Basil Yu
Yagi Noodles | Newport, RI
SEPTEMBER 2023
A first generation Chinese American from Manchester, New Hampshire, Basil Yu was put to work in his parents’ Chinese restaurant as a host and server after he got into a bit of trouble at school. Not wanting to be a part of the front-facing aspect of the business, he asked his parents to move him to the kitchen, where Yu began to hone his skills and develop his work ethic. After graduating from college with a health science degree, Yu dove into his culinary career headfirst, working at the White Barn Inn in Kennebunk, Maine. The boutique hotel brought him down to the Vanderbilt Hotel in Newport, where he continued to cook coastal cuisine inspired by the bounty of New England, but he never felt quite creatively stimulated enough. Yu began a pop-up called Noodle Night at The Narragansett in an effort to bring people in on Mondays. It was a smash hit.
Looking for a change, he moved to Dolores, Colorado in 2016 to work at Dunton Hot Springs Hotel. The Relais & Châteaux property was a culinary playground, with a major emphasis placed on whole animal butchery, foraging, and preservation, as well as pushing out new menus daily. Yu also teamed up with a local brewery to continue running his noodle pop-up in the off season. Wanting to be closer to home, he moved back to Rhode Island in 2019 and started to dive deeper into East Asian cuisine, going on to study ramen making in Singapore and Japan. Back in Newport, Rhode Island, Yu continued his noodle pop-up, and when the pandemic hit, pivoted to doing full-time takeout, which evolved into his brick-and-mortar, Yagi Noodles. Building on a foundation of freshly milled, local wheat noodles, Yu serves his expression of noodle soups, as well as other Asian-inspired comfort food.
2023 StarChefs Coastal New England Rising Stars Award Winner
