Chef Jack Lee: I miss my mum very much!

Dramatic childhood

With tears in his eyes and a look of nostalgia, Jack Lee told everyone about his life, which changed suddenly when he was only 10 years old. “It was in the 1980’s. My mum told me that she would go out with me for a night, but finally I went to Singapore then America with my aunt and my mum stayed in Vietnam.”

During the first year in America Jack cried almost every day. “I hated my mum. I was just 10 years old and I couldn’t understand why my mum left me alone in another country like that,” said Jack.

When Jack was 12 years old, he started to work at a small restaurant to earn money to support him as well as save money to send back to Vietnam for his family.

After that Jack went to school to study and took a cooking course at college. He worked without salary for one year in the 5-star Hotel Bel-Air, and was instructed and trained by very famous chefs. Chef Jack said that he used to prepare and cook for many famous Hollywood stars.

He worked very hard, but it took him 18 years to have enough money to go back to Vietnam and visit his mother and brother who had not yet been born when Chef Jack left Vietnam.

He said, sadly, "When I have just met her I cried out loud and asked why she left me like that? She answered me, ‘No mother wants to give her child away. I just wanted to give you good things for your future’.

“She held me in her arms and I cried until I was too tired, and fell in sleep in her arms. When I woke up all my sadness and pain was gone. I still love my mum very much. She just wanted to give me the best things.”

However like the circle of life, Chef Jack is now doing much the same to his own family. In 2014 he came back to Vietnam as invited by a friend to open a new restaurant. The plan was only three months, but after these three months the time was extended again and again.

Chef Jack has been away from his wife and two children now for a year (his son is 12 years and his daughter is 9 years old) but Jack said, “Compared with before it took six months for my mum to receive my letter and it was the same for me to receive hers. So it took us a year to be able to communicate.

But now we can meet and chat to one another every day through email, Facebook or Skype. I go back to the USA every four months to visit my family. My children also came to visit me last summer.”

Keep the hope and try your best

When asking Jack what has kept him so long in Vietnam, he said, “Honestly I didn’t plan on staying in Vietnam very long from the beginning. But opportunities just kept coming to me in Vietnam, like it is my destiny. My wife also supported me to stay here.

She said I must do whatever my heart tells me. I should take any chance to do things that make me happy.”

It seems it was really Chef Jack’s destiny, because as he was on the way to go shopping for his restaurant he passed by Van Thanh tourist area and saw a crowd. After asking, he knew that it was the Golden Spoon contest for professional chefs, so he quickly decided to register and compete in the contest. He had only six hours to prepare.

He went smoothly through the contest from the preliminary round to the final round without any difficulty. Although he did not come out as champion, he was recorded as a humorous chef who came from far away and was very friendly with other contestants throughout the competition.

After that a producer and television director invited Jack to attend game shows about food, like “Food with movie star” (Yan TV channel), “Paradise of foods” (HTV7 channel) and “My mum cooks better than yours” (VTV3 channel).

Jack Lee said that he didn’t feel nervous standing in front of the camera because he used to attend many TV shows in America.

Jack is very busy now in Vietnam. Besides cooking and attending TV game shows Jack has also joined charity activities.

Jack will cook a party for 300 guests this November. The money he gets from this party will be donated to help children with heart disease.

He is also set to publish a book named “Jack’s Life” to tell about his life and another book that trains children in cooking. The book contains his memories of cooking with his mother, who taught him that cooking should come from the heart.

Jack said he hopes the book will connect mothers and children together. Children shouldn’t spend all their time playing games, but should also know how prepare good food.

Although Jack has to admit that most of his time now is only supervising kitchens at restaurants or the studio of game shows, he feels very happy because he can do the job that he loves. He gets to meet many people and has become more well-known.

“You know I nearly died four years ago, in 2011. To be able to save me doctors had to operate on the bone in my face to create an airway for me to breathe. When I came back from the hospital, my daughter was so scared. She cried and ran away to her room.

“For six months thereafter I still didn’t dare to look myself in the mirror. My tongue couldn’t taste food. I couldn’t do anything like that for two years. I was just at home, and I thought that my life was over.

“There is one time that the actress Roma Downey invited me to her house to cook for a party. I told her about my accident, but she still trusted me and gave me full autonomy. Since then I gained back my confidence tried to learn how to season the foods again.”

Jack said life always has problems. Each problem will have its own solution. If you have hope and try your best you will make your dream come true.