Danny Bowien facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Danny Bowien
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| Born |
James Daniel Bowien
1982 (age 42–43) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Chef |
James Daniel Bowien (born in 1982) is an American chef and restaurant owner. He was born in South Korea. He is famous for starting and owning Mission Chinese Food restaurants. These restaurants were in New York City, Brooklyn, and San Francisco. Danny Bowien has won a special cooking award called the James Beard Award. He was also the main person featured in the sixth season of the TV show The Mind of a Chef.
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Danny Bowien's Early Life
Danny Bowien was born in South Korea. When he was very young, an American family in Oklahoma adopted him. Growing up, he was one of the only Korean Americans in his school. This made him think a lot about his identity. His background in Asian culture made him want to do something important. He worked many different jobs, like washing dishes at a Vietnamese restaurant. When he was 19, he moved to San Francisco, California.
Danny Bowien's Cooking Career
After going to cooking school, Danny Bowien worked at several restaurants. These were in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of these was an Italian restaurant called Farina. Because of his work there, he went to the 2008 Pesto World Championships in Genoa, Italy. He won first place in this competition!
Starting Mission Chinese Food
Danny Bowien teamed up with another chef, Anthony Myint. They started some food truck pop-ups together. These included Mission Street Food and Mission Burger. Then, he worked with the owners of a Chinese restaurant called Lung Shan. This restaurant was on Mission Street. Together, they started Mission Chinese Food. It was the first time a restaurant opened inside another restaurant as a "pop-up."
Mission Chinese Food quickly became very popular. Bon Appetit Magazine called it the second Best New Restaurant in America. GQ Magazine said it was the fourth Best New Restaurant in America. In 2011, the San Francisco Chronicle nominated Bowien as a "Rising Star Chef." In 2012, he was a finalist for a James Beard Award. He was also listed in Food and Wine Magazine's "40 Big Thinkers under 40." The San Francisco Chronicle also included him in their "Bay Area 30 under 30."
Moving to New York City
In 2012, Danny Bowien left San Francisco. He opened a new Mission Chinese Food restaurant in New York City. It was in the Lower East Side neighborhood. In 2013, he opened a Mexican restaurant called Mission Cantina in New York. This restaurant closed three years later.
In May 2013, Danny Bowien received a big award. He won the "Rising Star Chef" award from the James Beard Foundation. This was for his great work at Mission Chinese Food in both San Francisco and New York City.
In 2014, Bowien moved Mission Chinese Food to New York's Chinatown. In 2017, he was chosen to be the main person on the sixth season of The Mind of a Chef. This show started on November 14, 2017, on Facebook Watch. In 2018, Bowien opened another Mission Chinese Food. This one was in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It was located in front of a music place called Elsewhere.
Restaurant Closures and New Pop-up
In September 2020, Danny Bowien announced that the Mission Chinese Food in Chinatown would close for good. This was because of how hard the COVID-19 pandemic made things for restaurants. While the Chinatown location closed, the Bushwick location stayed open. However, in 2022, he closed all of his New York City restaurants permanently.
In April 2024, Bowien opened a temporary Mission Chinese pop-up. It was at 43 Mott Street, inside the Cha Kee restaurant in New York's Chinatown. The Cha Kee restaurant kept its regular Cha chaan teng Hong Kong Cafe menu. But after 5 PM, it changed to a Japanese-fusion Chinese menu by Danny Bowien. His temporary stay at Cha Kee ended in August.
Danny Bowien's Cooking Style
Danny Bowien is known for changing how people think about fancy dining. He is seen as a "populist" chef. This means he makes food that everyone can enjoy and afford. His cooking is special because he helped make Chinese food more respected in the food world. He also helped break down old rules in the cooking industry. This industry used to focus mostly on European cooking styles.
