Chef
Justin Bacharach
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
i. Biography
Executive Chef and Co-Owner at dancerobot in Philadelphia, United States, is the title that defines Justin Bacharach’s work now. It sits alongside his role as Executive Chef of Cheu Fishtown, where recognition from Opinionated About Dining in 2023 and 2024 has followed a kitchen built on serious noodle-bar cooking rather than ornament.
The Honours
Cheu Fishtown received Opinionated About Dining North America Casual list recognition in 2023, then returned to the list in 2024. In the 2024 Opinionated About Dining Casual North America ranking, the restaurant was placed at #349. The attention around dancerobot has been direct as well. Bon Appétit included it on its 9 Must-Visit Restaurants to Try list, and Eater named it among the Best New Restaurants in Philly. Those honours track two different parts of Bacharach’s Philadelphia cooking. One is the no-frills Fishtown setting of Cheu, where the food is described as serious noodle-bar cooking; the other is dancerobot, where the frame widens toward Japanese diner classics, a Philadelphia-rooted story, and a love of 7/11 egg sandos.
The Craft
Bacharach is associated with Japanese comfort food and inventive izakaya cooking. At dancerobot, he and Jesse Ito draw on izakayas, kissatens, konbinis, and yoshoku cuisine, using those references as the ground for dishes that read as both specific and playful. Cheu Fishtown works from a different but related register. Its dishes are inspired by Japanese and other Asian cuisines, then pushed into their own lane with unorthodox ingredients or spices. StarChefs listed several of Bacharach’s featured dishes at Royal Izakaya, each with a precise internal logic. Nasu Dengaku paired fried Japanese eggplant with Jidori Tama Miso, sesame seeds, and turmeric-pickled cauliflower. Tsukune brought together grilled chicken meatball, bacon, kimchi, tare glaze, Jidori egg yolk, and soy sauce. Sobagaki used a toasted buckwheat dumpling with curry soubise, fried shallots, nori, parsley, and lemon. For dessert, Taiyaki Sundae combined kabocha squash-Jidori ice cream, cranberry-anko sauce, kinako, pumpkin sprinkles, and buttermilk taiyaki. The dancerobot side of the work has produced its own signatures. Kare Pan, served on a tasting-series lineup hosted by Bacharach, was built as a curry donut with braised beef cheek, panko, and aonori. Tonteki, listed among the restaurant’s inventive dishes, matched grilled Iberico pork secreto with soy and apricot glaze, apple, miso, brown butter puree, snowy cabbage, and garlic chip.
The Career
Bacharach’s Philadelphia career runs through kitchens that helped define his fluency with noodles, izakaya formats, and Japanese comfort food. Before his present posts, he was a long-tenured cook and chef at Cheu Noodle Bar and Bing Bing Dim Sum. He also worked as chef at Royal Sushi and Izakaya and as a longtime chef at Royal Izakaya. The dishes later highlighted by StarChefs from that period show a cook comfortable with eggplant, buckwheat, tare, curry, kabocha, anko, and taiyaki without flattening them into a single style. In 2017, Bacharach was Head Chef at Cheu Fishtown in Philadelphia. He is now Executive Chef there, while also serving as Executive Chef and Co-Owner of dancerobot.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Justin
What is Justin Bacharach known for?
Justin Bacharach is known for Japanese comfort food and inventive izakaya cooking, including Cheu Fishtown’s serious noodle-bar cooking and dancerobot’s Japanese diner-inspired dishes.
What is Justin Bacharach's current role?
He is Executive Chef and Co-Owner of dancerobot in Philadelphia, United States, and Executive Chef of Cheu Fishtown.
What awards has Justin Bacharach received?
Cheu Fishtown received Opinionated About Dining North America Casual recognition in 2023 and 2024, ranked #349 in Opinionated About Dining Casual North America in 2024, while dancerobot was listed by Bon Appétit and Eater.
