Dan Segall – Chief Operating Officer, Umami Concepts. For the past 7 years, Dan Segall has been regarded as one of the most dynamic chefs in Asia, garnering spots on the Conde Nast Traveller’s coveted Hot List and ranking on San Pellegrino’s prestigious “50 Best Restaurants in the World.” He has been featured in countless publications as well as radio and television. Dan has appeared on Channel News Asia, CCTV10, Hong Kong’s TVB as well as a weekly cooking segment on China Radio International. He has even shot a television commercial for Sony’s Cybershot camera.
Segall began his culinary career in the United States at the age of 16. Over the past 18 years he has worked in nearly every type of Food Service venue, from summer camps to rock concerts, 30-seat diners to 260-seat Japanese restaurants. His culinary adventures have taken him to nearly 20 countries on 5 continents. Dan has cooked for musicians, movie stars, billionaires, Heads of State, royalty and tens of thousands of just-regular folk.
With a Fine Arts Degree in Theater and a Culinary Arts Degree from the oldest cooking school in Manhattan, Dan Segall has helped set the stage for some of the most respected restaurants in Asia. In 2006 he was tapped to open Rainer Becker’s London-based Zuma in Hong Kong, widely acclaimed as one of the best restaurants in Asia. Then in 2008, Segall went back to China to open M1NT Shanghai, a modern day members club, which instantly topped the charts as one of Shanghai elite’s favorite eateries. Dan also considers himself fortunate to have worked with such legendary giants in the hospitality industry as John MacDonald in New York and Handel Lee in Beijing.
In 2009 Dan joined forces with Nolan Ledarney, a long-time friend and rising star chef as well. Together they transformed Nolan’s already successful Umami Solutions into Umami Concepts, providing concept development to new venues as well as hospitality solutions to existing ones. Their client base ranges from the exclusive to the everyday, having done consulting work for the American Trade Organization, the Canadian Embassy, Tian Di Group, Zeitgeist Projects and Portman Holdings as well as several individual investors in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Their goal is to create original, scalable and profitable restaurant concepts and innovative hospitality solutions throughout Asia
Umami Concepts is a boutique hospitality management firm specializing in the creation, execution and operation of restaurant concepts. With a combined 28 years experience in the Food & Beverage industry and nearly half of that time in Asia, the Umami Concepts team brings a unique set of skills to the investor or operator looking for hospitality solutions. Our experience ranges from fast-casual restaurants in the US to Michelin-starred dining in Tokyo, offering our clients expertise at every level.
Umami Concepts is headed up by two award-winning chefs who understand that proper collaboration is the key to success in the restaurant game, especially in Asia. Our company is organized to allow for the myriad of skills needed when opening or operating a restaurant by utilizing a network of professionals we have grown to respect and trust over the years. Be it architecture, interior design, technical services or procurement, the Umami Concepts team is well-versed in the art of collaboration to achieve success.
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