Hong Kong Cafe Hunan Opens New NYC Chinese Restaurant Professor Chan’s | Eater NY
"Founded in 2012 by Hong Kong physics professor Guanhua Chan after he saw there were no good Hunan restaurants around Hong Kong University, the brand expanded to six locations in China and has been awarded Michelin’s Bib Gourmand ten years in a row since 2014. For the U.S. branch the team decided that Cafe Hunan was already common in the U.S., so they named the New York location for the founders, taking inspiration from famed soup dumpling restaurant Joe’s Shanghai. Chi Zhang, director of U.S. operations, joined the group in 2013 and began overseeing this U.S. expansion in 2024; he was previously a co-founding partner of Yaso Noodle Bar and the creator of Sansan Chicken and Sansan Ramen. The Long Island City outpost focuses on Hunan-style stir-fries: “We want to bring freshness, uniqueness, and real Hunanese spicy levels to the U.S. market,” Zhang says. That emphasis is best exemplified through the Professor’s Stir-Fry, made with belly and neck and Hunanese green peppers; double-meats are often used to bring more flavor and textures into dishes, with iterations featuring beef, chicken, squid, mushrooms, stinky tofu, and more. The menu also lists chile-laced grilled fish, fried eggs, claypot-cooked potatoes, Xiangxi Miao-style marinated seafood, and other regional preparations, while drinks include the Professor’s lime tea along with teas, bubble milks, beers, wines, and soju. The team chose Long Island City for its proximity to the boroughs and growing pan-Asian communities and plans eventual expansion into Manhattan and elsewhere along the East Coast. “People love spiciness, they love chiles,” Zhang says." - Nadia Chaudhury
