Ian Kittichai

Pongtawat "Ian" Chalermkittichai (Thai: พงษ์ธวัช เฉลิมกิตติชัย), known in English as Ian Kittichai (born 27 January 1968), is a chef, restaurateur, television personality and cookbook writer. He is credited with being instrumental in changing predominant perceptions of Thai cuisine and one of the earliest proponents of the modernisation of Thai cuisine. He and his restaurants have earned acclaim from the New York Times, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure and other publications. One of his restaurants, Issaya Siamese Club, has been listed on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, a division of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, and ranked number 39 in 2018. Australian Traveller magazine listed Issaya Siamese Club as one of the world’s hottest restaurants in 2018.

Kittichai’s cookbook Issaya Siamese Club: Innovative Thai Cuisine by Chef Ian Kittichai, released in April 2013, placed first in the Best Authors and Chefs category for Thailand, and third for the Best Cookbook of The Year in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2014 held in Beijing in May 2014.

In 2006 and 2012 Kittichai appeared on the television show Iron Chef America to compete with Mario Batali and Marc Forgione respectively. Since 2012 he also appears regularly on Iron Chef Thailand as Iron Chef Innovative Western Cuisine as well as the Lead Judge on MasterChef Thailand and MasterChef Junior Thailand; Co-Host of Bid Coin Chef and judge of Hell's Kitchen Thailand.

Early life As a child growing up in Bangkok, Kittichai accompanied his mother on daily trips to local markets before school, and then sold her curry rice from a cart after school.

While a student in London, Kittichai worked part-time at London's Waldorf Hotel, whose management paid for him to attend cooking school at Southeast London Colleges for two years. He then moved to Sydney, where he apprenticed at Claude’s French restaurant in the mid-1980s and attended culinary school at Sydney Technical College.

In 2003, Kittichai opened Kittichai, a modern Thai restaurant in New York's SIXTY Soho (formerly 60 Thompson) which earned a listing in Travel + Leisure magazine’s Best New American Restaurants 2004. The following year, Food & Wine called Kittichai the best Thai restaurant in America, praising the elegant décor as well as the cuisine.

In 2011, Kittichai established Issaya Siamese Club, a contemporary Thai restaurant in a 100-year-old villa in Bangkok. The restaurant has made Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, a list produced by UK media company William Reed Business Media, based on a poll of international chefs, restaurateurs, gourmands and restaurant critics. Most recently the restaurant was ranked number 39 in 2018. Traveller magazine in Australia also listed Issaya Siamese Club as one of the world’s hottest restaurants in 2018.

In 2011, Kittichai also joined Spot Dessert Bar, an Asian-American dessert bar group founded in New York City.

To coordinate Kittichai’s restaurant interests and consultative contracts around the globe, the chef and his wife Sarah Chang operate Cuisine Concept Co. Ltd., an international food and beverage industry consulting and management firm based in Bangkok.

Restaurants In 2003, Kittichai opened Kittichai, a modern Thai restaurant in New York's SIXTY Soho (formerly 60 Thompson) which earned a listing in Travel + Leisure magazine’s Best New American Restaurants 2004.

The same year, Kittichai partnered with Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort Bangkok to open Khum Hom, a restaurant centered on regional Thai cuisine. According to the Bangkok Post, the restaurant uses local ingredients in dishes based on recipes from Thailand's four main regions: North, Northeast, Central, and South.

Anaalā, a restaurant at Iniala Beach House on Natai Beach in Phang Nga, Thailand, opened in December 2024. The restaurant's name derives from a Sanskrit word for fire, referencing its live-fire beach barbecue concept. The restaurant served Thai dishes incorporating some Bahamian ingredients. The festival's programming included a Kò Sà-Wăn dinner party.

Filmography

Works Kittichai, Ian. Issaya Siamese Club Cookbook: Innovative Thai Cuisine by Chef Ian Kittichai Avril Production, 2013 Kittichai, Ian and Chongphanitkul Apisara. La Patisserie Issaya Pastry Cookbook Avril Production, 2016. Kittichai, Ian. Chef Ian’s Kitchen Revealed Amarin Cuisine, 2011