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Chef and
Owners |
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Executive
Chef Takao Iinuma -
Takao is one
of the world’s great Japanese chefs. An accomplished student at Japan’s
prestigious Hattori Nutrition College, where he learned everything from
French technique to traditional Chinese cooking, Iinuma went on to teach
there for eight years. His education also included an apprenticeship at
the Karin in the Ana Hotel, one of Tokyo’s top restaurants. He has
competed in 40 episodes of the popular Iron Chef Japan, winning 75
percent of his match ups. It was during this era that he befriended
world famous Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who became his culinary mentor.
Chef Iinuma went on to become executive chef at Morimoto restaurant in
Philadelphia and Wasabi by Morimoto in Mumbai, India, where he helped
the chef open both locations. He was also appointed corporate chef of
Morimoto in Washington, D.C. The Iron Chef still calls upon Iinuma for
advice before going into culinary battle. |
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Chef de
Cuisine Aniwat "Chay" Vadhanachai -a
native of Thailand and a graduate of the culinary school at
Philadelphia’s Art Institute,. He has a passion for food from around the
world. After graduating from culinary school, he started working with
and learning from a diverse group of area chefs. This
wide-ranging culinary education has given Vadhanachai a deep
understanding of the cuisines that inspire him. It is those inspirations
that he turns into the dishes that have earned him so many fans. |
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Win and
Sutida Somboonsong -
Win came to
this area as a teenager in 1980 to attend Valley Forge Military Academy. His parents had sent him
9,000 miles from his home in Bangkok to benefit from the discipline of a
military school, made even more traumatic by having no friends or
relatives in this country and by not speaking English.
After military school, Win attended both Temple and Texas Tech
Universities, earning a B.A. in civil engineering from the latter.
Then came a Master’s Degree in engineering at Colorado State University,
followed by a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy as an officer in the civil
engineering corps. Win also earned a Ph.D. in engineering from Drexel
University while serving in the Navy.
At this point Win’s wife, Sutida, an excellent chef, decided to open a
restaurant. Win helped her open Thai Pepper in Ardmore in 1991. In 1997
he and Sudita opened the second Thai Pepper in Wayne; in 1999 they
opened their third Main Line restaurant, Mikado in Ardmore, in 2003,
Teikoku in Newtown Square and in 2007, they christened their fifth
culinary offspring, Azie in Media. The two Thai immigrants, who now have
four children, met each other by chance in Philadelphia.
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