Grub Street

Tyson Wong Ophaso, who you may remember as the chef at Chinatown Brasserie whom was beat up by three drunks in front of his own restaurant last year, had some good news to tell us when we ran into him the other night: Six months after leaving the Brasserie, he’s been hired as corporate chef by Domaine Restaurant Group, which owns Dakota and 25 Degrees in the Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel, as well as two Red Pearls, a kind of California version of Spice Market with “fresh, clean, and lean versions of Asian street food,” as Ophaso tells us.

He’ll also be developing and opening new restaurants in L.A., Vegas, and Reno as well as running the entire catering and room-service operation for the Roosevelt. “I’ve paid a lot of dues,” Ophaso says. “I’ll miss New York, but I’m so excited to go out there. There’s so much room for me to play in, with all those fresh ingredients — fresh bamboo, fresh water chestnuts, all that stuff coming in from Thailand.” Ophaso refuses to say a bad word about his former employers at Chinatown Brasserie, though, despite the fact that they never pressed charges against the men who attacked him. “I appreciate that [the Brasserie] gave me the opportunity,” he says. “Maybe one day I’ll return and work with them.” Riiight.

Earlier: Tyson Wong Ophaso Leaving Chinatown Brasserie for Bangkok Family
Executive Chef Assaulted at Chinatown Brasserie