Wikipedia

Ming Tsai

In this Chinese name, the family name is Tsai.

Ming Hao Tsai (Chinese: 蔡明昊; pinyin: Cài Mínghào; born 1964) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality and a former squash player. Tsai's restaurants have focused on east–west fusion cuisine, and have included major stakes in Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachusetts (a Zagat- and James Beard-recognized establishment) from 1998 to 2017, and Blue Dragon in the Fort Point Channel area of Boston (a Zagat-recognized tapas-style gastropub named in Esquire Magazine "Best New Restaurants 2013").

Ming Tsai
Born1964 (age 59–60)[1]
Newport Beach, California, U.S.[1]
EducationYale University
Cornell University
Le Cordon Bleu
SpousePolly Talbott-Tsai
Children2
Culinary career
Cooking styleFusion
Previous restaurant(s)
Television show(s)

Tsai hosts Simply Ming, a cooking show featured on American Public Television, in its seventeenth season. Past shows Tsai hosted include Ming's Quest, a cooking show featured on the Fine Living Network, and East Meets West. Tsai appeared in the Food Network cooking competition The Next Iron Chef (2010).[2][3]

Early life and education

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Tsai was born to Iris (née Lee), who owned a Chinese restaurant, and Stephen Tsai [de], an engineer who co-developed the Tsai-Wu failure criterion,[4] and was raised in Dayton, Ohio,[5][4] where he attended The Miami Valley School.[6] He assisted with the cooking as he was growing up in the restaurant, Mandarin Kitchen.[4] Tsai's maternal grandparents emigrated to Dayton from Taiwan after escaping China during the Cultural Revolution.[7]

Tsai later attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then proceeded to study engineering and play varsity squash at Yale University.[4][5] There, he was a member of the Phi chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity,[8] and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1986.[4][5] He received a master's degree in hotel administration and hospitality marketing from Cornell University in 1989.[9] Either the summer after his sophomore or junior year at Yale, he attended culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.[4][5] Tsai speaks four languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, French, and Spanish.[10]

Tsai is a grandson of Chinese composer Lee Pao-Chen [zh].[11] He is a 116th great grandson of Huang Di.[7][1]

Career

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Television

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Tsai began his television career on chef Sara Moulton's cooking show Cooking Live while she had him fill in for one week for her in 1997.[12] He hosted East Meets West on the Food Network from 1998 to 2003.[13] He hosts Simply Ming, a food show on PBS.[13]

In 2005, he was a judge on the PBS show Cooking Under Fire.[14] Ming Tsai challenged Iron Chef Bobby Flay in the sixth episode of season one of Iron Chef America in 2005; Tsai defeated Flay. Tsai was a contestant in The Next Iron Chef in 2010, where he was eliminated in the seventh week.[3][2] Tsai appeared on an episode of Top Chef in 2014.[15]

His other television appearances include participation in a Zoom Out on Zoom, a show distributed by PBS, in 2005[16] and on the PBS children's television show Arthur episode in 2006.

Restaurants

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In 1998, Tsai and Polly Talbott opened his first restaurant, Blue Ginger, in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Blue Ginger, an Asian Fusion restaurant,[13] has become a Zagat[17] and James Beard-recognized establishment,[18][19] winning many other regional awards as well.[20] The year that the restaurant opened, Tsai was named "Chef of the Year" by Esquire Magazine.[21] On March 30, 2010 Tsai opened Blue Ginger Noodle Bar, a mini-restaurant, inside Blue Ginger.[22] In June 2017, Tsai closed Blue Ginger after 19 years of business. The reason was due to the end of a lease and Tsai's focus on a new fast-casual stir-fry concept restaurant, ChowStirs, scheduled to open in Boston during the early part of 2018.[20]

Tsai opened Blue Dragon in 2013 in the Fort Point Channel area of Boston, an east–west tapas-style gastropub that has become a Zagat's recognized restaurant,[23] which was named an Esquire Magazine "Best New Restaurant" in its opening year.[24] Blue Dragon closed in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.[25]

In 2020, Tsai opened BāBā at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana as chef and partner.[26]

Cookbook author

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Tsai is the author of five cookbooks: Blue Ginger, Simply Ming, Ming's Master Recipes, Simply Ming: One-Pot Meals,[19] and Simply Ming in Your Kitchen.[18]

Awards and recognition

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Tsai won the Daytime Emmy award in 1999, in the category Outstanding Service Show Host.[27] Tsai's Blue Ginger Restaurant was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame in 2012.[28] In 2000, Ming was on the 50 Most Beautiful People list published by People magazine.[29]

Personal life

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Tsai and Polly Talbott have been married since April 1996. They have two sons, David and Henry.[30] David Talbott, Tsai's squash coach at Yale, and Mark Talbott, a former World No. 1 hardball squash player, are Tsai's brothers-in-law.[30] Lauren Tsai, the American actress, is his niece.[31] According to Henry Louis Gates's PBS program Finding Your Roots, Tsai is a 116th-generation descendant of Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC),[32] founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China.

Sports

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Tsai was a squash player at Yale, playing number two for the team, and he was named as an All-Ivy League player in 1986.[33] While attending culinary school in France, Tsai played professionally on the European circuit.[34] In 2004, Tsai played a celebrity squash match against professional golfer Brad Faxon at a Boston squash club.[35] In 2005, he played against Mark Talbott in a charity match at a squash club in San Francisco.[citation needed]

Philanthropy

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One of Tsai's sons has food allergies, and Tsai has become a food allergy advocate who promotes awareness of food allergens.[20] Since 2005,[36] he has been a national spokesman for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and in December 2012 was awarded a lifetime achievement award for his advocacy work from the organization, including his work on the state of Massachusetts food safety bill.[37] Tsai was heavily featured on Season 1, Episode 5 of Netflix’s “Rotten” discussing his thoughts and observations on the restaurant industry; specifically about food-allergic individuals being able to dine out safely. Tsai is currently the President of the National Advisory Board for Family Reach, an organization that provides a financial lifeline to families fighting cancer.

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Henry Louis Gates Jr. (January 28, 2016). Finding Your Roots, Season 2: The Official Companion to the PBS Series. University of North Carolina Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-4696-2619-2.
  2. ^ a b Burke, Bill (October 3, 2010). "Ming Tsai: Ready to mix his two favorite things, 'competition and food'". The Boston Herald. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  3. ^ a b NIC3 Staff & Tsai, Ming (2016). "Ming Tsai: NIC3 Rival". The Next Iron Chef (NIC), Season 3. Retrieved January 14, 2017.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sadeghi, Yassmin (January 31, 2005). "Tsai '89 [sic.] Whips Up Success in Career as Chef". Yale Daily News. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d People Staff (May 8, 2000). "Ming Tsai: Chef" (print and online). People Magazine. 53 (18). Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  6. ^ "Awards & Honors: Distinguished Alumni Award (2006)". The Miami Valley Joint Vocational School. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Rekdal, Cynthia (September 8, 2017). "Chef Ming Tsai: Cooking outside the wok". International Examiner.
  8. ^ "Did you know: Famous chef, Ming Tsai, is a Deke". Delta Phi Chapter, University of Alberta. Retrieved April 28, 2017. Famous chef, Ming Tsai, is a Deke. Brother Ming Tsai is a Yale Deke who has earned an Emmy award for this culinary influence on television. Ming's TV series, 'Simply Ming', is known for his fusion of eastern and western flavours...
  9. ^ "Big Red Footprints: Boston—The East-West empire and the cranberry kingdom". Alumni, Parents & Friends, Cornell University. January 8, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "The Cultural Contributions of Chinese Immmigrants: Culinary". CUNY. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  11. ^ "【手稿】 李抱忱 女兒樸虹全家的聖誕信" (in Chinese). Taiwan Music Institute. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  12. ^ "Sara's Weeknight Meals: Season 2—Episode 216: One Pot Asian Meals with Ming Tsai". Sara Moulton Enterprises, Inc. 7 March 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2017. Sara Moulton: 'I like to say that he was discovered on my Food Network show, Cooking Live, because he filled in for me for 1 week in 1997 when I was on vacation and then promptly got his own show, "East Meets West."'
  13. ^ a b c Monica Burton (April 18, 2017). "After Nearly 20 Years, Ming Tsai Will Close Blue Ginger". Eater. Boston: Vox Media. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  14. ^ PBS Staff & Tsai, Ming (January 14, 2017). "About the Series: Ming Tsai". PBS.org. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  15. ^ Goldstein, Judith (August 20, 2014). "'Top Chef' Boston Season Revealed". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 28, 2017.[dead link‍]
  16. ^ Moore, Frazier (April 21, 2005). "TV NOTES: Things to watch for on the tube". The Charleston Gazette. Charleston, West Virginia. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  17. ^ "Blue Ginger, Wellesley, Massachusetts". Zagat. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  18. ^ a b Cuc Lam (December 7, 2016). "Holiday Entertaining With the Macy's Culinary Council's Chef Ming Tsai". Houston Press. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  19. ^ a b Forbes Staff (January 14, 2017). "Ming Tsai, Tastemaker, Chef & TV Personality, Boston". Forbes Travel Guide. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  20. ^ a b c First, Devra (2017-04-18). "Ming Tsai restaurant Blue Ginger to close". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  21. ^ People Staff (May 8, 2000). "Ming Tsai, Chef". People. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  22. ^ Cohan-Miccio, Leila (March 16, 2010). "What to Eat at Blue Ginger Noodle Bar, Opening March 30". GrubStreet.com. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  23. ^ "Blue Dragon, Boston". Zagat. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  24. ^ Spiegel, Anna (October 8, 2013). "Del Campo Lands on "Esquire's" Best New Restaurants List". Washingtonian. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  25. ^ "Ming Tsai has his eye on India, McDonald's, and making it to home plate - the Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.
  26. ^ "THE ULTIMATE BITE WITH MING TSAI". Athleisure Mag™ | Athleisure Culture. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  27. ^ "Food Safety Education Month guide online". Foodservice Equipment & Supplies. Reed Business Information, Inc. July 1, 2002. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  28. ^ "Blue Ginger Restaurant (Ming Tsai)". The Culinary Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  29. ^ Silverman, Stephen H. (2000). "PEOPLE's 'Most Beautiful'". People. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  30. ^ a b Tsai, Ming (January 28, 2012). "Squash, a Growing Sport, and Nutritious, Too". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  31. ^ Tsai, Ming (March 18, 2018). ""Ming Tsai on Twitter: "So proud of my niece @LaLaChuu @nikejapan…"". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  32. ^ FYR Staff (October 21, 2014). "The Melting Pot". Finding Your Roots (FYR). Retrieved January 14, 2017 – via PBS.org.
  33. ^ Zug, James (2011). "Ming Sings: An Interview with Celebrity Chef Ming Tsai". Squash Magazine. No. December. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  34. ^ Power, John (May 9, 2004). "Ming Tsai, He Cooks Up A Mean Hoisin-Marinated Chicken With Napa Slaw". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 28, 2017.[dead link‍]
  35. ^ Beggy, Carol; Stephanie Stoughton (August 29, 2002). "Court Date for Venture Capitalist; Royal Treatment for Worcester Heroes". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 28, 2017.[dead link‍]
  36. ^ Samantha Critchell, Associated Press (June 21, 2005). "Expert: Kids Eat With Their Instincts". The Capital Times. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  37. ^ Sydney Lupkin (December 5, 2012). "Chef Ming Tsai Recalls Son's Struggle with Food Allergies". ABC News. Retrieved April 28, 2017.

Further reading

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