Danny Bowien is the cofounder of Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco and New York. In 2008 he improbably won the Pesto World Championship in Genoa, Italy, and in 2013 the James Beard Foundation named him Rising Star Chef of the Year. He was born in Korea, raised in Oklahoma, and now lives in New York. He was the main subject of the sixth season of the travel and food show The Mind of a Chef.

His newest cookbook, “Mission Vegan, Wildly Delicious Food for Everyone,” was published in 2022.