Chef
Christine Lau
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- New York City, New York, United States
- Venue
- Kimika · Restaurant
i. Biography
Kimika’s 2022 James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant semifinalist recognition marked the crest of Christine Lau’s work in a New York City kitchen where Japanese and Italian cuisines were put in conversation with unusual control. Raised by parents who emigrated from Hong Kong, Lau’s cooking stays tied to Oakland, California, and to a Bay Area sensibility that leans on seasonality and greenmarket inspiration, letting the market’s daily offerings set the pace of the plate.
Coming Up
At University of California, Davis, Christine Lau laid the groundwork for her culinary career. That early chapter is defined less by declaration than by accumulation: steady learning, practical discipline, and the kind of curiosity that keeps a cook moving toward the kitchen. The work carries family and geography in it, shaped by home cooking, by the Bay Area, and by habits formed before any restaurant dining room entered the picture.
Where They Are Now
There, the restaurant’s cooking was framed through Japanese and Italian cuisines, with seasonality and greenmarket inspiration built into the approach. The result was measured rather than crowded, with the two traditions held in the same register instead of pushed into competition. The work depended on restraint. Lau’s cooking there was praised for a light hand that mashed up Italian and Japanese cuisines without making mush, a description that points to control over novelty. The idea was not to place two traditions on one plate and stop there; it was to keep the combination intact. That discipline gave the food its clarity, so each reference could register without overtaking the others. At Kimika, those choices gave the restaurant a distinct place in New York City dining: Italian and Japanese references, seasonal produce, and the sense that the greenmarket could sharpen the exchange between the two. For Lau, the arc from cooking with her brother while her parents worked late to leading that kitchen reads as a series of practical turns, each one bringing her closer to a cuisine built on balance, patience, and a confident sense of what to leave out.
Honors
In 2022, Kimika was named a James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant semifinalist. The honor brought national attention to the restaurant’s Italian-Japanese mashup and to the kitchen Lau formerly led as executive chef. That recognition is the major award in her career story: a James Beard Foundation semifinalist nod for Best New Restaurant, earned by the New York City restaurant in 2022.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Christine
Where did Christine Lau train or study?
Christine Lau trained at University of California, Davis.
What is Christine Lau known for?
Japanese and Italian cuisine with elements of seasonality and greenmarket inspiration.
