Chef Kevin Lee: Who is the OKC chef competing on Food Network's 'Tournament of Champions?'

Season 5 of "Tournament of Champions" is here and Oklahoma City's chef Kevin Lee is among the competitors.

After successfully beating three other chefs across two qualifying rounds in "Tournament of Champions: The Qualifiers," Lee became the No. 8 seed in the West A bracket and on Sunday he faced Brooke Williamson in the first round of tournament action.

Read on to learn more about Lee and how he got to this point.

Who is Kevin Lee and what is his culinary background?

Lee was born in Norman, but spent a lot of time moving around while growing up, with stints in Korea, Connecticut, Washington state and Oklahoma.

While studying hospitality management at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Lee took a basic cooking course and fell in love with the kitchen.

"Dropped out of school and started cooking at 18 and haven't looked back," Lee said. "Not a lot of 37 year olds can say they've been doing what they do for 20 years and I take pride in that."

Lee is a graduate of The Coach House Apprenticeship Program. Throughout his career, Lee has worked for some of Oklahoma City's best restaurants, including time at Vast and as the culinary director for The Social Order, owners of The Jones Assembly, along with involvement — in menu planning and creation — at other concepts like Chae Modern Korean and Gogi Go.

Lee is now chef-owner Birdie's by Chef Kevin Lee, recently revamped from Birdie's Fried Fried Chicken to offer modern takes on Korean flavors.

How did Kevin Lee end up on Tournament of Champions?

Lee, no stranger to Food Network competitions, having competed on "Beat Bobby Flay," "Guy's Grocery Games" and "Superchef Grudge Match," says that the highlight of his career so far has been beating Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli on her show "Alex vs. America."

More: OKC chef Kevin Lee to appear on Food Network's 'Tournament of Champions: The Qualifiers'

All of that previous experience in Food Network competitions, has kept Lee on the radar of people like Guy Fieri.

After standing as an alternate on past seasons of "Tournament of Champions," Lee was given the chance to battle his way onto the main bracket through "Tournament of Champions: The Qualifiers."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Who is chef Kevin Lee, OKC's 'Tournament of Champions competitor?'