Matt Lee & Ted Lee

Founders, The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue

Siblings Matt Lee and Ted Lee grew up and learned to cook in Charleston, South Carolina. When they left to attend colleges in the Northeast they so missed the foods of their hometown they founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order source for southern regional foods, in 1994. When a magazine editor asked them to write a story about a culinary journey in South Carolina, they embarked on a second career as food journalists and cookbook authors.

Since 2000, they have written hundreds of food, wine, and travel features for magazines and newspapers. Their three cookbooks have, combined, won two James Beard Awards and four IACP Cookbook Awards. They were on-air commentators for seven seasons of The Cooking Channel’s hit series Unique Eats, and hosts of Southern Uncovered with The Lee Bros. on Ovation.

More recently, Matt and Ted created Cookbook Boot Camp, a two-day seminar that shows aspiring cookbook authors how to do it. And their most recent book, Hotbox: Inside Catering, the Food World’s Riskiest Business, was named one of 2019’s best books by Amazon.com and “The Kitchen Confidential of big-ticket catering” by The New York Times.

The Lee Bros. currently produce events and festivals, transforming stories around contemporary food and beverage culture into entertaining and educational life moments.