Phillip Frankland Lee Brings NADC’s Viral Wagyu Burgers Home to Los Angeles |
Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews
Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews
Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews
Power Index Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR
About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints
Phillip Frankland Lee Brings NADC’s Viral Wagyu Burgers Home to Los Angeles
The Michelin-starred chef returns to his hometown with a cult smashburger brand built on precision.
Chef Phillip Frankland Lee moved from Los Angeles to Austin during the Covid-19 pandemic, but there was not a damn chance that he was abandoning California.
Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter
Thank you for signing up!
By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.
Lee, who grew up in Los Angeles, has continued to operate Sushi by Scratch Restaurants. The Montecito outpost earned a 2021 Michelin star, and Sushi by Scratch is also going strong at its locations in Encino and the SLS Beverly Hills. Lee keeps pushing harder at Encino’s Pasta | Bar, which has had a Michelin Star for five consecutive years and was featured in Apple TV’s Knife Edge series last year. (In 2025, Lee and his brother, Lennon, made history by becoming the first siblings to earn a Michelin star at different U.S. restaurants in the same year.)
And now he’s back in L.A. to remind his hometown that he’s also an ace at creating casual food. On Friday, Feb. 27, Lee and pro skateboarder Neen Williams will open NADC Burger’s first Los Angeles location in Westwood, near the UCLA campus.
NADC, which is short for Not a Damn Chance, is a wagyu burger spot that Lee and Williams already operate in Austin, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Denver,........