Chef
Katie Liu-Sung
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Kansas City, Missouri, United States
i. Biography
Katie Liu-Sung is the Head Chef and owner of Chewology in Kansas City, a restaurant whose identity feels the quiet ritual that helped inspire it: dumplings folded with family and friends around the table. What began as a childhood memory has become a guiding thread through both the kitchen and the business, giving the restaurant its sense of origin, intimacy, and purpose. In Liu-Sung’s hands, Chewology is not simply a place to eat, but a place where memory, technique, and daily work continue to meet.
The Path
Katie Liu-Sung trained at University of Missouri (MBA), building a business foundation that shaped the career that followed. That background sits behind the visible life of Chewology, where the realities of ownership and the demands of the kitchen are held together with equal care. The path to her current role was not framed by spectacle, but by the discipline of understanding how a restaurant is sustained as much by structure as by flavor.
The Work Today
As Head Chef and owner, she holds the defining current role at the restaurant. Dumplings remain the signature work, not as a menu shorthand but as the dish connected to family, memory, and the first shape of the project. They carry with them the feeling of hands working together, the repetition of a beloved form, and the emotional architecture that made the restaurant possible in the first place. Liu-Sung’s approach suggests a kitchen that is as personal as it is operational, where decisions are made with the long view in mind. Looking back, she has said, "That’s probably the reason I never put a fryer in our kitchen(s)—I did not enjoy cleaning the fryer."
Signature
Katie's signature dishes include Dumplings and The Three Cup Mushroom Ramen. Together, they reflect the range of her cooking at Chewology: one rooted in the foundational memory of folding dumplings, the other offering a different expression of comfort and craft. Both speak to a kitchen guided by care, texture, and the pleasures of a dish that lingers.
In Their Words “My daughter and I share our love for animals, and she’s a vegan for that reason. We are always ready to rescue animals in need.” “Looking back, that’s probably the reason I never put a fryer in our kitchen(s)—I did not enjoy cleaning the fryer.”
Acclaim
In 2025, Chewology was named a James Beard Award semifinalist. The restaurant also received Kansas City Magazine Restaurant of the Year. For Liu-Sung, those accolades sit alongside the quieter, more personal story at the heart of the work: a restaurant built from memory, sustained by persistence, and shaped by a vision that has remained as distinct as the dishes that define it.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Katie
What is Katie Liu-Sung's current role?
As of 2026, Katie Liu-Sung is Head Chef and Owner.
Where did Katie Liu-Sung train or study?
Katie Liu-Sung trained at University of Missouri (MBA).
What recognition has Katie Liu-Sung received?
James Beard Award semifinalist (2025).
