Hsing Chen
Co-Founder, Head of Creative,  Eat Well Hospitality

At Eat Well Hospitality, Co-Founder Hsing Chen oversees Andros Taverna, Mano a Mano and Asador Bastian—alongside Co-Founder Doug Psaltis—as well as the pastry programs and communications. She draws upon her pedigree as an esteemed pastry chef and an Emmy-award winning journalist with a background in communications. The pastry program at the Eat Well restaurants reflects her creativity and ability to step into new genres and present complex yet simply delightful desserts.

Chen has honed her craft at some of the most prestigious kitchens in the country, led the pastry team at The French Laundry, spent time at Masa’s in San Francisco, and helped open Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos. Originally from the Bay Area, Chen moved to New York City in 2006 and became the Executive Pastry Chef at Country Restaurant, where she oversaw the fine dining restaurant along with a busy bistro. She brought back the long-lost tradition of the mignardises cart presented at the end of fine-dining meals, offering as many as thirty varieties of petit fours and confections.

She later did stints as Corporate Pastry Chef for Jean-Georges Management where she created desserts for Mercer Kitchen, JoJo, Perry Street and Vong in New York City. Chen went on to become Executive Pastry Chef for the esteemed Peninsula Hotel in New York City. With her experience in fine-dining, combined with her cultural heritage, she created traditional French pastries with Asian flair. During her time in NYC, Chen was recognized by New York Magazine as one of New York City’s top cake/dessert stylists.

Chen relocated to Chicago in 2011 and became the Executive Pastry Chef at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago, managing a staff of pastry cooks and bakers that crafted desserts for all the food and beverage outlets of the hotel—including breakfast and French pastries for Pierrot Gourmet, fine-dining desserts and afternoon tea for the Lobby, Chinese influenced desserts for Shanghai Terrace and custom dessert buffets for banquets. Chen showcased her passion for chocolate each week with a decadent chocolate buffet each Friday and Saturday in the Lobby.

After leaving the Peninsula Hotel, Chen consulted on dessert programs for many of Chicago’s popular restaurants and hotels. She created a wide range of desserts for several Lettuce Entertain You restaurants including RPM Italian, RPM Steak, Bub City, Booth One, Ramen San, and Sushi San. Her desserts and have been featured in several publications including Today’s Chicago Woman, The Chicagoist, ABC News, CS Magazine, Food Arts, WGN News, The Cooking Channel, and Food Network.

On the communication’s side, she served as a research assistant for television news—including Dateline NBC—worked as an associate producer for several documentaries, and created innovative content for technology startups like TiVo. Chen has a knack for marrying soundbites with images to tell impactful stories. With her creative eye for detail, food photography, and media know-how, she supports mission-driven hospitality related projects by creating brand content and communication strategies for Eat Well Hospitality.

In October 2022, Chen co-founded Eat Well Hospitality with her husband, Chef Doug Psaltis after the success of Andros Taverna—the most personal restaurant they’ve opened together as a husband-and-wife team. From the start, the restaurant received local and national recognition ranging from “Best Restaurant in Chicago” from Chicago Tribune’s Readers’ Choice Awards to Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants in America, 2021.” They opened the Basque-inspired steakhouse, Asador Bastian in 2023 and it has became globally recognized as the #14 steakhouse in the world and #2 in America by 101 World’s Best Steak Restaurants. They added to the dining landscape of Logan Square by opening the neighborhood Italian trattoria, Mano a Mano next door to Andros Taverna.