Chef Shirley Chung, Dumpling Mafia
Chef Shirley Chung A native of Beijing, she moved to the U.S. to obtain a degree in Business Management, then trained in the culinary arts at the California Culinary Academy.
She owned and acted as Chef de Cuisine of Fusion Catering before working for Thomas Keller at Bouchon in Yountville, CA, where she not only honed her culinary talent, but acquired skills in management, inventory and cost control.
She opened Bouchon’s Las Vegas location as Sous Chef, then moved to the position of Chef de Partie at Restaurant Guy Savoy in Caesars Palace.
Continuing to another superstar chef’s kitchen, she then opened Mario Batali’s B&B Ristorante, progressing to Chef de Cuisine at Carnevino, where she was integral in raising the restaurant up to its current nationally recognized status.
In October 2010, she was named Executive Chef of Jose Andres’ China Poblano in The Cosmopolitan, where under her leadership, it was nominated for a James Beard Best New Restaurant award.
In 2013, Shirley was a chef contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef Series Season 11 New Orleans where she finished in the Top 3.
Her experience working at China Poblano helped perfect her skill for Chinese cuisine, which she presents with a modern twist at her Orange County restaurantTwenty Eight, which she opened as Chef Partner in 2014.
In 2016, Shirley was invited back to Top Chef Season 14 where she was the runner up.
In 2018, Chef Shirley and her husband opened Ms Chi Cafe in Culver City which is a casual progressive Chinese-American restaurant serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch and ships nationwide on Goldbelly.com.
In 2019, Chef Shirley was the inaugural chef of Abernethy’s, a new restaurant concept and chef- driven project at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.
In2021, Chef Shirley co-founded Dumpling Mafia NFT which is the first chef driven NFT on the market
In 2022, Chef Shirley competed among 32 of the best chefs in Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions on the Food Network
