Chef MixiTup

Chef MixiTup’s Story

“Jamaican, my cuisine is influenced by my mixed-Jamaican background of Chinese, East Indian, African, Jewish and a pinch of Irish."

Restaurateur and Chef, Dwayne Chen, affectionately known as “Chef MixiTup,” (pronounced mixee-Tup, in Jamaican Patois), began his culinary adventure when he was a child and would catch small birds, clean and roast them using “3 rock stones and a few dry sticks” in rural Jamaica, West Indies. He learned to cook Chinese, Indian and Jamaican cuisine from his grandparents, and other family and friends.

Raised by his Indian grandmother and Chinese grandfather and growing up in Jamaica amongst diverse cultures, his cuisine consists of combining spices and ingredients from his mixed-Jamaican background of “Chinese, Indian, African, a pinch of Irish, and a twist of my Jewish blend.” While in Jamaica he also developed kosher cooking as part of his cuisine.

Having grown up in a rural farming community, Chef MixiTup has a great appreciation for organic farming and cooking, wherein he grew up with varieties of organic fruits and vegetation including avocados, bananas, coconuts, mangos, sugarcane, ackee, breadfruit, cashews, and cocoa...which all “grew at my doorstep.” He had hands-on experience helping his grandmother in farming and cultivating corn, peas, yams, “pop chow” (bok choy), “cho-cho” (chayote), cassava, mustard greens, calaloo, as well as “picking, drying, parching and grinding coffee,” and even raising chickens.

In addition to his career in interior design (InteriorDesignDetails.co), Chef MixiTup studied marketing, and restaurant & hospitality management at Mt. San Antonio College, and studied patisserie, baking, confections and savory cuisine at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California, where he graduated with honors.