Chef Asia Mei is not afraid of a challenge. The chef, who grew up on the West Coast and made her way to Boston for college, worked as a stunt woman before jumping behind the line in some of the best restaurants in the city. Her resume includes stints at Franklin Southie, Hamersley’s Bistro, Sibling Rivalry and, most recently, Sam’s as Chef de Cuisine. Things come full circle for Mei in 2015 when she opens Moonshine 152, her first solo venture, which just so happens to be housed in her former stomping grounds at the Franklin Southie space.

Boston Chefs: How did the opportunity to open something in the Franklin Southie Space cross your path?
Asia Mei: Honestly, it just sort of happened. I loved my time there. And for this past year, I’ve really been soul searching and trying to figure out what my next deliberate move should be. What I really, really wanted is to be able to move into my own space but it wasn’t ‘what type of place do I want to have?’ or ‘what type of food I want to do?’ It was ‘where do I want to be?’, because the food will follow suit but where could I settle down and be part of the neighborhood? All that I kept thinking about was this part of Southie. I’ve lived here for about 5 years and I’d stayed in contact with the people at Franklin Southie. I’d heard that they had been thinking about different ideas and all I could think was that it would kill me if this place went to somebody else. Like, another sports bar or a tavern where the owners weren’t going to be there. I think that would be this lost opportunity so that’s really part of what drove me to do it.

BC: Tell us more about the plan and the timeframe.
Mei: So, Moonshine 152 is the name, because the address is 152 Dorchester Avenue. We’re looking to have the Franklin Southie closed at the very end of the year so the New Year’s Eve party will be half closing-the-Franklin-Southie and half opening-Moonshine-152. I’m hoping to do a pretty quick turnaround and be officially open by early February.

BC: How big a redesign is in the works?
Mei: We’re looking to keep the same vibe of the old place and have that approachable, neighborhood atmosphere that we all love so much. I’m not looking to make a sports bar. I love sports bars and I think plenty of people in Southie do it very well already. So, I’m going to make a few small décor changes, but for the most part it’s not going to be a huge redesign.

BC: Do you have any of your key people in place?
Mei: I have a staff of people who have worked with me for the last six or seven years at three or four different jobs who are essentially my Boston work family. So a lot of the people are already in place. Jesse Dupuis, my boyfriend, will be running the bar. He’s been a bar manager at the King Street Tavern at the Ames Hotel so he’ll be doing both. And we’re looking to keep some of the main figures from the Franklin staff if they want to stay. It’s definitely looking good. Southie has such a history of loyalty we’re just going to have to work as hard as we can to keep that tradition going and that involves keeping the right people.

BC: Are you thinking you’ll do brunch or lunch in addition to dinner?
Mei: Yes I think we’ll start with dinner and a late night menu that goes into the wee hours of the morning like before and I’d really like to do weekend brunches and do the first industry brunch on this side of the bridge on Mondays.

BC: How would you categorize the style of food?
Mei: My food is very related to my background; I grew up in Northern California eating a lot of food that was American but influenced by Latin American and Asian flavors. That’s why I think that late night food is so much fun. The fact is I learned how to cook out here using New England products so I want to bring a local focus – organic, whenever possible – and bring that to this part of Southie in a way I wasn’t able to do before. I had a great year there, but I’m better now I’m stronger now and I want to go in there and prove that.

BC: What it the overarching philosophy at Moonshine 152?
Mei: I want it to be the hub for this part of Southie – to combine the history that’s associated with this part of the city but still be a part of the new direction that it’s taking. There’s so much going on in the Seaport and Dorchester and we have this perfect little location with so much spirit with dinner and late night culture and all of those things. When I think of a neighborhood place, I think of somewhere that’s fun, that’s approachable and it’s an energized atmosphere. And that’s what we’re going for.