Eddie Huang is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 chef, food personality and former lawyer. He is the owner of restaurants, BaoHaus, and Xiao Ye, which has since been closed down.

Early life

Huang was born in 1982 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 to immigrant parents from Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. He attended The University of Pittsburgh, Rollins College

Rollins College

Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Winter Park, Florida , along the shores of Lake Virginia....

 and graduated with a B.A. He earned a J.D. from Cardozo School of Law.

Career

Not long after graduating from law school, Huang decided for a career change. He was interested in food as he had grown up watching his mother cook at home and had learned many skills in the kitchen. He learnt management from his father, who also opened restaurants

In December 2009, he opened BaoHaus, a Taiwanese

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 bun shop, on the Lower East Side

Lower East Side

The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....

 of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. His straightforward menu consists of pillowy steamed buns filled with a flavorful protein of choice, cilantro, crushed peanuts and Taiwanese red sugar, and sweet bao fries In July 2011, he opened his second shop in the East Village

East Village, Manhattan

The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...

 with an expanded menu. He also started the blog Fresh Off the Boat and sold a memoir to Random House by the same name.

Huang describes his food as a mix of East Asian and Southern flavour.

His restaurant was recognized by the restaurant-rating website, Zagat Survey

Zagat Survey

Zagat Survey was established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979 as a way to collect and correlate the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering New York City, the Zagats surveyed their friends. As of 2005, the Zagat Survey included 70 cities, with reviews based on the input of...

.

He made the 2011 Chow 13 and was voted one of the 101 People You Must Meet in 2011 by Town and Country Magazine.