Born and raised in upstate New York, Chinese American chef Lee Anne Wong is proud to call Hawaii her own for more than a decade. The James Beard Award semifinalist channels her new home’s heritage in each dish she cooks, including as a competitor on Bravo's Top Chef, Iron Chef America, Chopped, Alex vs. America, Guy's Grocery Games, Tournament of Champions, TOC: All-Star Christmas and 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing. Lee Anne's also lent her expertise as a judge on Chopped, Alex vs. America, Guy's Grocery Games, and Flavortown Food Fight and as the host of the Cooking Channel's Unique Eats and her own Food Network special, Food Crawl With Lee Anne Wong.

Keep reading to discover Lee Anne’s story, her island style and what’s on her plate.

History and Background

A native of Troy, New York, Lee Anne started working in restaurants when she was 15, though she wouldn’t discover her passion for cooking until a few years later. While she moved to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology, she later transferred to the then-French Culinary Institute (now the International Culinary Center). Her parents weren’t thrilled with her choice, which was ironic because, as Lee Anne told the Hospitality on the Rise podcast, “I would come home, and [my mother would] have Julia Child and Martin Yan on the TV and Jacques Pépin and ironically enough years later I would go on to work side by side with these culinary giants.”

Lee Anne trained under Marcus Samuelsson at his Midtown Manhattan restaurant Aquavit and Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Restaurant 66 in Tribeca. She then decided to give back to the institute that started it all for her as an executive chef of event operations at FCI. During that time, Lee Anne competed on the first season of Bravo’s Top Chef, which led to a gig behind the camera as a supervising culinary producer.

She ultimately settled in Hawaii after visiting it during her time on the Top Chef team. Her passion for the Aloha State even resulted in a position with Hawaiian Airlines as a guest and then executive chef. Lee Anne has continued to compete on various shows, host and judge, all while opening up three successful restaurants, two of them in her favorite place. Sadly, the one that earned her a James Beard Award semifinalist nom was lost to the Maui wildfires, but that only strengthened her love for Hawaii and its people.

Family Life

Her culinary dreams weren’t the only ones that came true in Hawaii. After moving there in 2013 and opening Koko Head Cafe, she met her future husband, Lyle Cady, on Kauai. He proposed to her before she welcomed their son, Rye, on November 17, 2017. Lee Anne and Lyle’s wedding was planned for April 20, 2020, but was ultimately postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After nearly a decade of being engaged, they decided to spontaneously tie the knot in early 2025 while in Punta Mita, Mexico.

Lee Anne’s Shows

Lee Anne has become a familiar Food Network face as a competitor, judge and host. She's tossed her toque into the ring on Bravo's Top Chef, Iron Chef America, Chopped, Alex vs. America, Guy's Grocery Games, Tournament of Champions, TOC: All-Star Christmas and 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing. Lee Anne has even returned to some of the same arenas as a judge and has lent her sunny personality as the host of the Cooking Channel's Unique Eats and her own Food Network special, Food Crawl With Lee Anne Wong.

Top Chef

Before she stepped on Food Network's stages, Lee Anne was a competitor on the first season of Top Chef. She may have placed fourth, but her time on the show led to a gig as a supervising culinary producer for three seasons. She came back to compete on Season 15, placing 11th, and the all-star Season 17, in which she placed eighth. In an interview for the book Chef's Choice, Lee Anne said of her time on the show, “It’s very rare that you get the opportunity as a chef to cook your food and then have the best criticism thrown back in your face on a regular basis.”

Iron Chef America

In Season 10 of Iron Chef America, Lee Anne went up against Iron Chef Marc Forgione in a special Halloween battle. Tasked with incorporating the holiday's traditional candy, her five dishes earned her 52 points to Marc's 51 from judges Kathy Griffin, Donatella Arpaia and Kelly Ripa. "I was really impressed overall with chef Wong's technique, with her balance of flavors," commented Donatella. "You'd be surprised how many times sweetness and saltiness is off."

Chopped

Lee Anne lent her palate to episodes of Seasons 13 (alongside her former boss, Marcus Samuelsson), 14 and 63 of Chopped. The latter was extra special, as she judged four fellow Hawaiian chefs. In between her judging stints, Lee Anne competed in Season 24's all-star tournament. She grappled with Jet Tila, Fabio Viviani and Rocco DiSpirito for a spot in the grand finale, but, unfortunately, she was chopped first.

Alex vs. America

Season 3 of Alex vs. America saw Lee Anne and two other Hawaiian chefs (Jon Matsubara and Philip "Ippy" Aiona) go up against Alex Guarnaschelli. At the time, she'd known Alex for almost 20 years after meeting her in New York when she was working at the French Culinary Institute. This might have been her first time cooking against Alex, but Lee Anne placed above her in the first round before coming in third overall. She returned for Season 4 to judge alongside writer and Crave host Troy Johnson when Alex went against chefs known for their fruit-cooking skills.

Tournament of Champions

Lee Anne has competed on Seasons 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Tournament of Champions. Never one to back down from Guy Fieri and his Randomizer, she was knocked out in Season 4's second round by Jet Tila, in Season 5's second round by champ Mei Lin, in Season 6's semifinals by Sara Bradley and in Season 7's first round by Stephanie Izard.

24 in 24: Last Chef Standing

After taking her fourth turn at TOC, Lee Anne put herself to the ultimate test in 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing Season 3. Going up against 23 other chefs in a 24-hour competition would scare most, but she was ready at this point in her career.

Lee Anne might have almost been sent home in Shift 2, but she was able to make it all the way to the last shift without breaking. At the end of the day, she battled chef Alex Stupak for the crown — and $100,000 — and now reigns supreme.

Lee Anne's Restaurants

Lee Anne has come a long way since working under Marcus Samuelsson and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The James Beard Award-nominated chef continues to serve up her signature tropical flavors in her Hawaii restaurant and its international outposts.

Koko Head Cafe

In early 2014, following her relocation from New York City to Hawaii, Lee Anne partnered with chef Kevin Hanney to open up Koko Head Cafe in Honolulu. Positioned as a neighborhood cafe, she and her team focus on sourcing local ingredients and showcasing the island atmosphere. They moved into a larger space in Honolulu in March 2022, and locations in Japan's Tokyo and Osaka opened up in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Sweetcatch Poke

While Lee Anne was running Koko Head Cafe in Hawaii, she partnered with the team behind Kang Ho Dang Baekjong to open Sweetcatch Poke, a fast-casual poke spot with multiple locations in Midtown Manhattan. The business was sold in late 2018, leaving Lee Anne able to focus on her slices of paradise back home.

Papa'aina

In 2017, Lee Anne took over the historic Pioneer Inn on Maui's Lahaina to open her next restaurant, Papa'aina, featuring island-to-table cuisine. She opted for a full concept change in 2021 when the hotel was shut down due to COVID, leading to Lee Anne's nomination in 2023 for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific from the James Beard Awards.

Sadly, Papa'aina was lost to the 2023 wildfires. Lee Anne put her expertise to good use while the region was recovering, teaming up with local chefs, volunteers, University of Hawaii Maui College culinary students and World Central Kitchen to prep meals for victims and shelters.

Lee Anne's Book

Lee Anne showed off her mastery of Asian cuisine with her 2014 cookbook, Dumplings All Day Wong: A Cookbook of Asian Delights From a Top Chef. While there's no official title, she hinted on Koko Head Cafe's website that she's working on a new cookbook about the farmers and small businesses that inspire the way she and her team cook at the restaurant.

Fun Facts About Lee Anne

• Birthday: May 15
• Zodiac Sign: Taurus
• In 2022, she played a fictionalized version of herself in Hallmark's Groundswell, and the following year, she had a small role in a Season 5 episode of Magnum P.I.
• According to her Koko Head Cafe bio, she loves cooking with heart of palm, kalo and lilikoi.