Brandon Jew

Brandon Jew, a San Francisco native, has early memories of accompanying his Chinese grandmother to Chinatown on her daily trips to buy fresh produce and ingredients as her routine of preparing for a meal. He did not start out intending to be a chef, but understanding how things were grown was always of interest to him as a biology major at University of California, Irvine. He worked in several restaurants while in school and, after graduation, traveled to Italy. In Bologna, he fulfilled a one-year apprenticeship at Michelin-starred Ristorante La Pernice e La Gallina. Upon returning to California, he worked under Judy Rodgers at Zuni Café and at Quince under the tutelage of chef Michael Tusk. He packed his bags once again to explore his Chinese culinary heritage in Shanghai. After working for one year in China, Brandon returned to the Bay Area, where he worked at Pizzetta 211, Bar Jules, Camino, and Adesso before settling into his role as chef at Bar Agricole. The San Francisco Examiner called Jew’s dishes “little masterpieces” and the San Francisco Chronicle noted that “Jew is able to coax beautiful flavors out of his ingredients” and awarded Bar Agricole a coveted three stars. In early 2015, he plans to open a Chinese restaurant, named Mister Jiu’s, in San Francisco Chinatown in early 2016.