Other
Oona Tempest
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
She left Massachusetts for New York at 17 and entered a field where image and discipline could be measured in the same frame. At the School of Visual Arts, Oona Tempest studied visual, critical, and multidisciplinary arts; that training later shows up in the way she handles composition, control, and timing in the kitchen. The shift into Japanese cuisine in New York City gave that sensibility a working form, built one apprenticeship, one line, one plate at a time.
The Path
School of Visual Arts gave Oona Tempest a base in visual, critical, and multidisciplinary arts before Japanese cuisine in New York City became the place where technique was tested under service pressure. She began as an apprentice at Tanoshi Sushi in New York City, where repetition and exacting standards shaped the work. In that setting, apprenticeship meant learning by doing, with discipline and quiet intensity carrying as much weight as speed. The move to sushi chef at Sushi Ginza Onodera marked a step into greater responsibility, with the craft now placed directly in her hands. She continued as sushi chef at Shoji at 69 Leonard Street in New York City, holding the same attention to balance and restraint in another room where detail mattered. The path runs on rigor rather than display: steady advancement, practiced control, and a deepening command of the form. Since 2019, Oona has been chef of Sushi By Bae. The role brings together the visual discipline of her studies and the technical demands of New York kitchens, with the work organized around precision, structure, and consistency. Chef of Sushi by Bae (since 2019) names the present point of a career assembled through exacting training and accumulated practice.
The Work Today
Chef at Sushi By Bae. The title compresses the years behind it: apprenticeship, sushi chef roles, and a long adjustment to the demands of a highly specific tradition. The work today is defined less by spectacle than by standards, held in place through patience, repetition, and the authority that comes from doing the same craft well over time.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Oona
What is Oona Tempest's current role?
As of 2026, Oona Tempest is Chef at Sushi By Bae.
Where did Oona Tempest train or study?
Oona Tempest trained at School of Visual Arts.
