The Mind of a Chef

Danny Bowien was born in Korea but only spent the first 3 months of his infant life there. He was adopted and raised by American parents in Oklahoma -- religious, hard-working folks -- and instead of a life in Seoul, Danny grows up in suburban middle-America. Adapting to this life was easy, for it was all he knew, but he constantly carried traces of his past with him.

Once Danny left Oklahoma to examine his roots, he emerged in San Francisco as a human tabula rasa, open to all of the experiences the city laid before him. It was here that Danny formed who he was as a person and as a chef, and the grassroots movement of Mission Street Food blossomed into what is now his greatest success.

Danny visits Chengdu to reconnect with the place, the food and the person -- renowned chef Yu Bo -- that have influenced him the most. Szechuan food has been the greatest source of inspiration for Danny, and consequently his life. Learn all about the dishes, cooking methods, unique flavors and stories that have driven Danny on a quest to master this style of food.

For better or worse, we do not get to choose the family into which we’re born. In Danny’s case, nor did he get to choose the family that adopted him. As a husband and father, he has made his own family unit, and as a chef and business owner he has made a second family, his restaurant family.

Danny has learned that there is power in taking chances, and risk can be virtuous when it comes to navigating the creative process. Now more than ever, he has gained confidence in taking these risks, and grown more comfortable with both of its outcomes.

Danny Bowien does not cook authentic Chinese cuisine, but he cooks genuine Danny Bowien cuisine -- food that is inspired by his love of Szechuan food and New York City and his family and new experiences. He is 100% himself, and is constantly in search and in awe of others who are the same.

Continuing on the Hero’s Journey, if Korea was his starting point and San Francisco was his first threshold, New York City is where Danny’s adventure reaches the apex. Danny really believes that if you can make it in this ultra-competitive town with its even more competitive dining scene, then there’s nowhere you can’t succeed.

What would have happened if Danny never left Oklahoma, or was not adopted at all? Instead of looking at life as a series of “what ifs,” the lens of the multiverse allows us to see a reality with infinite possibilities and infinite selves. In this, Danny is still an orphan, and is not an orphan, he opens a Chinese bakery, he grows up in Korea and he is even a puppet.