材
F&B Sourcing & Expansion · Seoul
Youngbock Lee (Bock)
Ten years in the beverage industry.
Now a noodle professional, exploring Korea's finest ingredients along the way.
Myeon Seoul, Seoul, 2026
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Ten years in the beverage industry.
Now a noodle professional, exploring Korea's finest ingredients along the way.
Youngbock Lee — Bock — spent his twenties between New York and Napa Valley. He trained at The Culinary Institute of America's New York campus, then went on exchange to CIA Greystone in St. Helena, Napa Valley, to focus further on the beverage industry — staging at Eleven Madison Park and organizing the 18,000-bottle cellar at Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca along the way, hands-on groundwork that built his foundational knowledge of the wine industry. From there he based himself in Italy for a year, visiting 192 wineries across Italy, Germany, and France's Burgundy, Champagne, and Bordeaux — tasting over 10,000 wines and sitting down with winemakers for in-depth interviews to understand terroir at the source, capped by a hands-on internship in the vineyards of Cantina del Pino in Barbaresco. He then spent several years in Singapore running beverage programs on opposite ends of the wine world — Singapore's largest Italian-focused wine list at Mozza Singapore and Marina Bay Sands' Nostra Cucina, a highly commercial, high-volume beverage program as Beverage Director at KOMA Singapore, Singapore's largest high-volume modern Japanese restaurant & lounge, and finally Singapore's largest Australia-focused wine list as Head Sommelier at Burnt Ends Singapore, a One Michelin Star restaurant ranked among Asia's and the World's 50 Best.
Over the past year, he's turned that same palate and sourcing instinct toward Korea itself. Based at Myeon Seoul — chef Kim Do-yun's ingredient-driven noodle concept, built around sourcing exceptional raw materials rather than following convention — he spent the year immersed in that philosophy, and used it as a springboard to travel the country region by region, meeting producers and researching raw ingredients firsthand: traditional Jukjangyeon, Maeheon perilla oil, Jirisan bamboo shoots, Taean sea salt, and more. It's the groundwork for what's next: connecting Korea's finest, hardest-to-find ingredients with the F&B businesses and markets ready for them.
"Whether it's a cellar or a season's harvest, the job is the same — go to the source, taste everything, and know which ones are worth the trip."
Started at the Paris Grill in business dining — the first professional kitchen job, before wine or noodles.
SeoulTrained at The Culinary Institute of America's New York campus, then went on exchange to CIA Greystone in St. Helena, Napa Valley, to focus further on the beverage industry. Staged at Eleven Madison Park and organized the 18,000-bottle cellar at Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca — foundational groundwork in the wine industry.
CIA · BabboBased in Italy, visited 192 wineries across Italy's wine regions, Germany's key growing areas, and France's Burgundy, Champagne, and Bordeaux — tasting over 10,000 wines and conducting in-depth interviews with winemakers to understand terroir firsthand, capped by a hands-on internship in the vineyards of Cantina del Pino in Barbaresco.
Terroir ResearchBrought that terroir research home to Seoul, running the floor and wine service at Ramie's.
SeoulCurated Singapore's largest Italian-focused wine list at Mozza Singapore and Marina Bay Sands' Nostra Cucina, then moved into a highly commercial, high-volume role as Beverage Director at KOMA Singapore — Singapore's largest high-volume modern Japanese restaurant & lounge — leading a team of nearly 100.
SingaporeCurated and ran Singapore's largest Australia-focused wine list at a One Michelin Star restaurant ranked among Asia's and the World's 50 Best — the counterpoint to the Italian-focused list he'd built years earlier.
Michelin GuideStepped back from wine to spend a year immersed in Myeon Seoul's ingredient-driven noodle philosophy — and used it as a springboard to travel the country, meeting producers and researching raw ingredients firsthand.
Ingredient SourcingNow focused on connecting Korea's finest artisan-made ingredients with F&B businesses abroad — drawing on a Michelin-level palate, cross-market wine experience, and a growing network of Korean producers.
Current FocusSince 2025, visiting the country's small-batch producers to understand what "ingredient-driven" really means — one harvest, one press, one bottle at a time.
Some photography by Jongwan Kim.
For sourcing conversations, business inquiries, or just to say hi.