To our community —
Xiao Ye is a neighborhood restaurant in the Hollywood District in Portland, Oregon serving first-generation American food. We believe in championing the food from our respective childhoods growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, as well as the recipes we’ve picked up along the way.
Xiao Ye celebrates all the dimensions of our experiences as first-generation Americans, so you’ll discover everything from rigatoni all’amatriciana to a half-fried chicken to savory madeleines made with masa and mochiko.
As long time restaurant folks, we are no strangers to late nights. And with late nights, comes a midnight snack, or as we call it in our house, xiao ye. You don’t have a midnight snack with just anybody. It’s usually with a best friend, a partner, a close family member and/or your chosen family. We want our restaurant to be the place where you experience xiao ye with your favorite people. It's our hope that when you join us, you feel connection -- with each other and with the food that weaves us all together.
Love,
Our Team
Jolyn Chen
General Manager & Co-Owner
Jolyn has worn many hats and lived many lives; born and raised in a small suburb of Los Angeles, she attended Cal Poly Pomona’s renowned Collins College and received her Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management. She spent her early years in the industry working in Washington, DC, soaking up all that the burgeoning food scene had to offer. Most notably was her time at Rose’s Luxury, where she really began to foster her own sense of hospitality. In true Jolyn fashion, while working two part-time jobs, she took a third at El Camino Travel, a start-up boutique travel company specializing in small, curated trips to emerging destinations. It was through that experience that she discovered her passion for design.
Jolyn would move back to LA to pursue a career in Interior Design, completing the UCLA Extension program for Interior Architecture while working at Croft House & Ginny Macdonald Design. A few years later, she and Louis would begin their chapter in Portland, where she worked as a designer at Jessica Helgerson Interior Design before embarking on their own personal project, Xiao Ye.
Hometown:
Hacienda Heights, California
Fav Midnight Snack:
Instant Noodles, add spam, egg and any veggies that are about to die in my fridge
Go-to Fast Food Order:
Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries, and coke
Drink of choice:
Coke
louis lin
Chef & Co-Owner
Louis, like Jolyn, is a child of Taiwanese immigrants and was born and raised in that same suburb outside of LA. Unlike Jolyn, Louis always knew where his path would take him. After getting his degree in Business Economics and Accounting at UC Santa Barbara, he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. From there, his career in kitchens began; Louis spent his externship working behind Nancy Silverton at her fine dining Osteria Mozza. Upon graduating from culinary school, at the behest of his best friend, Louis moved to Washington, DC to work for James Beard winner Aaron Silverman at his first restaurant, Rose’s Luxury. Rose’s would go on to receive numerous accolades- Bon Appetit’s best new restaurant in 2014 and a Michelin Star, amongst others. When Silverman opened his second venture, Pineapple and Pearls, Louis would follow him as an opening line cook and help the tasting-menu restaurant earn 2 Michelin Stars in its inaugural year.
In 2017, Louis moved back to Los Angeles and began working at Evan Funke’s Felix Trattoria. It was there that he found his footing; working his way up from line cook to Chef de Cuisine, running day to day operations and overseeing the restaurant that has become the standard bearer for handmade pasta in the country.
Hometown:
Hacienda Heights, California
Fav Midnight Snack:
Spam & eggs on rice
Go-to Fast Food Order:
6 chicken soft tacos and a large fry from Del Taco
Drink of choice:
White Negroni
Molly kirk
Assistant General Manager
Molly comes to us from New York, where she worked as a WSET-trained sommelier and wine director. After attending Colgate University upstate, Molly moved down to NYC to work in the non-profit sector. As she advocated for victim assistance and youth empowerment, serving others was of unique importance. Molly soon discovered a passion for hospitality while taking on part-time FOH roles in the city, finding fulfillment in a different type of service. Inevitably, she made the full-time switch and continued to grow her skillset in lauded restaurants & wineries in New York, Boston, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Napa, California. She gained an appreciation for an especially guest-focused service and brings a philosophy of inclusive hospitality amongst both guests and staff. Outside of work, you can find Molly hiking, camping, and possibly reading a wine book.
Hometown:
Cohasset, Massachusetts
Fav Midnight Snack:
Cheese board!
Go-to Fast Food Order:
Starbucks turkey bacon breakfast sando
Drink of choice:
Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine
SAMUEL MEOÑO
Chef de Cuisine
Samuel is a native of El Salvador that grew up in Costa Rica and immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve with his parents and younger sister. His family settled in Northern Virginia. While attending a culinary program in high school he discovered his love for cooking and the unique environment and culture found in kitchens. After high school he moved to Austin, TX where he landed a line cook position at James Award winner Tyson Cole's Uchi. Looking to be back close to his family he moved to Washington D.C where he met Louis while working at Rose's Luxury in its opening year when it was awarded Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurant in America. He spent the following three years at Pineapple & Pearls which held two Michelin stars for the duration of his time there where he worked his way from Chef de Partie to Sous Chef. During that time he was awarded the Ment'Or Grant which allowed him to spend time in three Michelin star restaurants Benu and Atelier Crenn in the Bay Area.
Next up was New York City where Sam branched out into a more vegetable focused style of cooking at Superiority Burger under Brooks Headley. Things came full circle in 2021 when Sam returned to Rose's Luxury in Washington, DC as Chef de Cuisine and later on Head Chef where he helped retain one Michelin star. He is now looking forward to assisting his friends Louis & Jolyn in their exciting new venture Xiao Ye as the Chef de Cuisine where he will be assisting in the day to day operations of the kitchen.
Hometown:
Alajuela, Costa Rica
Favorite midnight snack:
Egg Sando
Go-to fast food order:
Whatever the two sandwich deal is at McDonalds. One burger and one chicken sando with 2 honey mustards and a sweet & sour for my wife.
Drink of choice:
Recently agua (that’s Spanish for water). In the past it has been a Last Word or a shot of Fernet. I’m old now.
tori touhill
Sous Chef
Tori was born and raised in San Diego, CA, but spent every summer as a child and young adult in the Bay Area with her chef grandfather & pastry chef grandmother. It was there that she first fell in love with the hospitality industry, in her grandparents’ restaurant. After graduating high school, she moved to Washington, DC and began her professional culinary career at Marcel’s by Robert Wiedmaier, a fine dining French/Belgian restaurant, and after spending 3 formative years (and making Junior Sous there), she went on to work at Rose’s Luxury, where she first met and worked with Louis and Sam.
After a year at Rose’s, she moved to San Francisco and eventually made her way to 3 Michelin starred Saison by Joshua Skenes, where she led the pastry station for 6 months before moving through their line. She quickly learned how to work over a live fire, and the techniques and difficulties that come from working in a hearth-centered restaurant. After about a year, she moved to Nico to work for chef Nico Delaroque, perhaps the chef that made the biggest impact on her career; not only did she learn more about California/French cuisine, but working there opened her eyes to what kind of chef she wants to be, showing her that actions speak louder than words.
In 2020, she began working at a small bakery in Benicia, California specializing in utilizing California grains and wild fermentation, and she would go on to work there for 3 years, learning all about making artisan sourdough bread and all the glory of running a small bakery.
Hometown:
San Diego, California
Fav Midnight Snack:
English muffin w/ Duke’s mayo, fried egg, American cheese, Crystal hot sauce
Go-to Fast Food Order:
10 piece classic wings, original hot, with extra ranch at Wingstop
Drink of choice:
Matcha latte (always cow’s milk)