The Ming
Tsai Story
Ming
was raised in
Dayton,
Ohio, where he spent countless
hours cooking alongside his mother and father at their family-owned
restaurant, Mandarin Kitchen. His love of cooking (and eating!) great food
was forged in these early years, while also gaining valuable experience in
front and back of the house. Ming headed east to attend school at Phillips
Academy Andover. From there, Ming continued to
Yale
University, earning his degree in
Mechanical
Engineering. During this time, Ming spent his sophomore summer at
Le
Cordon Bleu cooking school in
Paris . After graduating from Yale, Ming worked in kitchens around the globe. He
trained under renowned Pastry Chef
Pierre Herme in
Paris and in
Osaka
with Sushi Master Kobayashi.
Upon his return to the
United States, Ming enrolled in graduate school at
Cornell
University, earning a Master’s degree in
Hotel
Administration and Hospitality Marketing. Ming continued to learn
varied styles of cuisine, holding positions in both front and back of the
house at establishments in
Chicago,
Atlanta,
San Francisco and
Santa Fe .
In
1998, Ming and Polly Tsai opened Blue
Ginger in Wellesley, MA and immediately impressed diners from Boston
and beyond with the restaurant's innovative East-West cuisine. In its
first year, Blue Ginger received 3 stars from the Boston Globe, was named
"Best
New Restaurant" by Boston Magazine, was nominated by the James
Beard Foundation as "Best New Restaurant 1998," and Esquire
Magazine honored Ming as "Chef
of the Year 1998." Almost a decade later, the popularity continues. The
James
Beard Foundation crowned Ming "2002
Best Chef Northeast," and, since 2002,
Zagat Restaurant Guide has rated Blue Ginger the
"2nd
Most Popular Boston Restaurant." In 2005, Ming was honored as
“Restaurateur of the Year” by the Massachusetts Restaurant
Association.
Ming
is national spokesperson for the Food
Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), working to further education
and research on food allergies. Ming is also a founding member of
Chefs
For Humanity, a coalition of chefs and culinary professionals who organize relief and fundraising for people in need
throughout the world. Ming is proud to have cooked for the police force and displaced victims of Hurricane
Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi.
In
the winter of 2000, Ming launched his
Blue
Ginger line with Target,
the on-trend, quality-focused retailer. Ming's
Blue
Ginger line of tasty, easy-to-use Asian-inspired ingredients and snack
foods is available exclusively at Target stores nationwide. In 2005, owing
to Ming's popularity and market viability, Target planned a major line
expansion. Ming’s frozen dim sum, noodle bowls, rice bowls, stir-fry
kits and flavored chips and sauces arrived in stores in September.
These delicious, exotic meals bring Ming's East-West cooking from the
microwave or skillet to the table in minutes!
Ming
is currently the host and executive producer of the
Public Television cooking show,
SIMPLY MING, now in its fifth season. His Simply Ming
video
podcasts, the first of their kind, feature tutorials on everything
from filleting fish to decanting wine. Ming began cooking for television audiences on the
Food
Network, where he was the 1998 Emmy
Award-Winning host of East
Meets West with Ming Tsai. Ming's Quest, his
popular cooking adventure series, and East Meets West can be seen on
Fine
Living Network. For the past two years,
SIMPLY MING has been awarded the prestigious
CINE Golden Eagle Award. In addition to television, Ming is also the
author of three cookbooks:
Blue
Ginger: East Meets West Cooking with Ming Tsai,
Simply Ming, and
Ming's Master Recipes. Take a look around
ming.com
-- Ming’s information-based site focusing on East-West living, for
recipes, ingredients, culinary gadgets, signature products, updates on
Ming, his restaurant and more.
