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Chef Khai returns to Vietnam to become head judge on Top Chef Vietnam TV show

Owner of Khai Vietnamese Nouveau and Ana Mandara closes his San Francisco restaurant to explore exciting opportunities in his native country.
September 2019

San Francisco, CA…Long-time Bay Area chef and former head judge of Vietnam’s Iron Chef cooking show, Chef Khai Duong has closed Khai restaurant to pursue an opportunity on Vietnamese TV as head judge on Top Chef. He also plans to open a new restaurant in Saigon.

“I’m honored to be chosen as the head judge for Vietnam’s very popular Top Chef TV show,” said Chef Khai. “I want to continue promoting Vietnamese cuisine globally and being on this show will give me the opportunity to do so.”

 Chef Khai has won the Gold Medal at the International Beijing Culinary Competition. He competed with 200 other chefs with a simple tomato consommé dish made with birds’ nest. “Chef Khai is bringing a modern approach to Vietnam,” said Martin Yan, popular host of the ‘Yan Can Cook’ cooking show. “He is one of the most creative and most talented Vietnamese chefs alive today. He is a culinary artist.”

The Vietnamese Top Chef TV show can be seen on the local Vietnamese channel here or on You Tube.

Written by Va;lerie Camarda

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Around The City

Chef Khai Returned Home To San Francisco

Iron Chef Judge Khai Duong introduces his new innovative and exotic cuisine.
December 2016

World culinary icon, long-time Bay Area chef and head judge of Vietnam’s Iron Chef cooking show, Chef Khai Duong's latest restaurant concept is called Khai located in the heart of San Francisco’s Design District, near some of world’s biggest tech companies. The new restaurant opened its doors on Wednesday, December 28, 2016. The Vietnamese Nouveau restaurant offers a high-end ten course dinner tasting menu of his signature creations at a restaurant with an intimate, cozy setting.

After a successful twelve year-old run with Ana Mandara in Ghiradelli Square, Chef Khai took a well-deserved sabbatical, and went back to his roots in Vietnam and explored the cities and countryside of his homeland to discover new flavors, ingredients and techniques of his culinary heritage. Now back in San Francisco, he is reinvigorated and eager to share his reimagined vision of great food that combines his Vietnamese heritage, classic French training at Le Cordon Bleu, and modern California flavors. His artistry in Vietnamese cuisine is unsurpassed. That’s why he is called “master” by his fellow Vietnamese chefs.

“Creative cuisine is best presented in an intimate dinner party atmosphere. My new restaurant will feel like my home, and you are my guest. This will inspire me to create, and personally prepare, the new creations I have been working on during my stay in Vietnam,” said Chef Khai. 

In 2012, Chef Khai won the Gold Medal at the International Beijing Culinary Competition. He competed with 200 other chefs with a simple tomato consommé dish made with birds’ nest. “Chef Khai is bringing a modern approach to Vietnam,” said Martin Yan, popular host of the ‘Yan Can Cook’ cooking show. “He is one of the most creative and most talented Vietnamese chefs alive today. He is a culinary artist.” 

The tasting menu offerings will vary according to the quality and availability of the menu components. The Chef always utilizes organic, sustainable and local ingredients, and focuses on health, freshness and flavors. Some of the tasting offerings you might find include Fresh Seaweed Salad, Wild Matsutake Mushroom Pate, Crab Sausage, Smoked Beef Tartare, Crispy Golden Quail, and Pan Seared Rack of Lamb, among others. Although you may recognize these ingredients, the way Chef Khai prepares them is truly unique.