June 2011, Lee released her first novel, ''Groundswell'', about a woman recovering from

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

who finds the healing power of

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

. Lee served as a food and lifestyle contributor for '' The Early Show'' and has appeared on '' Extra'' as a special correspondent. Additionally, she is a contributing editor to '' Gotham'' magazine, and her culinary and lifestyle column, "Katie's Kitchen", is published weekly in its sister magazine ''Hamptons''. Lee has also appeared on ''Paula's Party'', '' Martha'', '' Today'', ''The Early Show'', '' The Nate Berkus Show'', '' Rachael Ray Show'', and ''

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

''. In 2007, she was a judge on ''

''. Lee is a member of the Feeding America Entertainment Council. She previously sat on the council of Chefs for Humanity, a group that provides humanitarian aid worldwide. She has also volunteered for

Les Dames d'Escoffier Les Dames d'Escoffier is an American society of professional women involved in the food, fine beverage, and hospitality industries. History Les Dames d'Escoffier is a leadership culinary organization composed of women who have not only achieved su ...

, an organization that educates and mentors women in the

culinary Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of outline of food preparation, food preparation, cooking and food presentation, presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as res ...

profession. Lee appeared on the video blog ''

Wine Library TV Gary Vaynerchuk (born Gennady Vaynerchuk; November 14, 1975; , ), commonly known as Gary Vee, is a Soviet-born American entrepreneur, author, speaker, and Internet personality. He is a co-founder of the restaurant reservation software company Res ...

'' with Gary Vaynerchuk on May 8, 2009. Lee has been a guest judge on '' Beat Bobby Flay'' many times, including on July 21, 2016, for a special "Ladies Night" episode. Lee is a co-host of Food Network's talk show '' The Kitchen'', and the Cooking Channel's ''

''. Lee has also appeared as a judge on Food Network's

Halloween Baking Championship ''Halloween Baking Championship'' is an American cooking competition show that premiered on Food Network on October 5, 2015. Like its sister show, Holiday Baking Championship, it's a seasonal program that runs for a few weeks (in this case, the ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Katie 1981 births American cookbook writers American critics American expatriates in Italy American food writers American television chefs American women chefs American women journalists American women writers Living people Miami University alumni Participants in American reality television series People from Milton, West Virginia Television personalities from West Virginia Women cookbook writers American women critics Women food writers Writers from Huntington, West Virginia 21st-century American women Chefs from West Virginia