Danny Bowien

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Danny Bowien
Danny bowien wiki.jpg
Born
James Daniel Bowien

1982 (age 42–43)
South Korea
Nationality American
OccupationChef

James Daniel Bowien (born 1982) is a Korean-born American chef and restaurateur. He is the founder and owner of Mission Chinese Food in New York City and Brooklyn and co-founder of Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco, California. [1] Bowien is a James Beard Award winner, and the main subject of season six of the food and travel show The Mind of a Chef . [2]

Contents

Early life

Bowien, born in South Korea, was adopted at a young age by a family in Oklahoma. [3] [4] Growing up as one of the only Korean Americans in school left him without a clear sense of identity, and his roots in Asian culture fostered a need to do something respectable. [5] He had various jobs, including as a dishwasher in a Vietnamese restaurant, [4] and at age 19 he moved to San Francisco. [4]

Career

After a spell in culinary school Bowien worked at several restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Italian restaurant Farina. [6] Through his work there he was sent to the 2008 Pesto World Championships in Genoa, Italy, where he won first place. [7]

Bowien partnered with Anthony Myint on a series of food truck pop-ups including Mission Street Food and Mission Burger, and with the owners of a Chinese restaurant called Lung Shan on Mission Street, started Mission Chinese Food as the first restaurant-within-a-restaurant pop-up. [6] It was named the second Best New Restaurant in America by Bon Appetit Magazine and fourth Best New Restaurant in America by GQ Magazine. [8] [9] Bowien was nominated the 2011 Rising Star Chef by the San Francisco Chronicle , and in 2012 he was a James Beard Award Finalist. [10] [11] He was included in Food and Wine Magazine's 40 Big Thinkers under 40, and San Francisco Chronicle’s Bay Area 30 under 30. [12] [13]

After leaving San Francisco in 2012 Bowien opened a standalone Mission Chinese Food in New York City's Lower East Side. [14] In 2013, he opened a Mexican restaurant, Mission Cantina, in New York. [15] Mission Cantina was closed 3 years later. [16] In May 2013, Bowien was awarded the prestigious "Rising Star Chef" by the James Beard Foundation for his work in the Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco and New York City. [17] [1]

In 2014 Bowien moved Mission Chinese Food to New York's Chinatown. [18] In 2017, Bowien was chosen to be the main subject of the sixth season of the food and travel show The Mind of a Chef . It premiered on November 14, 2017, on Facebook Watch. [2] In 2018, Bowien opened a new Mission Chinese Food location in Bushwick, Brooklyn in front of the independent music venue Elsewhere. [19] In September, 2020, Bowien announced permanent closure of the Mission outpost on East Broadway in Chinatown, due to the hardships COVID-19 had on the hospitality industry. [20] While the Mission Chinese Food in Chinatown had closed permanently by the end of September 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bushwick location remained open. [21] In 2022, he closed all of his New York City locations permanently. [1]

By late April 2024, Bowien would open a pop-up Mission Chinese at 43 Mott Street, within the Cha Kee restaurant in NY Chinatown. The restaurant will keep its Cha chaan teng HK Cafe menu, but would change to a Japanese fusion Chinese cuisine by 5 PM. His residency ended by August. [22] [23]

Culinary style

Bowien is recognized for his impact on the democratization of fine dining. [24] Bowien is known as a populist, making food that is accessible to everyone. [25] His work in the kitchen is notable, according to GQ, for pioneering the elevation of Chinese food and breaking down barriers in an industry known for its strict Eurocentric hierarchy. [4]

Personal life

Bowien was married to Korean-American comedian Youngmi Mayer. The pair first met in a corner store when Bowien was cooking at an Italian restaurant in San Francisco, where they noticed each other due to their matching hipster clothing. Their marriage was largely secret for a few years, until they made it more public with a ceremony in South Korea. After they divorced in 2018, Bowien dated a fashion intern. [26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The End of Mission Chinese Food in New York City | Bon Appétit". 2023-04-03. Archived from the original on 2023-04-03. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  2. 1 2 Dao, Dan Q. (November 16, 2017). "Bing-Watch the New 'Mind of a Chef' Episodes Featuring Mission Chinese Food's Danny Bowien". Saveur.
  3. ↑ Cathey, Dave (May 28, 2013). "Danny Bowien comes to the aid of his hometown". The Oklahoman.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Martin, Brett (November 21, 2012). “Danny and the Electric Kung Pao Pastrami Test”. GQ
  5. ↑ “How Mission Chinese Chef Danny Bowien Defines Authenticity”. Asia Society. (April 20, 2018) Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Kauffman, Jonathan (September 8, 2010). "Mission Chinese Food offers a Matrix mind-twister of a meal". SF Weekly.
  7. ↑ "2008 Championship". Pestochampionship.it. Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  8. ↑ "The Best New Restaurants in America, 2011: In the Magazine". bonappetit.com. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  9. ↑ Carolyn Alburger (2012-02-16). "GQ's Alan Richman Names Mission Chinese Food Among Ten Best New Restaurants of 2011". Sf.eater.com. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  10. ↑ Hu, Janny (2011-03-13). "Danny Bowien: 2011 Rising Star Chef". SFGate. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  11. ↑ Carey Jones (2012-03-19). "James Beard Foundation Announces 2012 Finalists Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine ". Serious Eats. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  12. ↑ "Anthony Myint & Danny Bowien: Charitable Chefs | Food & Wine". Foodandwine.com. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  13. ↑ "Inside Scoop SF » Zagat unveils its Bay Area contingent of 30 Under 30". Insidescoopsf.sfgate.com. 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  14. ↑ Fabricant, Florence (2012-02-13). "Mission Chinese Food Is Coming to New York — NYTimes.com". San Francisco (Calif): Dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  15. ↑ Fabricant, Florence (2013-10-28). "Danny Bowien's Mission Cantina Opens Soon". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ Dai, Serena (December 8, 2016). "Danny Bowien's Mission Cantina Closes After Three Years Of Shapeshifting". Eater NY.
  17. ↑ "2013 James Beard Award Winners" (PDF).
  18. ↑ Gordinier, Jeff (December 23, 2014) “A Chef Regains His Focus”. The New York Times. Retrieved October 30th, 2019.
  19. ↑ Adam Platt (2019-01-29). "At the Psychedelic New Mission Chinese Food, Get the Riblets". GrubStreet.
  20. ↑ Fortney, Luke (2020-09-17). "Mission Chinese, Danny Bowien's Genre-Bending Lower East Side Restaurant, Will Permanently Close". Eater NY. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  21. ↑ Christina Izzo, Bao Ong, Amber Sutherland-Namako (October 29, 2021), "75 notable NYC restaurants and bars that permanently closed since 2020", TimeOut {{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ↑ "Mission Chinese Has Popped up in Chinatown". 22 April 2024.
  23. ↑ "Why Danny Bowien Brought Mission Chinese Food Back to New York". 27 June 2024.
  24. ↑ Interview. (September 12, 2018). “Restaurateurs Danny Bowien and Mr.Chow compare notes on Chinese food and the truth of a dish”. Interview Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  25. ↑ Birdsall, John (May 10, 2019). “Chef Danny Bowien doesn’t care that you have a problem with his Arizona Iced Tea deal”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  26. ↑ Mayer, Youngmi (Nov 12, 2024). I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN   978-0316569231.{{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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