Despite a pandemic that stalled his restaurant business, Eric Sze has never been busier. He’s made a name for himself in the past year by making pivot after pivot to keep his New York City restaurant 886 afloat and by being the change he wants to see in the industry. He’s made thousands of bento boxes for front-line health care workers and local shelters, raised money for his out-of-work staff, and started Enough Is Enough, an initiative to bring awareness to hate crimes against Asian Americans.
At the age of 28, Sze already has two soon to be three restaurants under his belt. There’s the Tang, an East Village noodle shop he co-founded after college; 886, the nearby Taiwanese spot he opened with business partner Andy Chuang after leaving the Tang; and Wenwen, a new restaurant that’s slated to open in Brooklyn later this year, assuming all goes well after weathering the COVID-19 storm. But if Sze’s history is any indication, he’ll find a way to make it work.