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Faye Chen
World's 50 Best Bars
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i. Biography
Coming Up
Bar service taught Faye Chen the basics of reading a room, moving with pace, and keeping a floor in order. As a server at Unknown bar in Taiwan, she worked from the front line of hospitality, where timing and attention matter as much as technique. That foundation carried into opening work in 2014, when she helped her mentor Shingo Gokan open Speak Low in Shanghai. A bar opening is built from repetition, coordination, and long stretches of problem-solving; Chen’s role in that process marked a move from service into the larger work of building a venue from the ground up. A new city shifted the setting but not the task. In New York City, Chen joined Gn Chan at Unknown in New York City, translating ideas into an experience guests could register immediately, even without seeing the machinery behind it. Between 2017 and 2020, she extended that practice through cocktail pop-ups at Various bars around the country in United States, work that demanded mobility, adaptability, and a clear point of view from room to room. Pop-ups reward bartenders who can keep composition and audience in view at the same time, and that stretch widened the range of her practice. Since 2020, Chen has served as co-founder & General Manager of Double Chicken Please. The title asks for two kinds of labor at once: shaping the concept and maintaining the daily structure that lets it run. Her background in service, openings, and pop-up work comes together there in a single operation.
Where They Are Now
At Double Chicken Please, the drinks program is built around cocktails and drinks inspired by popular dishes. That format gives the bar a clear point of contact with the diner while asking the team to reframe familiar flavors through the language of the cocktail. In Chen’s case, the work reads as an ongoing exercise in memory, recognition, and presentation, with the idea carried through by steady execution rather than novelty alone.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Faye
What is Faye Chen's current role?
As of 2026, Faye Chen is Co-Founder & General Manager.
What recognition has Faye Chen received?
StarChefs New York Rising Stars Award (2023).
