He is again, individuals, and this time he is in this article to remain.
We hope.
Chef Hung Huynh, the uber-talented chef and winner of Leading Chef Year 3, has signed on to grow to be Director of Culinary Innovation for the Omei Restaurant Team just 3 months after leaving his submit as government chef of Ava MediterrAegean.
Huynh was serving as a New York City-based advisor to several significant-stop dining establishments all around the state when Omei’s Johnny and Jimmy Tung linked with the Vietnamese-born chef at the Reunion Omakase at Morimoto Asia two months in the past.
“We are outside of thrilled and honored chef Hung is joining our cafe team,” claims Omei’s Johnny Tung. “He’ll support us consider Orlando’s cafe scene to new heights by mentoring our chef associates and building new and remarkable restaurant concepts.”
Huynh will supply his culinary know-how to the principles beneath the restaurant group’s umbrella, specifically Bento Asian Kitchen, Collab Kitchens and Norikase in Jacksonville. He’ll also collaborate with Omei’s chef-partner concepts Camille, Doshi Box, Sugar Dough Bakehouse, Light on the Sugar, Foreigner, Soupa Saiyan and Mamak.
“I’m genuinely looking ahead to becoming a aspect of this crew,” claims Huynh. “Omei has been so profitable in running a wide array of ideas, and that definitely excites me.”
For Huynh, acquiring his personal restaurant idea is absolutely in the offing, and Tung tells me that may well occur quicker than later. “With Michelin coming, we have to acquire gain of this momentum,” he teases.
Finally, it could direct to Huynh obtaining his have restaurant team, identical to how the Tung Brothers helped Sonny Nguyen create Domu Dynasty.
“Our target is to have cooks that appear by Orlando remain or adhere all-around, and help build Orlando into a nationally and internationally identified food stuff city,” says Tung. “The hope is that other cooks close to the nation will just take discover of where Orlando is headed and take into account relocating below as properly.”
Immediately after snagging the Leading Chef title again in 2007, the gifted alum of Per Se and Male Savoy spent four several years with the EMM Cafe Group in advance of a perfectly-publicized break up. Hung bounced around following that and even did a stint at Morimoto Asia as chef de delicacies. In 2019, he opened Asian-fusion restaurant Warrior in L.A. but cut ties to the West Hollywood hotspot.
So what can make Omei a very good fit for Huynh?
“I feel at this stage in his job, he’s looking for a restaurant group to partner with relatively than get the job done for,” states Tung. “Omei gives a path to possession, and we can assistance chefs create their possess cafe teams by providing chefs with methods to achieve their personal personalized ambitions.”
Huynh cites Omei’s diversified portfolio as a motivation to sign up for the group.
“I’ve only invested a small time with Omei,” he says, “but I do like the point that they have a lot of initiatives and a ton of fresh new ideas. I really don’t like to perform at one issue. It gets stale for me. Omei presents me the prospect to be concerned with quite a few distinct areas of meals company, from quick-everyday to omakases to ghost kitchens.”
Huynh quickly admits that functioning with an Asian-owned cafe team also proved attractive.
“I have labored with several cafe teams, but this just one is owned by Asians and they do a ton of Asian concepts and I want to be a aspect of that journey. Orlando is completely ready for new, remarkable principles and I want to be associated in building that transpire.”
Make it materialize, chef. Make it happen.
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