Ramen Tatsu-Ya's Shion Aikawa Is An Eater Young Gun

Today, Eater unveils 2013's class of Eater Young Guns, a group of 15 of the most distinguished young chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers, and hospitality industry professionals in the country.

In this year's class: 27-year-old Shion Aikawa, director of operations at Ramen Tatsu-Ya, Austin's first-ever brick-and-mortar ramen shop. Aikawa's a front-of-house wizard who left a cushy corporate gig in Los Angeles for a life wrangling the white-hot ramen shop's daily queue-up, taking over register when the counter's slammed, dropping off ramen when runners go home sick, and peeling eggs before service. It may actually be easier to list what Aikawa doesn't do at Tatsu-Ya, which he helped open last September with his brother, chef Tatsu Aikawa, and chef Tako Matsumoto.

Click over to the Eater mothership for brief profiles of the rest of this year's group, which includes Ryan Lachaine, a sous chef at Houston's Underbelly.

· All Young Guns Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]
· Ramen Tatsu-Ya [Official]

[Photo: Andrea Grimes/EATX]