In January 2019, Chef Mei Lin opened Nightshade in the Arts District of Los Angeles, which turned out to be the culmination of her personal culinary history. The restaurant has met with some very raving reviews. It became one of Food & Wine‘s best new restaurants along with its shrimp toast being highlighted as Dish of the Year; it earned a spot as one of GQ Magazine and Eater National‘s best new restaurants in America. The list goes on.
Three years later and Mei decided to go to the kitchen stadium of Netflix’s Iron Chef: Quest For an Iron Legend for the chance to be named the first-ever Iron Legend.
The show went on air on 15 June 2022 and here is a tell-all that explores if or not Chef Mei Lin is married; her height; family background; net worth; and more.
Is Chef Mei Lin Married?
Chef Mei Lin did not appear to have been married as of 2022 or even in the past. Because she has been especially focused on her career since early. In a tweet from back in 2012, she actually had advised kids out there to keep their head in the game and stop letting “useless relationships” hold them back on their goals.
Yet, when talking to milkymag.com in February 2020, Mei did mention a boyfriend. Mei shared a story from back in the second year of her college. She had gone to the school of nursing but the second year into it she realized that it was not for her. Around that time, she was thinking a lot about what she liked to do. Enter ‘boyfriend’ who then suggested her go to culinary school instead. And Mei actually listened to him. She said that was an “aha” moment for her; so she dropped out of college and enrolled in a program the next day.
Chef Mei Lin Net Worth
Chef Mei Lin reportedly had more than an estimated $600K net worth as of 2022. A year before, she launched another restaurant called Daybird. So, she is on the mission of adding only more thousands/millions of dollars to her existing fortune.
‘Daybird’, so you know, is the first-ever fast-casual Szechuan hot fried Chicken restaurant located in Silver Lake Plaza in Los Angeles and it already had 29.8K followers on IG @daybirdla looking up to their food and service.
Prior to opening her own eateries, Mei cut her teeth at many renowned restaurants but credits most of her formal training and refinement of skills to her time at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago Vegas; and Michael Voltaggio’s ink. in Los Angeles.
Speaking of her recent newest journey on Iron Chef, fans were pleasantly surprised when Mei teamed up with her fellow Top Chef co-star Gregory Gourdet to take on Iron Chef Ming Tsai in a live Sturgeon-themed battle. While Gregory, here, is best known for being the runner-up in Top Chef season 12 and one of the finalists in Top Chef All-Stars LA season 17, Mei was crowned the winner of Top Chef season 12.
Anyway, despite the challenge being quite difficult, Mei and Gregory took it in their stride and presented some amazing dishes for the judges. But, when they fell behind by a single point, it was Chef Tsai who was declared the winner.
In 2022, Mei, also co-produced this TV mini-series documentary called Lunar New Year Menu.
Chef Mei Lin Height
Zagat’s “30 Under 30″ Chef Mei Lin stands 5’3” in height.
How Old Is Chef Mei Lin?
Chef Mei Lin may not look like it, but she was born in 1985. So, she reached the age of 36 in 2021.
Chef Mei Lin Family
Born in China, Mei Lin and her family immigrated to the United States when she was an infant. They planted roots in Dearborn, Michigan, where Mei grew up working alongside her parents at their family-owned and operated Chinese restaurant.
Mei also said that she literally grew up in restaurants and that she started going to work with her dad when she was eight. She would help him with small tasks in the kitchen. Her parents had only opened up their own place when she was in her early teens. And that was where Mei learned the fundamentals of being a well-rounded cook and how to run a restaurant.
So, it is clear that Mei had a regular upbringing with parents who loved her beyond anything else.
Now and then, one can find Mei, on the internet, expressing her love and gratitude for these people. On Father’s Day, she would say things like her “pops” was the one who instilled a work ethic in her at a very young age. She would do the same on Mother’s Day. Most importantly, she can not be thankful enough to her folks for feeding/introducing her to the best food ever.
As for siblings, Mei has a sister named May Brooks (resembling her twin); and a brother, Harly Lin, who Mei showed to her fans on Bravo TV back in her Top Chef days.
Sister May, on the other hand, could be found on Instagram @mayhelenlin; where she has shared with people that she has a good-looking White husband and that she shares two young kids with him.
Related FAQs
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Where Does Chef Mei Lin Live Today?
As of 2022, Chef Mei was based in Los Angeles, California.
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When Is Chef Mei Lin’s Birthday?
Chef Mei Lin’s birthday is on the 29th of November and she is, therefore, a Sagittarius.
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Is Chef Mei Lin On Instagram?
Chef Mei Lin could be found on Instagram @meilin21 where there were 2,165 posts and 68.2K followers as of 17 June 2022.
Mei also shared her life as a chef and restauranteur, among other things, on Twitter @meilin21 (9,747 followers) and on ‘Mei Lin’ Facebook.
