The
Restaurant.
Our kitchen creates a dialogue between traditions. We are still negotiating.
Not Fusion. Conversation.
Sichuan technique, coastal Mexican flavors, Italian instinct, live-fire cooking. Our chefs come from different traditions and cook on the same line. The menu is what happens when they talk to each other.
Chef Pieter on the Wok
The Wall
Every seat, every night.
Good TimesSake. Wine. Craft Cocktails.
Curated sake, natural wines, and cocktails that follow the same logic as the kitchen. The bar team and the chefs work off the same flavor vocabulary.
Mentors of the
Collective.
Professors of the Mala Mafia
Every kitchen has a lineage. Ours was shaped by the chefs, mentors, and collaborators who came through our doors and left something behind — a technique, a philosophy, a standard we refuse to drop. Some are still cooking with us. Some have moved on to build their own things.
Papa Zhao
The Patriarch · 30 Years in SA
Thirty years feeding San Antonio. Papa Zhao didn't teach technique — he taught what it means to show up every single day for a community that depends on you.
Chef Pieter Sypesteyn
@whereyatsa · Hot Joy · Brasserie Mon Chou Chou
The chef who proved San Antonio could hold its own on the national stage. Pieter's approach to Asian-fusion and live-fire cooking shaped the DNA of our kitchen.
Master Chef Jian Li
Sichuan House Co-Founder · Kitchen Partner
The master who co-built Sichuan House alongside Kristina. Jian Li brought the classical Sichuan technique — the wok control, the spice calibration, the patience of a tradition that doesn't cut corners. His hands trained ours.
Kristina Zhao
Founder & Creative Director · James Beard WEL Fellow
Came home for a few days in 2015 and never left. She builds the world the chefs get to cook in — the atmosphere, the story, the table, the feeling your guests take home.
Chef Yesenia Arredondo
CIA-Trained · Mediterranean & Middle Eastern
Former Culinary Director at Tim the Girl. Yesenia thinks in flavors most people haven't met yet — sumac, pomegranate, fresh herbs by the fistful. She brought a global palate to our kitchen.
Chef Javi Ruiz
@chefjav_ruiz · Authentic Mexican & Pan-Latin
A San Antonio original. Javi has been feeding this city's most important celebrations for decades. His cooking is rooted in the flavors of Mexico and Latin America — bold, generous, and built on a lifetime at the stove.
The Collective grows with every collaboration. More professors are coming.
In the Meantime.
The restaurant is getting ready. But the kitchen is already cooking — for private events, celebrations, and anyone who wants a seat at the table.