Hee-sook Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of BCD Tofu House, a Korean restaurant that she and her family first opened in Koreatown in 1996. Due to its success and the subsequent popularization of the Korean dish soon-tofu, BCD has expanded to include branches in Seoul, Tokyo and across the United States.
Having become a minor celebrity both in Koreatown and Seoul, Lee has become not only a representative of Korean culture and cuisine, but also a successful example of transnational immigrant entrepreneurship in Los Angeles.