Kenny grew up in Pasadena, CA and one of his fondest childhood memories was of dumpling night, where the house was filled with the noise of other kids and parents chattering away while they folded, pan-fried and ate dumplings. "It takes a lot of hands to make dumplings and that meant a lot of friends and family at the house on dumpling night. Of course I associate the love in that room with the juicy dumplings i was eating!" Kenny has been fortunate to have taken that passion for shared experiences around food and created a vast career in hospitality.
Prior to co-founding, and operating three NYC locations, four trucks and one shipping container in Times Square for Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, Kenny had vast industry experience providing consulting services to various well-known clients through Myriad Restaurant Group. He worked as Special Projects Director for Drew Nieporent’s Myriad Restaurant Group (Tribeca Grill, Nobu NYC, Nobu London, Rubicon-San Francisco) Kenny oversaw the opening of multiple new restaurant establishments for clients such as Starwood’s W Hotel Brand, Sports Club/LA and Neiman Marcus. Kenny has deep experience in all components of the restaurant opening process. Whether it's working with your designers and bringing in an award-winning concept-appropriate chef or working with you to articulate the growth of your two unit fast-casual concept, Kenny is able to draw on a wealth of experience to breath life into your culinary goals. Kenny has a BA from Brown University and an MBA from NYU Stern.
Kenny first cookbook is out! , "Hey There, Dumpling!" with co-author Genevieve Ko is for sale and you can check it out on the Dumpling Book Tab. Photos will be by Lucy Schaeffer
He loves riding his bike, yoga, mangoes, watermelon, bacon and seltzer. He has been known to eat up to 40 dumplings in one sitting. Kenny lives in New York City with his husband John and dog, Zipper.