Q & A With Spirit House Chef Johnny Lee: The SGV Bar, Panang Curry Fries + Plans For The Future

Johnny Lee

Lee plating the Panang curry fries

Johnny Lee started using a wok at the age of ten. The San Gabriel Valley native studied business administration in college, but ended up taking a job at a Chinese restaurant in Colorado after graduation. He moved back to Los Angeles, did stints at the Flying Pig Truck and Rivera, and is now the chef at Spirit House, a watering hole in the San Gabriel Valley that serves Asian-inspired cocktails and food.

Spirit House opened late March in Monterey Park's Lincoln Hotel, and it's become one of the few places in the area where you can grab a craft cocktail with some creative Asian fusion grub. The restaurant is owned by David Tewasart (Soi.7, Green Papaya), whose family also owns the Lincoln Hotel.

Drinks with ingredients like Calpico and Asian pear are served at a bar that's open from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tuesdays to Saturdays, and are courtesy of Sybil Lin of Far Bar. All the food is single-handedly made by Lee (although he says he's getting some help soon). Their goal? To be a full-fledged gastropub. We sat down with Lee and asked him about the gig and where he gets his culinary inspirations.

Squid Ink: How did you create the menu?

Johnny Lee: I approached it as food that's conducive to alcohol. There's an emphasis on fried foods, but I try to do stuff that's really accessible. We do have some people who are foodies, but not enough to justify more unconventional stuff or items. I'd say the menu has stayed fairly conservative. I have a big interest in Japanese cooking -- I wanted to focus on Japanese, but I somehow shifted to Chinese. The Fung Brothers actually started influencing me to do modern Chinese food.

SI: What's been the most popular menu item so far?

JL: The Panang curry fries is the most popular choice. The owner of Spirt House works at Soi.7. They make a really good panang curry and I suggested we put it on fries. To be honest, it's kind of a reluctant bestseller because I don't really care for it. But I made it from scratch and people like it.

SI: If not the fries, what are you most proud of?

JL: The tacos. They're basically pork shoulder cooked for 24 hours and a sauce that's reminiscent of Japanese char siu, with soy, sake, mirin and dashi. It's topped with salsa verde -- a technique that I learned at Rivera.

Johnny Lee

Lotus root chips

SI: And you also have lotus root chips and chili honey sauce wings on the menu. What are your inspirations?

JL: Half of it is me, and then a lot of the times it's inspired by food I eat. The main thing is that I want to try to make something that I love.

SI: What's one menu item that failed?