 Lee's first job in the hospitality business was as a waiter at the Old Mansion House Hotel in Auchterhouse.He started working in the kitchen there instead, and after three years he moved to London where he worked under Simon Hopkinson at the Bibendum.He then became head chef at the Frith Street Restaurant and Euphorium before joining the Terence Conran owned Blueprint Café at the Design Museum in 1994.