FSR November 2022

CHEFS & INGREDI ENT S CHEF PROF I LE

of learning from his late mom, Atlanta food icon Betty Hsu. e Taiwan-born Betty came to the U.S. with just $20 but went on to run seven Hunan Village restaurants with husband George in the ’80s and ’90s. She sponsored her parents and all seven sib lings to join her in the U.S. and routinely opened her home to friends and strang ers when they needed a place to stay. “My mother had a very positive influ ence on the community—breaking down barriers through food, employing people, opening her home to people who needed to find their feet,” Hsu says. “ at goes beyond the transaction of coming in, eating, and paying for a meal. You make people feel like part of your every day life, part of your family. at’s real hospitality; that’s what drives me.” Hsu’s mini empire will soon swell to three locations; café and bakery Juni per Cafe debuted last year, and Humble Pie pizzeria is slated to open in the com ing months. Like Betty, Hsu took a big risk leaving his job as creative director at Le Bernardin to bootstrap a fine-din ing restaurant in his hometown. (As did his wife, whose career progression was put on hold.) “But my mentality, which I get from Betty, is give it a shot,” he says. “Go big or go home. Plus, it had to be in the South. New York is all business. I like the small talk in the South; it’s a platform to get to know people.” In Stockbridge, Georgia, where Hsu grew up, the small talk was as charm ing as it was ubiquitous, though racism ran deep. Hsu was sometimes bullied; he recalls one incident at the pool when a white kid spat on him and hurled racial slurs. At home, dedication to hard work and kindness begot resiliency among Hsu and siblings Howard and Anita. Like any restaurant kid, he loathed the hours spent peeling 50-pound bags of onions at Hunan Village instead of running around with friends. But by his teens he became captivated by the fancy plates and French brigade–style kitchens depicted in the trade magazines arriving at the restaurant each month. As he neared the end of undergrad at

JUNIPER CAFE’S IMPERIAL ROLLS WITH PORK, SHIITAKE, AND WOOD EAR MUSHROOMS.

“That goes beyond the transaction of coming in, eating, and paying for ameal. You make people feel like part of your everyday life, part of your family. That’s real hospitality; that’s what drives me.”

the University of Georgia in Athens, he mustered the courage to tell Betty that he intended to go to culinary school once he got his business degree. Instead, she told him to not delay pursuing his pas sion any longer. He enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Syd ney, then worked at French-inspired Dish in Atlanta before moving to New

ANDREW THOMAS LEE (4)

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NOVEMBER 2022