Bobby Chinn Explained

Bobby Chinn
Birth Place:New Zealand
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Richmond College (B.A.)

Bobby Chinn is an American international chef, television presenter, restaurateur and cookbook author.[1] He is a culinary celebrity across Asia and the Middle East, thanks to his role as host of Discovery TLC's World Cafe,[2] and as a judge on MBC's Top Chef Middle East.[3] He opened two award-winning restaurants in Vietnam – Restaurant Bobby Chinn in Hanoi (2001) and Bobby Chinn Saigon in Ho Chi Minh (2011), then relocated to London in 2014 and opened the House of Ho Vietnamese restaurant.[4]

Early life and education

Bobby Chinn was born in New Zealand to a Chinese-American father and an Egyptian mother.[5] His grandfather was Egyptian military commander Saad El Shazly.[6]

Chinn was educated at St. George's College in Cairo[7] and Millfield in England[8] before graduating from the Urban School of San Francisco.[9] Chinn then graduated from Richmond College in London in 1986, where he earned a BA in finance and economics.[10] In 2020 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Liberal Arts from Richmond College.[11]

After graduating, Chinn worked as a research analyst in Boca Raton, Florida, then a hedge fund in San Francisco, before moving to New York City where he worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.[12]

Career

Chinn's culinary career began at the Elka Restaurant in the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco,[13] working under notable chefs Elka Gilmore and Traci Des Jardins. His big break came from Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys, where he worked the pantry for a year.[14] He was part of the opening team at the Coconut Grove on Van Ness Avenue, where he became the saucier, but succumbed to a back injury. He work-staged in France, then returned to San Francisco for back surgery.

In 1995, Chinn moved to Ho Chi Minh City[15] and worked at La Camargue restaurant. Within six months, he had opened his own restaurant, Saigon Joe's, and moved to Hanoi to open another restaurant, Miro. In 1997, he opened the Red Onion, overlooking the infamous "Hanoi Hilton".[16] The success of the restaurant gave him the opportunity to open his eponymous restaurant in 2001, Restaurant Bobby Chinn.[17]

In 2014, Chinn moved to London and launched a modern Vietnamese concept at the House of Ho, which occupies the former site of the 2i's Coffee Bar, Soho.[18]

Television

Chinn's television career was launched with his first solo TV show, World Café Asia, on TLC.[19] [2] For the second season, World Café Middle East, Chinn won "Best Entertainment Presenter" at the Asia Television Awards in 2007.[20]

Chinn is a permanent judge on MBC's Top Chef Middle East.[21]

Cookbook

Chin's cookbook, Wild Wild East: Recipes & Stories from Vietnam was released in 2007. It is both a guide to Vietnamese food and a diary of Chinn's adventures in Vietnam. In the foreword, Anthony Bourdain claims that "what Bobby doesn’t know about Southeast Asian food is not worth knowing".[22]

Ambassador roles

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hanoi's Red Onion Bistro Has the Heart of San Francisco . Sesser . Stan . 2000-10-27 . The Wall Street Journal . Dow Jones & Company, Inc. . 2021-03-08 . ...Mr. Chinn is...[a]n American citizen...born in New Zealand....
  2. Web site: World Cafe 2.
  3. Web site: Top Chef - MBC 1 - MBC.net.
  4. Web site: Bobby Chinn heads to the UK for new Vietnamese restaurant in London. BigHospitality.co.uk.
  5. Web site: Though part-Egyptian, chef Bobby Chinn avoids local cuisine in the kitchen. 7 April 2013.
  6. Web site: A True Culinary Artisan . insight-egypt.com . Insight Egypt . 10 April 2019 . 10 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190410224913/http://www.insight-egypt.com/interviews/bobby-chinn/august-18/558 . dead .
  7. Web site: Bobby Chinn: What I Did Next . Podtail . 1 November 2021.
  8. Web site: Heiter . Celeste . The Pharaoh of Fine Dining in the Far East . Things Asian Press . 4 August 2003.
  9. Web site: The Urban School Alumni Association . Urban School Blue Notes . 24 February 2017 . reference to Urban school.
  10. Lippoldt, Karen, "From Wall Street to master chef: Bobby Chinn", Richmond College Alumni news, October, 2013
  11. Web site: HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS . Richmond . 1 May 2022.
  12. Web site: Bobby Chinn: All grown up. The Jakarta. Post.
  13. Web site: Culinary Escapades . Telegraph India . 21 November 2010 . reference to Elka.
  14. Web site: Chinn up! . BBC Good Food Middle East . 11 March 2014 . reference to Fleur de Lys.
  15. News: Heiter. Celeste. The Pharaoh of Fine Dining in the Far East. 22 April 2017. thingsasian.com. 4 August 2003.
  16. Web site: CNN - y: 'Hanoi Hilton' now holds only painful memories - April 27, 2000.
  17. Web site: full biography . https://web.archive.org/web/20110709005347/http://www.deborahmckenna.com/client-full-bio.aspx?ID=61&Name=Bobby-Chinn . dead . 2011-07-09 . Deborah McKenna . 2011-06-30 .
  18. Web site: THE HISTORY OF THE 2i's COFFEE BAR. 5 June 2009.
  19. News: Interview with: Celebrity Egyptian/Chinese Chef Bobby Chinn. 22 April 2017. ahramonline. 20 April 2013.
  20. Web site: Bobby Chinn: Cooking's a gas - CNN.com . 2024-01-17 . edition.cnn.com.
  21. News: Ahmad. Tarek. Top Chef Middle East set to dish up Arab talent. 22 April 2017. Al Arabiya English. 19 September 2016.
  22. Book: Bobby Chinn. Wild, Wild East: Recipes & Stories from Vietnam. 2008. Barron's. 978-0-7641-6149-0.
  23. Web site: Promoting sustainable seafood production. 1 November 2013.
  24. Web site: Bobby Chinn named Vietnam tourism ambassador in Europe. https://archive.today/20140805154721/http://www.thanhniennews.com/entertainment/bobby-chinn-named-vietnam-tourism-ambassador-in-europe-28762.html. dead. August 5, 2014. 18 July 2014.
  25. Web site: Bobby Chinn Goodwill Ambassador . Naomi Tami Memorial Fund . Naomi Tami Memorial Scholarship Fund . 1 May 2022.

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