EXPLORING THE ART OF ASIAN FUSION CUISINE
Kitchen Master offers a unique dining experience by blending traditional Taiwanese and Japanese cuisine with American influences.
Story & Photos By Tim O’Brien
Stepping into Kitchen Master feels like stepping into another region, one characterized by careful curation and exquisite taste. Located just off Exit 111 in Suwanee, the restaurant brings a touch of luxury dining to an area that needed some love.
Since opening in August to immediate positive reviews, the restaurant has quickly established itself as a destination in the community, many nights with a full house, a line at the door, and satisfied guests. Owner and visionary Ian Peng shared, “To me, one of the most rewarding things is having a night where everyone enjoys their food, everyone walks out happy. I love seeing the customer smiling and excited to come back and try more.”
“I kind of do everything around here: manage the front, the back of house, set the menu, train the staff on the menu, how to prepare each dish from top to bottom, as well as maintain consistency and quality of everything.” Peng, who’s worked in Suwanee restaurants since he was 15, got his professional start at the Art Institute of Atlanta where he studied culinary arts. “Towards the end, they kind of help you build a concept and that’s when I realized this might be for me,” Peng says. “I like my food and how I prepare it, so I thought, let’s open up a place and share my taste with the community.”
The first Kitchen Master restaurant location was in Dallas, Texas, where it gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite all odds. Peng, just 22 years old at the time, says their bold choice to open in May of 2020 put a spotlight on them and the Dallas Morning News ran an interview with him. From there, a relationship with some chefs in Taiwan, where Peng was born, allowed him to open his second location in Dallas in April of 2023. Peng says this helped him not only test his menu on the different demographics of the respective regions, but gain inspiration from developments overseas.
A DIVERSE MENU
With a growing population in Suwanee and an increasingly diverse community, Peng believes an Asian fusion restaurant like Kitchen Master offers something for everyone. “My whole goal is to create a menu that appeals to everyone— dishes that attract different cultures and encourage them to come back and explore more, trying more authentic options each time. Over time, I want to introduce them to more authentic Taiwanese cuisine.”
Take the lamb chops, for example. Inspired by Spanish chimichurri sauces, Peng crafted his own handmade aioli to bring in that Asian flare. “I kind of saw the light at lemongrass. It has such a pungent flavor that mixes well with these herbs.” He extracted the lemongrass and made a lemongrass-infused oil to mix into the chimichurri sauce. “Every bite is consistent.”
If that wasn’t enticing enough, they paired the lamb chops with Hoisin sauce Brussels sprouts, effectively mixing an American vegetable not commonly seen in Asian cuisine with a staple flavor from the region. Kitchen Master’s braised ribs are sweeter than they would be in Asian cuisine, and are mixed with their own version of barbecue sauce using soy sauce and Chinese spices tossed in a honey glaze. “It’s one of the dishes I want to focus on to get everyone situated first and then open them up to the more authentic dishes,” Peng says.
GEORGIA CONNECTION
Although Peng grew up and went to school in Suwanee, he was born in Taiwan where he spent time around restaurants and learned their traditions at an early age before moving to Suwanee when he was nine. He finds his culinary balance in not only his upbringing, but his personal life, too. “My wife is from Blakely, Georgia, so her family is as American as it gets,” Peng shares. “When we first got together, I would use her as my taste tester, and would actually have pretty decent results; the stuff that she liked, the crowd loved, and the stuff she didn’t like, didn’t do as well.”
Peng’s attention to detail is matched only by his commitment to delivering an exceptional customer experience. “What sets us apart is our dedication to customer satisfaction,” Peng says. “We train our staff to guide customers toward the choices they’ll enjoy. If something doesn’t match their palate, we always go the extra mile to make it right and ensure they leave happy.”
Like any Asian fusion restaurant, the balance between tradition and innovation is integral to the concept. While Peng is keen on putting his ear to the ground, some dishes are best kept consistent. “Our soup dumplings are as authentic as they get,” says Peng, who explains that since the menu item is already a popular dish in the area, he’s more focused on enhancing it with quality ingredients like Berkshire pork and more precision in cooking. “Everything for our dumplings is measured in grams so that it never changes at all, at any point,” he says. “We do it from scratch. Nothing is bought pre-made. Everything is always at the freshest state.”
Other traditional dishes include the beef noodle soup, Taiwan’s national dish, which is a tribute to Peng’s birthplace. They use a 72-hour braised beef bone stock as their base, let it simmer for 72 hours, skim it, and constantly care for it. “It’s as aromatic as it gets, topped with some beef shank that we braise in-house and then some bok choy,” he says. “It’s a dish that we pride ourselves on.” Another innovative menu offering is the Wagyu Sando, an A5 Japanese Wagyu topped with caramelized miso butter onions, served on a piece of milk bread, and drizzled with Japanese barbecue sauce. “That one you usually see at a higher price, but honestly, my main goal is for everybody to enjoy the luxury ingredients we use,” Peng says, “so I try to price it reasonably and generally give customers a pretty generous portion.”
The Bora Bora roll is another popular option, a fried shrimp tempura and imitation crab mix with some black pepper and salt, topped with a seared Hokkaido scallop, honey mayo, and miso butter all caramelized with a torch and garnished with some microgreens.
DEDICATION TO QUALITY INGREDIENTS
Peng shops for his ingredients according to quality, sometimes getting his fish directly from Japan via a direct messaging app with suppliers. “We don’t try to cut costs on that. That is something that we really prioritize.” It is this dedication to quality that allows Kitchen Master to be a healthier option than some of its competitors. Peng likes to curate his menu offerings with a good balance of protein and vegetables, and they use less oil in their stir frys to “promote a lighter, more refreshing taste.” They also offer many vegetarian and vegan options. “We’re trying to kind of bring on more strictly vegan items, mainly on our dumpling side.”
Peng plans to bring in more luxury ingredients at a modest price. “I’m planning on rolling out a sushi hand-roll taco with A5 Wagyu and foie gras (duck liver). I tried that combination out on a few customers already, and I’ve received really good feedback.”
With a focus on quality ingredients and a commitment to customer satisfaction, Peng is working hard to establish Kitchen Master as the premier Asian fusion restaurant in the area, earning the recognition and loyalty of the community.
Kitchen Master is located at 3131 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee. For their menu or to learn more, go to KitchenMasterGA.com or call 470-589-1112.
