Quincy chef is up-and-coming star in the culinary world. Here's how he reached that status

QUINCY – Spots on Plate Magazine’s Chefs to Watch and Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants. A victory on the Food Network’s cooking competition Chopped. A nomination for the prestigious James Beard Awards.

These recent accolades have put Quincy chef Laurence Louie on the map as an up-and-coming star and someone to keep an eye on in the culinary world.

Louie opened Rubato, a Hong Kong-style café on Hancock Street in North Quincy, less than two years ago. But he has been putting in the work for more than a decade.

"It seems like we're the new kids on the block, but we've been at this for 10 years," he said in a recent interview at the restaurant. "It's happened pretty organically, and it's great to be here and be part of the conversation."

Professional chef wasn’t always the plan

Louie, 37, grew up in Brookline, but spent a lot of time in Quincy, since his mother owned a Cantonese bakery in North Quincy for more than two decades. His restaurant Rubato is now located where Contempo once stood. His mother was born in Hong Kong and his father is Chinese American.

After earning a master’s degree in American studies from UMass-Boston, Louie worked as the director of a youth program in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood for several years.

"I loved my job, but I wanted to see what other options were out there and what my heart would guide me to," he said.

So he spent a year in Southern China as part of a soul-searching trip of sorts, where he learned Mandarin and worked as an apprentice at a noodle restaurant. He said it was there that he rediscovered a connection to the food of his heritage and realized his passion for cooking for others.

He also met his now-wife, Rary Ratsifa, who was born in Madagascar and grew up in Switzerland, while in Guangzhou. The couple, who lives in Quincy, welcomed their first child, a son named Ivo, at the of March.

Upon returning to the States, he decided to test his culinary skills as a full-time professional cook. He said he sent out dozens of applications, and landed a job working at Oleana, the Mediterranean restaurant of James Beard Award winner Ana Sortun. He said he did some "really good cooking," and started to learn the ins and outs of a professional kitchen.

But at the same time, he and Ratsifa were ready to settle down and be together. She was living in London at the time, so he agreed to move abroad. He landed a job working for acclaimed Chef Selin Kiazim, eventually becoming the head chef of her now-closed Turkish restaurant, Oklava. There he worked long, grueling hours and learned the discipline and efficiency needed to run a large commercial kitchen.

"I got my butt kicked in the best way," he said of his four years working at Oklava.

Pandemic changes trajectory of his career

Louie actually had plans in the works to open his own restaurant in London. A sit-down, full-service restaurant. He hadn't quite broken ground, but investors were lined up when the pandemic hit and the plans fell through, which he called "devastating."

He said that forced him and Ratsifa to pause and think about where they really wanted to settle down.

"It was like, 'Do we want to raise kids in London? Are we going to have British-accent babies?'" he said with a chuckle.

At the same time, his mother was winding down from her decades of owning Contempo. While she had floated the idea of him taking over the space in the past – and he had hinted he wasn't really interested – she brought it up again.

This time, he said the 900-square-foot counter-service space had a new appeal given the state of sit-down dining during the pandemic. After some discussion, he and Ratsifa decided to make the move to Quincy and open Rubato in late summer 2022.

It was a fast hit and sold out without two hours.

"It was a good problem to have," he said.

Ratsifa, who works for the tech company Bazaarvoice, popped into Rubato during the interview. She describes Louie as "extremely ambitious" and generous with his time and food. She said he works hard at whatever he does, whether it's opening a new restaurant or maintaining an international long-distance relationship.

"He gives the same intensity where ever he goes, and it reflects today," she said.

For example, the couple described Louie intensely preparing for his appearance on the Food Network’s cooking competition "Chopped" – from making spreadsheets of the ingredients used in prior episodes, to studying the kitchen set up and utensils provided to contestants. They even had friends provide mystery boxes for him to practice, without disclosing he was going to be on the show.

"We don't leave anything up to luck," said Ratsifa, who co-owns Rubato. "I think we're letting luck happen to us when it's there, but it's 100% work on the back end."

Rubato serves Hong King comfort food with a twist

The menu at Rubato includes classics like steamed char siu baos, congee and house-milled soy milk to more modern offerings like sandwiches on bolo bao buns, which are a staple in Hong Kong cafes. They also serve youtiao, which is like a fried dough stick and was one of Contempo’s most popular items.

Among the most popular items are the fried chicken bolo sandwich and Nutella-filled Hong Kong french toast. Open until 4 p.m., the menu has several dozen items and is considered "daytime" food. On a busy weekend day, Louie said they serve about 100 chicken sandwiches.

Inside, the 900-square-foot restaurant has forest green wall tiles with fluorescent window shades that add a hue of green. A high-top counter runs along the length of the restaurant with stools for those looking to eat there. The restaurant has a total 10 employees, including seven who work there full-time. Rubato also offers catering, though it's not a huge part of the business.

It's located in the the heart of North Quincy, surrounded by other restaurants and storefronts where there is a lot of foot traffic and many other Asian-owned businesses.

The typical sit-down restaurant isn't necessarily his dream anymore

While the natural next question is about his plans for another restaurant, Louie said he'd love to expand to more locations, but keep with the to-go, casual-seating style.

"The dream was to have a sit-down, full-service restaurant, but since opening Rubato, I've fallen in love with counter service," Louie said. "Before the pandemic, the assumption was good food comes with more expensive pricing and full-service experience, but I think that's changed."

For now, he said his focus is on strengthening Rubato.

"Right now my priority is strengthening the operations of this location and making sure we're not jumping at opportunities that aren't the best," Louie said. "Rubato is what got us here, and what we know we do well, and I want to keep fortifying that right now and see where it goes."

Louie said his priorities are serving good food that is accessible for people, paying employees a good wage and offering 40-hour work weeks, all things he said are easier to achieve with counter service. Rubato closes at 4 p.m., giving staff time with their families – something that is typically rare in the restaurant business.

"At the root of it, it's my ideal restaurant down the street," he said. "It's quick. It's affordable. It's delicious and it's things that I feel connected to as a Chinese American kid."

As a restaurant owner, Louie said he taps into the same things that drew him into community organizing.

"It's a way to share something in a meaningful way," he said. "It's like a relationship. You're coming in and we're cooking for you, and that's a beautiful thing."

Cooking isn't his only passion

Louie said he enjoys cooking for friends and family, and especially loved cooking for his wife during her pregnancy.

"For me, it's a love language," he said.

Asked the list of ingredients he always has on hand, Louie said: soy sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar and Shaoxing wine.

But he rarely cooks for himself. If he's on his own for dinner, he said he will opt for takeout or something quick, like noodles and frozen dumplings.

Since opening the restaurant, Louie said he hasn't had much time for hobbies. But in his before life, he said he enjoyed Warhammer 40,000, a tabletop game with elaborate rules and miniature figurines that players hand paint.

"It's super nerdy," he said. "It's in the same caste of nerdiness as Dungeons and Dragons and Magic."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Laurence Louie, owner of Quincy's Rubato, earning culinary accolades