Meet Chef Sae An
When chefs’ philosophies of diverse culture and cuisine are paramount to their cooking styles, extraordinary dishes are born. The town of Westmont in South Jersey is lucky to claim one of these rising stars, as well as his haute cuisine that’s been creating a buzz on the other side of the bridge.
Born in Korea, Sae moved to Philadelphia with his family at the age of seven. Even as a young boy, Sae remembers a love of cooking and food. He fondly remembers, as a young boy, watching old cooking shows like Martin Yen and Julia Childs on PBS, as well as his mother’s Korean dishes.
After graduating from Northeast High School in Philadelphia, Sae ventured to Westchester University to major in Marketing. After a year of hitting the books, Sae realized his true calling and dropped out, only to enroll in Philadelphia’s Restaurant School less than a few months later. So instinctively knowing classic cuisine, it was only natural that Philippe Chin, when opening his five-star restaurant Philippe, brought in Sae as his associate until the restaurant closed in 2001.
For the next three years, Chef An could be found at Philadelphia’s 20 Manning, where he worked under his mentor Kiong Bahn. With his mother passing in 2004, he left the restaurant industry for almost a year while helping to run the family’s dry cleaning business.
It was inevitable that Chef An would return to the restaurant world, and the chance presented itself in early 2005 when Kevin Meeker was searching out a new chef for his new venture in South Jersey. Meeker needed someone adaptable, and on the same page as his new customer base and Cork's price point. At Cork, Chef An brought Meeker his own vision of "melting-pot" Americana, with twists on Meeker's fish favorites, like scallops with sweet pea risotto, or chicken with chipotle and chorizo. "Sae came up with the smokiness and the cole slaw. I came up with the rice and beans," Meeker explains. "That's collaboration."
To Chef An himself, his food is like the America he moved to at age 7 — a melting pot. “Take a look around you at all the different types of cultures and ethnicities that make up this country. I believe America, as well as my new American cuisine, is in essence the incredible fusion of all those beautiful cultures.”
Che An is excited for getting customers to try his universal cuisines, which combine the spicy, the sweet and the earthy — for example, his Chilean sea bass, with red curry, coconut broth and lemongrass.
"Like any good artist who looks at colors and schemes and then creates, I look at what I have — from purveyors, from the pantry — and I freestyle," says An. "I want to jump in the fire. I want to expand people's palates, slowly and subtly."
In March Sae received the title of “Best New Chef” during the KitchenAid® The Book and The Cook® Best New Chef Competition 2006. He has also been a guest on Your Morning on CN8 and The 10! Show on NBC.
