Mission Chinese Food is the hottest Sichuan spot in New York

Chef Danny Bowien isn’t out to shock or scare his guests.

His fiery, tongue-tingling Sichuan dishes aren’t just ‘difficult for the sake of difficulty,’ Bowien explained. There's no prize for surviving the spice.

Yet, dishes like the spice-laden Chongqing Chicken Wings have captured the city’s attention, creating lines that stretch for hours at Bowien’s New York-based Mission Chinese Food.

Anthony Bourdain recalled, ‘When I brought my close friend Eric Ripert here, he tried the wings, took one bite, and rushed to the bathroom in sheer panic,’ he warned Anderson Cooper.

‘But the next morning, he called me right away and said, ‘You know, those chicken wings... I can’t stop thinking about them. We have to go back,’”

Not everyone shares the same enthusiasm for the bold, eclectic eatery that Bourdain described as 'the most fun restaurant in New York.'

‘We’re a divisive place,’ Bowien admitted. ‘Some guests adore us, while others can’t stand us.’

Bowien no longer takes it to heart.

He’s not seeking universal popularity, but he enjoys offering a variety of experiences that cater to different tastes, all in one place.

‘It’s like the best record store,’ he explained. ‘It’s not all indie, and it’s not all Top 40 either.’

Alongside his intensely spicy dishes, he delights in surprising diners with dishes like prime rib drizzled in melted butter and king crab legs, all served from a retro 1960s cart.

The making of a chef

Bowien’s Korean-American roots continue to shape his evolving culinary style.

Adopted into a family in Oklahoma City, Bowien was the only Asian member in his household.

His childhood meals often consisted of Hamburger Helper, stuffed cabbage, meatballs, and tacos. It wasn’t until he was 19 that he tasted his first authentic Korean dish.

After culinary school, while working at high-end restaurants in San Francisco in his mid-20s, he encountered Sichuan cuisine for the first time.

Seeking a culinary challenge, he and his friends found a stark contrast in Sichuan food, which was far from the fine dining dishes they were accustomed to.

As a chef, Bowien had an innate ability to figure out how dishes were prepared.

However, when he first tried Sichuan cuisine, it was a revelation. ‘I had no idea what I was tasting, how I was tasting it, or what these flavors were,’ he recalled. ‘It was the first time in ages I was stumped in the kitchen,’” he said.

Determined to understand, Bowien set out to learn.

He began cooking Sichuan dishes at a pop-up restaurant in San Francisco, which eventually led to the creation of Mission Chinese Food.

In 2013, his innovation earned him a James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

At 33, Bowien has built a culinary empire with three restaurants: Mission Chinese Food in New York and San Francisco, along with Mission Cantina in New York, which blends Mexican and Chinese cuisine.

A budding dream

Bowien appears to be thriving, gaining both experience and confidence as he continues his journey.

He’s overcome the setback of having to close the original Mission Chinese in New York due to health code violations shortly after its grand opening.

In addition to his restaurant career, he drums for the band Narx, and balances family life as a husband and father while squeezing in SoulCycle sessions.

Bowien is taken aback by how his journey has unfolded.

Before culinary school, which he mainly saw as a chance to live in San Francisco, Bowien worked in an optometrist’s office and pursued music.

However, Bowien always told his mother, who passed away when he was a teenager, that he would someday open his own restaurant.

“You often think, ‘One day I’ll do this or that. Maybe I’ll be an astronaut,’” he recalled.

“I’m sure there are some astronauts out there who once thought the same thing as kids, and now they’re like, ‘I didn’t really expect this to happen, but here I am,’” he added.