“Coupled with his elegant approach, Angelo’s cuisine is utterly unique. One can feel his passion for Asian flavors, his talent for combining them harmoniously, and his uninhibited creativity in each and every of his recipes. They all tell a story—the story of a chef who lives for cooking.” - Alain Ducasse
“As a chef, my cuisine is an extension of who I am –I deeply respect the wisdom of tradition and I am inspired by adventure and new experiences.” -Angelo Sosa
After graduating with top honors from the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Sosa worked his way through some of the country’s best kitchens. Forging ahead with his passion for food and service, he was taken under wing by Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten early in his career.
“Jean-Georges helped me to realize who I was as a chef. I not only fell in love with Asian cuisine in his kitchen, but witnessed his magic - his ability to produce magnificence from subtlety.”
In spring 2005 Angelo became the Executive Chef at Yumcha in the West Village, where his interpretation of modern Chinese cuisine gained widespread acclaim.
In late fall of 2005, Angelo turned his attention to consulting, having amassed the experience of opening many restaurants in his career. His consulting work includes: restauranteur Stephen Starr’s Buddakan, Asian-Mediterranean hot-spot LOFT, Morimoto, Alain Ducasse’s Spoon Food & Wine in Paris among others.
In the summer of 2009, Angelo launched his fast-casual restaurant, Xie Xie (shay-shay) in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood at the height of an economic downturn. Having opened in the midst of the bahn-mi craze of 2009, Angelo’s unique approach to Asian sandwiches at Xie Xie, won him StarChef’s New York’s Rising Star award for “Best New Restaurant Concept.”
In 2010, Angelo was cast as a Season 7 chef’testant on Bravo’s Emmy winning reality show, Top Chef in D.C. and was also a part of Top Chef All Stars. As the show drew to a close, Angelo launched NYC’s Social Eatz, the very first iteration of his Asian Gastro-pub concept. Within just seven months of opening, the restaurant won Eater’s “Greatest Burger in America” competition for Angelo’s creative Bibimbap Burger. After launching Poppy Den Vegas, Social Eatz will become Poppy Den NYC, bringing the elevated concept to the east coast.
In addition to his Asian-gastropub concepts, Angelo serves as the chef owner of the industry-acclaimed Añejo Tequileria y Restaurante in Hell’s Kitchen NYC. Serving modern takes on traditional Mexican tastes, the menu is engineered to complement the tequila list -one of the city’s best- from top to bottom. In 2012 he also released his first cookbook, Flavor Exposed, guiding readers through the culinary philosophy and approach to flavor and ingredients that are found across the Poppy Den menu.
