Valrhona Celebrates Chef Eunji Lee, North America’s Best Pastry Chef 2026

At Valrhona, we believe one of our most important roles is to champion the pastry chefs who shape the future of our craft. Their work moves pastry forward not only through technical excellence, but through vision, emotion, and cultural perspective. That is why we are proud, once again, to serve as the Official Chocolate Partner of North America’s 50 Best Restaurants and sponsor of the North America’s Best Pastry Chef Award 2026. 

This year, we are honored to congratulate Chef Eunji Lee of Lysée, New York, on receiving this distinction. Through a singular pastry language that brings together Korean heritage, French technique, and New York sensibility, Chef Lee has created a body of work that is precise, expressive, and unmistakably her own. In doing so, she succeeds Susan Bae, last year’s inaugural winner, continuing a remarkable line of women whose pastry reflects both technical mastery and a deeply personal point of view. 

Chef Eunji Lee: A Distinctive Pastry Voice

Chef Eunji Lee’s journey reflects years of discipline, artistic curiosity, and international experience. Born in South Korea, she moved to France in 2006 to pursue her dream of becoming a pastry chef. She trained at the Institut National de la Boulangerie Pâtisserie in Rouen and at École Ferrandi in Paris, then spent three years at Ze Kitchen Galerie before continuing her development at Le Meurice, where she trained under Alain Ducasse and Cédric Grolet. 

In 2016, she moved to New York to become Executive Pastry Chef at Jungsik, where she began developing a pastry style that blended her classical French training with Korean ingredients and references. That creative dialogue remains central to her work today. At Lysée, the pastry boutique she opened in Manhattan’s Flatiron District in 2022, Chef Lee presents pastry as edible art: work shaped by cultural memory, visual precision, and a contemporary New York setting. Even the name Lysée reflects that vision, combining “Lee” with musée, the French word for museum. 

Her career has already earned significant recognition. She was the first non-European contestant and finalist in the French competition "Qui sera le prochain grand pâtissier?" She was later named Rising Star Pastry Chef in New York and received StarChefs’ Art of Presentation award. Since opening Lysée, she has also been named one of La Liste’s Pastry Talents of the Year 2023 and one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2023. 

What makes Chef Lee’s work so compelling is not simply refinement, but identity. Her pastries are elegant and highly composed, yet never detached from story. They reflect a chef with a clear point of view, one that has expanded the conversation around what modern pastry can be.

About North America’s 50 Best Restaurants

Launched in 2025 by the organization behind The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, North America’s 50 Best Restaurants celebrates the region’s leading dining destinations across the United States, Canada, and parts of the Caribbean. The 2026 edition marks the second year of the ranking, following its inaugural ceremony in Las Vegas, where Atomix was named the first No.1 restaurant. 

The ranking is created from the votes of 300 anonymous expert voters, selected across eight sub-regions in North America. This academy includes chefs, restaurateurs, journalists, educators, and well-traveled gourmets. Importantly, 50 Best staff and sponsors do not vote, ensuring the independence of the process. 

Alongside the main list, 50 Best also recognizes exceptional individual talent through a series of special awards, including the North America’s Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Valrhona. 

Why New Orleans

This year’s ceremony takes place in New Orleans on May 28, 2026. The city was selected for its vibrant culinary scene, deep-rooted food culture, and renowned hospitality, qualities that make it a natural setting for a celebration of North America’s restaurant community. In partnership with New Orleans & Company, the event brings together chefs, restaurateurs, media, and industry leaders for a broader program of culinary experiences leading up to the live countdown and awards ceremony. 

For 50 Best, New Orleans is more than a backdrop. It is a city where food is inseparable from culture, history, and community: a fitting host for an event that honors the chefs and restaurants defining the region’s dining landscape today. 

Why This Matters to Valrhona

Supporting pastry excellence is not simply a sponsorship decision for Valrhona, it is part of who we are.

As a long-standing partner to chefs and artisans of taste, we believe in celebrating those who move the profession forward: chefs who combine craftsmanship with imagination, and technique with a strong creative voice. Sponsoring the North America’s Best Pastry Chef Award allows us to recognize not only outstanding individual achievement, but also the vitality and diversity of the pastry community across the region. 

It also reflects values that matter deeply to us: creativity, transmission, excellence, and a commitment to supporting professionals in their pursuit of singularity. Through this partnership, we are proud to stand alongside the pastry chefs shaping the future of the industry.