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Ming Tsai started cooking at his family's Chinese restaurant as a
teenager in Dayton, Ohio. A Mechanical Engineering degree from Yale proved
to be merely a brief detour in a career that would lead him to Paris to
study at Cordon Bleu and work at Fauchon and Natasha, where he encountered
East-West cuisine for the first time. Back in the U.S., Ming returned to
school and received a Master's Degree in Hotel Administration and
Hospitality Marketing from Cornell before working several years in the
hotel industry as food and beverage director at the Hotel-Intercontinental
Chicago. In 1992, the kitchen lured Ming back and he arrived at Silks, an
east-west restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco.
After that he served as executive chef for Ginger Club, a new Southeast
Asian restaurant in Palo Alto. Ming then moved on to Santa Fe as executive
chef of Santacafe where he was honored as best chef in Santa Fe with a 27
out of 30 rating in the Zagat Guide 1996.
Ming has decided to set up shop in the Boston area because, "The
restaurant scene is alive and healthy. In addition, there is a Chinatown
which not only means the availability of products, but the opportunity to
get a good bowl of noodles and dim sum." Blue Ginger has received 3
Stars from the Boston Globe and has been named Best New Restaurant by
Boston Magazine. Ming has also appeared in USA Today, the New York Times,
Saveur Magazine, Food Arts, and Food and Wine. He has most recently been
honored by Esquire Magazine as Chef of the Year 1998. Blue Ginger has been
nominated as Best New Restaurant in the country by the James Beard
Foundation. Ming's hit television series, East Meets West with Ming Tsai,
debuted in September 1998 on Food Network. In May 1999, he was awarded a
Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Service Show Host. He has also hosted 'In
Food Today' and 'Cooking Live' on Food Network. Ming has written his first
cookbook, Blue Ginger: East Meets West Cooking with Ming Tsai, by
Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm, published by Clarkson Potter, a division of
Random House.
He has recently launched his interactive website, Ming.com in the hopes of connecting more
directly to his customers and to all the people who send thousands of
e-mails to him each week. As well as being Chef/Owner of Blue Ginger, Ming
also oversaw all aspects of the design and construction of the restaurant.
His minimalist design showcases an open kitchen with 40-foot blue pearl
granite counter, uncrowded seating with large tables, warm cherry
woodwork, Italian granite floors and a water sculpture. A Feng Shui Master
consulted on the design. Ming owns the restaurant in partnership with his
wife, Polly who oversees all the business affairs of Blue Ginger. They
live nearby in Needham, Massachusetts with their beloved dog, Jasmin.
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