Amelie Kang

Coming Up

Culinary Institute of America gave Amelie Kang a formal base before she stepped into founder work at Chubby Princess in Financial District, Manhattan (2019). That sequence matters: training first, then a move into New York’s restaurant trade, where execution has to hold up against the pace of the room. From the start, Kang’s path reads as deliberate—less a break from one mode to another than a steady build, with each step adding control over both the kitchen and the larger mechanics of hospitality. Today, founder and CEO of MáLà Project (since 2015) and founder of Tomorrow (since 2019) are the roles that define Amelie Kang’s current output. Together, they place her at the point where food, identity, and operations meet, with one side of the work concerned with what lands on the table and the other with how the concept holds together over time. The titles point to range, but also to discipline: flavor on one side, structure on the other, and a consistent focus on coherence from the first impression onward.

Where They Are Now

Sichuan dry pot, customizable dishes, vibrant seasoning, and a room shaped by a modern East Village aesthetic make up the current frame of Amelie Kang’s work. The cuisine is built to be direct: heat, color, and dishes that ask the guest to choose and assemble rather than simply receive. That structure gives the room a participatory energy, while the seasoning provides the clearest signal of intent—bold, immediate, and hard to miss. Tomorrow, founded in 2019 in New York City, remains part of her current work. Taken together with MáLà Project, the two roles show Amelie Kang moving between the stove, the brand, and the business decisions that make a concept readable to guests. The strength of that balance is in its clarity: flavor and format on one side, presentation and reception on the other, with each part keeping the whole legible.

Signature

Amelie Kang’s signature dishes include zhajiang noodles, zhajiangmian, and dry pot. Together, they point to a cooking style that stays direct and flavor-forward, with a preference for dishes that carry both comfort and intensity. The menu language favors depth over ornament, and the impact comes from dishes that remain recognizable while still carrying a clear point of view. In Kang’s hands, the signature is not about reinvention for its own sake; it is about confidence in letting these dishes do what they already do well.

In Their Words “This dish is very special to me because it’s one of the dishes that’s only reserved for special occasions, dinners where everybody is coming.” “I actually went to the Culinary Institute of America and studied culinary arts management.” These remarks point to two parts of the work: occasion and training. The first places the dish inside the kind of meal that is meant to gather people, with the table itself carrying the meaning. The second returns to the Culinary Institute of America and to culinary arts management, which frames Amelie Kang’s foundation as both practical and organizational, not just about cooking but about how the work is managed.

Honors

Amelie Kang’s honors include Forbes 30 Under 30 - Food & Drink (2020) and Eater Young Guns (2018). Those recognitions mark clear points in a career that has moved with purpose, reflecting the momentum behind a founder and CEO of MáLà Project (since 2015) and founder of Tomorrow (since 2019).