How everywhere is Danny Bowien, the chef and face of Mission Chinese Food? With no PR machine, the Korean-born, Oklahoma-raised 30-year-old landed features in at least 13 major magazines last year, from The New Yorker to Playboy. His scrappy, no-frills spots define dining out right now (on both coasts): no reservations, long waits, big flavors, smaller checks. For the guy who gave the world kung pao pastrami and Chongqing chicken wings, it's well deserved. With a Paris outpost up next, we'll be looking for Bowien in the pages of Le Monde in 2013.
#9: Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco, CA and NYC
ALANNA HALE