Inside the Kitchen: Seven Questions with Lee Wolen of Boka

Hand-pulled noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods in New York. The texture of the noodles, the spice—it was the first time I ever had hand-pulled noodles like that, so it’s nostalgic to me. It was in the basement of a shopping mall, and there was only that one location at the time. Now they have a bunch. I think it was 2008.

The mind-blowing meal for me was Meadowood in Napa, the first time I went. It was me and my cousin Matt, and we call it my bachelor meal. Eating at a place with such a strong sense of place. You’re in Napa, and everything is local, from the farms to the fish from the ocean. The spot prawns. It’s all from right there.

Discipline, refinement, and being able to give certain things up to have others. We’ve kind of ruined the idea of fine dining, but it’s like playing a sport at a high level. It takes a certain person. It’s hard, and that’s OK. Things should be hard and disciplined.

I like to expand and keep expanding. It’s about growth for other people, not just myself. Building them up so that when we open a new place, we’ll need a new CDC (chef de cuisine), and hopefully that person has been with us for a while and can be promoted.

Frantzén in Stockholm and Noma, but it’s not really Noma anymore. The French Laundry is also on my list. There’s such a sense of place, and everything comes from right there. It’s a focused type of restaurant. Those kinds of chefs look at food very differently and treat it differently. I would like to see a restaurant like one of René Redzepi’s, where he uses the grass that grows on the beach. They’re pioneers of a movement, especially in that part of the world.

We don’t like to manipulate too much. We are big on flavors that people are used to. I don’t stray too much. If it’s roasted chicken or tomatoes, we highlight that while adding salt, acid, and fat. Balance and texture are super important. Simplicity, balance, and texture are the biggest things for how I like to cook.

Noodles and dumplings. I was raised on Chinese food. Now, living outside of Cleveland in a big city with a great Chinatown has opened my eyes to the craft. To see them handmade in Chinatown and have them in sauces and broths with such a vast variety of flavors. I’m a huge fan, a lot more than kung pao chicken.