Lucas Sin
Junzi Kitchen | New York
February 2019
Lucas Sin opened his first restaurant before he could legally drive the streets of his hometown, Hong Kong. After training a few friends, 16-year-old Sin set up shop in an abandoned newspaper factory and served a 13-course tasting menu three nights a week. Stateside, while studying cognitive science and English at Yale University, Sin continued to follow his passion for ad hoc eateries by creating a series of student-run pop-ups, called Y Pop-up, out of his dormitory. He spent a formative summer backpacking and cooking his way through Japan, eventually landing an internship at three Michelin-star Kikunoi Honten in Kyoto. Sin also gained experience at high-caliber restaurants in Hong Kong and New York, as well as honing baking skills while working with Francisco Migoya and Nathan Myhrvold’s Modernist Bread team in Bellevue, Washington.
During his final semester at Yale, Sin joined Junzi Kitchen, a modern Chinese restaurant that showcases the noodles and bings of northern China. He is now chef and culinary director, and Junzi has expanded from New Haven to locations near New York University and Columbia University in Manhattan, with another location on the way near Bryant Park. Sin continues to experiment through his whimsical Junzi After Hours menu, featuring takes on instant noodles, fried chicken, and juicebox cocktails. He also hosts a monthly dinner called Chef’s Table through which he collaborates on a tasting menus with chefs and artists to foster discussion about how Chinese food intersects with other cultures. Sin has written about Chinese cuisine and culture for Lucky Peach and Cleaver Quarterly.
