Angelo Sosa’s story is that of the quintessential contemporary American chef—ethnically diverse, creative, and un-tethered by culinary definitions. He’s Dominican and Italian by heritage, grew up in Connecticut, and has adopted Asian cuisine as his own. His latest project, a fast-casual Asian sandwich shop called Xie Xie, only recently debuted in New York and is already gaining acclaim.

Growing up, Sosa’s family took their meals seriously, and it was the perfect breeding ground for Sosa’s budding culinary curiosity. He graduated The Culinary Institute of America with honors and jumped headlong into two of Connecticut’s top-rated kitchens, including the four-diamond Stonehenge Inn and Restaurant and Acqua. In 1999, Sosa moved to New York to work at Jean Georges—the starting point of his obsession with Asian ingredients and techniques.

In the following years Sosa worked at TanDa, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Dune in the Bahamas, Spice Market, and Yumcha; and consulted at Buddakan and Morimoto. He was also invited by Alain Ducasse to create a special seasonal menu at his Paris restaurant Spoon Food & Wine.

Sosa’s broad-ranging restaurant experiences cemented his devotion to Asian flavors, which he expanded with trips to Thailand, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. He has big plans for his high-concept Asian sandwich shop, including opening another 11 locations across the US in the next two years. He was just awarded the StarChefs.com 2009 New York Rising Star Restaurant Concept Award.