Chef Jenny Dorsey understands the value of changing perception—she’s built her career on upending expectations, whether it’s with unusual flavor combinations or by creating metaphors on a plate. During her residency at J for Shifting the Lens, our limited culinary series, she plans on using her talent for the unexpected to create an unforgettable food and wine experience, including dishes like duck fat-poached oysters with raw corn juice, peeled tomatoes, perilla and raw sambal, and entrement with serrano and iru shortbread, pomegranate mousse, banana juice jelly and ice cream foam.
A look back at Jenny’s culinary journey provides the clues to her current aesthetic. As a child, she would create travel itineraries for her family trips that centered around trying new food experiences. While her love of food was ever-present, she didn’t realize it was a viable career option until she discovered that the other career paths she originally planned—fashion and business—didn’t bring her greater happiness or a sense of fulfillment.
"Model Minority" from Asian in America. | Photo by Jenny Dorsey
In culinary school, Jenny noticed that cultures and cuisines from around the world were often left out of the curriculum. Realizing the limitations and the parameters the fine dining industry has set around what good hospitality means, which foods should be expensive and what food should look like, she was wary. The only way forward for Jenny was forging her own path.
Shifting the Lens
Jenny is no stranger to creating unique dining experiences or inspiring conversation through food. She co-founded the non-profit Studio ATAO, which aims to create accessible, relevant resources that inspire socially conscious food, beverage and hospitality professionals through social justice education, vulnerable conversations and community-building.
From 2018 through 2020, she debuted a series called Asian in America—a multi-media meal that she paired with virtual reality, augmented reality, poetry and spoken word components, all centered on the Asian American experience.
Photos by @chefjennydorsey
Now, Jenny’s residency in the J Bubble Room offers another unforgettable experience for diners. Having access to J’s portfolio, she’s approaching pairing food and wine in a narrative arc, with the ultimate goal of giving guests something new and disarming.
“The most intriguing part of Shifting the Lens for me has been being part of a chef lineup where all our styles are very different, but we’re working with the same wine portfolio. Seeing this kind of variety of what is possible and being inspired by the wine is really fun. I hope guests that can come to all three residencies walk away inspired to try new things in their own kitchens.”
Reserve your seats for Chef Jenny's Shifting the Lens Experiences:
DATES/TIMES
VIP DINNER
July 9
6pm-9pm
BUBBLE ROOM TAKEOVER
July 7-10, July 14-17
Timeslots offered from 11am-3pm
Chef Jenny's
Wine Recommendations
“I love that this Pinot Noir is rich, but also unexpected. It’s extremely versatile—I could see pairing it with a wide variety of foods, which gave me a lot of inspiration when I created my menu.”