An IRL Eat, Pray, Love Journey: How Steve Tseng Transformed His Life with Healthy Cuisine

When I think of some of my favorite restaurants, they’re founded in great customer service, excellent food, and even better ingredients. That said, Pinwheel Garden Dumpling and Noodle Bar is definitely one at the top of my list.?

Pinwheel is a family-owned restaurant dedicated to serving remixed Asian-American food from scratch, bringing together authentic flavors and ingredients from different cultures around the world including Taiwan, Japan, Korea, India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Italy, France and America to name but a few.

I’ve been a customer at Pinwheel Garden for quite some time now, and let me tell you - it’s delicious! One day while picking up my food I decided to ask, “Who came up with these recipes?” To which a cheerful employee responded, “Our co-owner Steve made them up!”?

The next time I visited, a nice man from the restaurant set me up with outdoor seating. And well, me being the curious person I am, I asked if he was the owner. He was! I let him know that I loved the food and asked him about his background. Keeping things brief in this mini convo - he mentioned that he was an architect for many years, and eventually decided to start the business. But that high-level summary was only the tip of the iceberg. There was much more to the story.

That sparked my interest and between loving the food, and having a former architect come up with my healthy and delicious meal, I was sold and knew I wanted to interview him for Get up N' Glow and my LinkedIn Program.?

When we spoke, I had no idea the journey that led him to this family owned restaurant. He opened up and let me know about a few things that led him to food and beverage entrepreneurship:?

?? Before opening his restaurant with his family, he owned a clothing brand, the ultimately shut down.

?? His drug use led him to unhealthy habits that had Steve feeling out of shape, tired, and ultimately depressed.

?? He was unhappy with his former role as an architect and came to a point in his life where wanted to find a career that brought him joy.

?? A self-love retreat in Peru exposed him to healthy living and transformative lifestyle changes, that eventually led him to where he is today.

?? He came back to the United States wanting to share those experiences with the world, and has - through Pinwheel Garden.

Pinwheel only uses the freshest seasonal produce with a goal of organic ingredients whenever possible. Their food infuses everything with conscious LOVE to make delicious, healthy, feel-good food and is proudly serving the Jersey City community.?

I can’t wait to share clips of this interview with you tomorrow! In the meantime, if you’re in NY/NJ - check out Pinwheel Garden and order my favorite…The Scallion Pancake Pizza with veggie bolognese & Mac n’ Cheese Dumplings. YUM!