Yong Zhao | CEO
Yong grew up in Panjin, northeast of Beijing. He attended the Yuanpei School at Peking University and earned his MESc at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
While studying at Yale, Yong craved for the healthy and flavorful homestyle Chinese food he grew up with, and called his mother to learn how to make chun bing. After many sleepless nights of R&D with Chef Lucas and the team, the first junzi chun bing recipe was born.
Wanting Zhang | business operations
Wanting co-founded junzi when studying at MESc at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Originally from Beijing, she received her BA at Peking University, an LLM at the Boston University School of Law.
Lucas Sin | Chef, Head of Culinary Arts
Lucas Sin, Eater Young Guns Class of 2019 and Forbes 30 under 30, opened his first restaurant when he was 16, in an abandoned newspaper factory in his hometown of Hong Kong. Despite spending his Yale undergraduate years in the Cognitive Science and English departments, Lucas spent his weekends running restaurants out of his dorm, known as Y Pop-up. He backpacked and cooked his way through Japan, before settling at Kikunoi Honten in Kyoto. He’s also spent time at Modernist Cuisine in Seattle and Michelin-starred kitchens in Hong Kong and New York.
Beyond the bings and noodles at Junzi Kitchen, Lucas also directs the funkier, more indulgent After Hours menu: fried chicken, instant noodles, juicebox cocktails, and the like. His monthly personal project is a no-longer-secret, collaborative tasting menu exploring the narrative of contemporary Chinese cuisine, which we call Chef’s Study.
Fernando Piasarolo | Head of Restaurant Operations
Fernando leads all Junzi operations by way of Boston and Brazil, with experience in hospitality training, new restaurant opening, and management, all in the fast-casual food space. He was previously VP of Operations at Cheeseboy and Director of Training at Panera Bread. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston University.
xuhui zhang | Architecture & Real Estate
Xuhui received Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua University and Master of Architecture from Cornell. He worked at Pei Cobb Freed in New York; his team led both architecture and interior design of the award-winning 7 Bryant Park, which later became the US headquarter of Bank of China.
Nicky Chang | Head of Design & Strategy
Prior to joining junzi, Nicky ran a secret dinner club that connects young chefs to hungry designers from her Manhattan apartment, titled “table for six”.
Nicky studied Art History and Economics at Williams College, architecture and urbanism at Columbia GSAPP and sustainable design at ETH Zurich, before receiving her Master of Architecture from Yale.
Tatiana Da Silva | Director of Restaurant Operations
Tatiana comes from Boston and Brazil, and heading our Junzi Columbia location, with a background in restaurant management and restaurant crew training. She received her BA from Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes.
Anthony Nichols | Culinary Director
Anthony has worked for the best of the best in the QSR world. Dig Inn, Pret A Manger, Mulberry & Vine, Just Salad, and now Junzi Kitchen. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, a native New Yorker, father of two boys, Anthony spent his formative years under chef’s Ben Pollinger’s, Michelin starred Oceana, Mauro Buffo’s highly rated Falai among other Michelin starred restaurants around the country. In addition, Chef Anthony has extensive experience with CPG research & development and has launched products with Walmart, Kroger, BJ’s & Aldi. Make sure to follow Chef Anthony @chefanthonynichols for his latest creations!
LJ Almendras | Food Designer
Lj has spent most of his career building consumer brands through PR and events in Manila, Saigon, and Seattle. While earning a Master’s degree in communication at the University of Washington, he discovered that food is the language of his calling and moved to New York to pursue the world of culinary.
Anthony Keys | General Manager, New Haven
Anthony started at junzi back in 2015 when we first opened the New Haven location. Anthony’s career development is an inspiration for our whole team and he makes us feel nothing is impossible. He started as a line crew member and is currently the General Manager of junzi New Haven location. If you see Anthony at 21 Broadway, make sure to ask him for recommendations!
Eva Zhang | Operations
Eva is in charge of Junzi’s procurement and supply chain. Eva grew up in Liaoning, China. She started at Junzi focusing on recipe development and kitchen management, now she is devoting herself to source the best quality produce and products to each and every Junzi Kitchen location. Eva received her BA in business school from Shenyang Normal University, and received her masters degree from Fort Hays university. She is an amazing home cook and a foodie exploring culture and life through food.
Heather Grebla | General Manager, all NYC locations
Heather has been been in restaurants for 27 years! She got her love for the hospitality industry at age of 14 when she first started working at a local fast-casual grill restaurant, where she was given the opportunity to work service line, delivery, and kitchen. Heather went on to work at the Development Office of Northern NJ for Subway Sandwich shops for 13 years starting out as a Junior Business Consultant and worked her way up to Director of Operations/Training. Heather also served as General Manager for Hale and Hearty and Jose Tejas as a front of house manager.
A New York native, now Heather resides with her family in New Jersey, where she enjoys spending her free time hiking and skiing.
Justin Udry | Marketing & Technology
Justin is a graduate of Columbia University, where he received his BA in History. Born in Seattle, nursed in Taipei, and raised in Wisconsin, he loves experiencing new cultures, especially through food. Justin moonlights as a saxophonist, writer, and late-night food aficionado.
Zhihua Liu | Accounting
Originally from Fujian, China, Zhihua holds a BA from Southern Connecticut State University. He majored in Accounting and minored in Mathematics, and earned his MBA degree at SCSU. He is an avid cat lover and a thriving guitarist.
Shawn Li | Business Intelligence
Shawn (Shuaichen) received his BS at Peking University and MS at Columbia University. Prior to joining junzi, Shawn was an engineer and laboratory researcher. His current passion involves R programming and Chinese food.