Vivian Ku’s family history is steeped in the food industry. Her maternal grandparents fled China during the Chinese Civil War and settled in Taiwan, where they opened a noodle business before eventually moving to California. Ku, who grew up in Bakersfield, always felt connected to food through her family’s vegetable farm and occasional visits to Taipei. While studying economics at Harvard University, her interest in restaurants motivated her to run the campus grill and, after college, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America. Following an externship at Chez Panisse, she joined the Hillstone Restaurant Group, learning the keys to meticulous hospitality. A 2013 trip to Taiwan to master local recipes inspired her to follow in her grandparents’ footsteps and open up a business of her own.

In 2014, Ku opened her fast-casual restaurant, Pine & Crane, as an homage to her grandfather’s noodle company of the same name. Four years later, she followed it with Joy, a Taiwanese street food concept. During the pandemic, Ku provided sustainable jobs, with employee benefits and retention as her top priority. In November 2020, she hosted her Taiwanese breakfast pop-up, Today Starts Here, and, in 2021, she was named a StarChefs Rising Star. Now with her second location of Pine & Crane in Downtown Los Angeles, Ku continues to lead by example with her commitment to employee wellness and thoughtful, comforting, and accessible food.