About the Chef

      A native of Bangkok, Thailand, Chai Siriyarn was brought up in a family food business where he learned how to cook
from his mother, a master chef of Central Thai cuisine. His 30 years of experience in the food industry has contributed to the
popularity of Thai restaurants in San Francisco. After graduating in Accounting from Chiangmai University from Northern
Thailand, Chai came to pursue his MBA at the Pacific States University in Los Angeles in 1979. During his study, he gained
extra experience by working at top Thai restaurants in Los Angeles before moving to settle down in San Francisco in 1983.
Chai also worked at various Thai restaurants in San Francisco prior to opening Marnee Thai in 1986.

      Chai’s culinary accolades include winning the grand prize in the Los Angeles Pad Thai Festival contest in 2000. He earned the very competitive "Thailand Superchef Award" in 2003 and was also named "International
Chef of the Year" from the Awards of the Americas at Carnegie Hall, in
NewYork City in 2001. Chai was also a guest chef to the Royal Thai Embassy
at a Tsunami relief fund raising event organized by the United States-Thailand Amity for Charity Foundation. The Gala dinner was for VIP guests including the Prince and Princess of Thailand, U.S. Senators and some celebrities which was held in Washington, D.C. He has been a guest chef at theCulinary Institute of America at their Greystone campus since 2000. In2005, Chai received the "Master Chef Award" from the America Academy of Taste in Las Vegas.

      Chai loves cooking and sharing his cuisine and culture to the world,
as a part of his role in winning the Thailand Superchef contest in Thailand,
he has been invited to do cooking demonstrations in many big cities such
as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Winnipeg, Canada.He is currently working on his cookbook which is going to include many traditional ancient recipes that have been passed on to him for two generations. Chai lives in San Francisco with his wife May, and his two sons, Kasidit (Age 20) and Kevin (Age 15). Besides recommending complementary food selections, his wife is gifted in the art of fortune telling and occasionally gives readings to the customers.