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Mission Chinese Star Chef Angela Dimayuga Leaves Restaurant

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The James Beard-nominated chef is moving on

by Serena Dai
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Danny Bowien and Angela Dimayuga
Danny Bowien and Angela Dimayuga in Mission Chinese
Photo by Daniel Krieger

Angela Dimayuga has left Mission Chinese, the place where her star rose as she helped turn it into an eccentric Sichuan dining destination on the Lower East Side.

The former executive chef at the restaurant — who has earned a James Beard nomination for her work there — posted on Instagram that she’s “onto a new chapter.” Neither Dimayuga, nor Mission’s proprietor and chef Danny Bowien, responded to requests for comment. See her full post below.

Dimayuga is an alum of critically-acclaimed Dumbo restaurant Vinegar Hill House, but her profile went up during her time at Mission Chinese. She landed on multiple best new chef and rising star lists, including the annual Young Guns awards at Eater. In 2016, she was nominated for the Rising Star Chef James Beard award.

She contributed to building the downtown cool aesthetic of the East Broadway location of Mission and added Filipina flair to the menu. She’s also known for being outspoken about feminist, queer, and immigrant rights, particularly as the children of Filipino immigrants.

Stay tuned for more on her next steps.

After almost six rich years at Mission Chinese Food, I'm onto a new chapter! Working with Mission has been a crazy life-altering job that I will never forget. Since day 1 we hit the ground running, not knowing what we were doing and figuring things out along the way. Everything that has come for us--taking on the good and bad (that spectrum is soo wide) has taught me so much. Trying to do things in "our own way" was intense and rewarding which was major in contributing to our grit and scrappiness - two key attributes necessary in the restaurant world :). I will remember the past years so fondly, working with Danny was so formative of my career. I'm thankful to him and his style that I had the opportunity to learn how to become a creative through my autonomy, learning to hone my flavors next to his and really expressing myself through the entire restaurant as a living, breathing thing. I'm happy to say the vibe at Mission is what I hoped it would become when I walked into that new space to help open it. I wanted it to feel like an institution - that its been in NYC all along, but a weirdo portal into a future Chinese restaurant you've never experienced before. As I spent more time there and my identity as a person and a chef became more and more formed, I wanted it to be as inclusive as possible, so that the restaurant has become a reflection of what I loved about the rich cultural diversity of NYC. Even with my resignation, I know that the restaurant culture that I love so much about MCF will thrive and be maintained by, @dannybowienchinesefood, @glitter_box, @sam4nderson who I have so much love for and I've been through so much with. So glad to have met everyone that I've worked with over the years--thankful for the different crews of Mission freaks bringing their individuality and talent over the years. So much love to Mission and excited to see them continue to flourish. Looking forward to the future, excited for exploring the abyss, and writing my next chapter!

A post shared by angela dimayuga (@swimsuit_issue) on

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171 East Broadway, Manhattan, NY 10002 (917) 376-5660 Visit Website

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