KEVIN CHEN / CO-OWNER & EXECUTIVE CHEF

Kevin Chen is a New York native who discovered his love for cooking while working for his family’s bakery in Flushing, Queens. He began his culinary career in the city as a pastry cook at Soho House. He was then hired as a pastry cook at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, where he was quickly promoted to pastry chef. Determined to challenge himself, Kevin decided to try his hand at savory cooking. He moved to Chicago and spent a year working at Grant Achatz’s 3 Michelin-Starred Alinea. Next, he spent a year in Austin to help open Apis Restaurant. His time at Apis was particularly influential, as the restaurant’s support of local farms and commitment to source locally and seasonally became a cornerstone of his own culinary philosophy. This naturally led him to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where he met Tashi Gyamtso. After his time at Blue Hill, he spent 6 months traveling in America and South East Asia. While touring America, he lived in his car and staged in restaurants around the country.  

TASHI GYAMTSO / CO-OWNER & EXECUTIVE CHEF

Tashi Gyamtso was born and raised in the Himalayas. He first learned to cook at his mother and grandfather’s side. When he was 18, the family moved to America, and Tashi worked in restaurants while attending college. Realizing he wanted to cook full-time, he left college, and took his first job as a cook at Boqueria in Soho. He then trained as a sushi cook under acclaimed Japanese chefs at Matsugen in Tribeca. Tashi was on the opening team at The Dutch, where he spent 4 years and was promoted to Chef de Tournant. He spent the next 4 years at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where he met Kevin Chen. Having grown up in a farming family, he connected to the farm-driven cuisine and experimentation in sustainable agriculture at Blue Hill. He started there as a cook and worked his way up to sous chef. While at Blue Hill, he took a break to travel, and honed his skills by staging at some of the top kitchens in the world (Perse, Le Bernardin, Alinea, Core by Clair Smith in London, Narizawa in Tokyo, Kikunoi and Den in Tokyo, to name a few).