Behind the Pass: Chef Tony Inn

Chef Tony Inn’s first solo New York restaurant JaBä showcases his Taiwanese background and 25 years of culinary experience. Born in Taipei and raised in NYC, Chef Tony was influenced by his family ties to both Taiwan and Japan. 
 

His culinary journey began under sushi master Toshio Suzuki, one of the pioneers of Japanese cuisine in New York. Over his career, Chef Tony has cooked at top Japanese restaurants, including Morimoto, Masa (3-star Michelin), Satsuki (1-star Michelin), and Kin Gin, a contemporary izakaya on the Lower East Side, where he was Executive Chef. 
 

In May of 2025, Chef Tony opened his own restaurant with a vision to bring the Taiwanese dishes he grew up eating at home—cooked by the matriarchs, from his mother to his great-grandmother—into the sphere of fine dining. The reviews are in, and the team at JaBä is being credited with redefining Taiwanese food in New York City.   

The Menu  

Chef Tony pairs rigorous Japanese craftsmanship with a drive to innovate in his menu. It reflects balance, craftsmanship, and his personal history with modern, highly refined dishes and techniques honed over the years in Michelin-starred kitchens. His philosophy is: “Less is more. Let the purity of the ingredients shine. Without fundamentals, creativity becomes amalgamated disarray.” 

JaBä is Taiwanese slang meaning “eat until full,” and the menu offers every opportunity to do that, with standouts like beef noodle soup, salt-cured whole mackerel, braised Berkshire pork belly, stinky tofu, and sweet potato crème brûlée for dessert. While the menu is not long, it is deeply personal, rich with culture, artistry, and creativity. It’s also designed to share.   

Chef Tony made his garlic basil mussels with spicy sacha, rice wine, shallots, and chili for us when we visited, and the frog legs appetizer, which appears on the menu as “Because Chicken is Boring.”  

The restaurant is warm, welcoming, and elegant in an understated way, accented with personal photographs of Taiwan, whimsical calligraphic artwork, and custom-made ceramic plateware for an experience that is simultaneously elevated and fun.   

Chef Tony emphasizes sustainability and seasonality in his sourcing and has been a loyal D’Artagnan customer since the day he stepped into the kitchen in 1998. He credits D’Artagnan with helping to educate him about foie gras and all types of mushrooms and truffles. He reflects on the relationship, saying, “D’Artagnan is synonymous with these luxury ingredients, and as of now, all my proteins come from D'Artagnan. It’s ingrained in an entire generation of chefs who came up with it.”  

Fortune is proud to continue this relationship and legacy as a purveyor that works with chefs to realize their creative vision. Chef Tony welcomes all to “Come experience JaBä the way it’s meant to be—don’t skip out on our inventive entrées, that’s where the magic happens.”