PHILADELPHIA - Chef Hee Chino Chang has been a staple of the Philadelphia restaurant scene for the past 30 years. He attended the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and later graduated from The Restaurant School in West Philadelphia. After graduation, he began his career at The Pleasant Peasant, a high-end southern Asian cuisine restaurant. The restaurant soon expanded to Atlanta, GA, where he worked as a line cook for a year.
In 2013, he and his partner opened Prime Stache in Philadelphia. They subsequently branched out to include a food truck. The food truck will serve as a mobile kitchen, providing event catering services. Chang and Celek also recently signed a lease for the former Bellevue, a bar and restaurant located on Broad Street. They plan to serve small plates of Korean-inspired cuisine.
Chino was the sixth contestant in the blue team to face Ramsay. His dish, risotto with scallops, was a flop. The dish had a strong miso sauce. Nevertheless, the judges commended Chino for attempting to work with the ingredients.
In Philadelphia, Chang's culinary creations are making waves at a new restaurant on the Temple campus. The new restaurant, aptly named Peabody, will open this fall at 1431 Cecil B. Moore Avenue. It will feature a bar with 40 seats and 150 seats in the dining room. The restaurant will also offer a private dining room for up to 50 people.
