Danny Bowien is having a pretty good week: his New York City outpost of Mission Chinese Food opened up this Tuesday, Daniel Boulud made a wok omelet in his kitchen, Aziz Ansari dropped in, and he gets to hang out with his friends from the Momofuku Milk Bar. Not the worst thing in the world, really.
But when HuffPost Food caught up with him this week, he spoke not only about his awesome restaurant, but also how he winds down from all the obvious stress that comes from running a restaurant.
For instance, he loves karaoke. “I like Meatloaf,” he said, especially “I’d Do Anything For Love.” “My wife and I do a lot of duets, so we sing a lot of Fleetwood Mac. We also sing a lot of Avril Lavigne.” Once he ran into John Mayer in a karaoke bar, and “tried to convince him to try some Chinese food and sing karaoke with us, specifically to get him to sing his own songs, but didn’t happen.”
He also revealed that out of all the meals he’s had in New York City, one held special meaning for him: a dinner at Del Posto a few months ago. “I’m friends with the pastry chef there,” he said, “and I was just blown away by the courses.”
Also, in the grand scheme of East Coast Versus West Coast, you’d be surprised with the former California chef’s preference: “I think the weather is much better in San Francisco. But I think the drive here in New York is really what inspires me at this point in my career.”
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