23 Facts About Ming Tsai

Ming Hao Tsai is an American restaurateur, television personality, and celebrity chef.

Past shows Tsai hosted include Ming's Quest, a cooking show featured on the Fine Living Network, and East Meets West.

Ming Tsai appeared in the Food Network cooking competition The Next Iron Chef.

Ming Tsai assisted with the cooking as he was growing up in the restaurant, Mandarin Kitchen, owned by his mother.

Ming Tsai is a grandson of Chinese composer Lee Pao-Chen and uncle of Lauren Ming Tsai.

Ming Tsai later attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then proceeded to study engineering and play varsity squash at Yale University.

Ming Tsai received a master's degree in hotel administration and hospitality marketing from Cornell University in 1989.

Ming Tsai speaks four languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, French, and Spanish.

Ming 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.

Ming Tsai hosted East Meets West on the Food Network from 1998 to 2003.

Ming Tsai challenged Iron Chef Bobby Flay in the sixth episode of season one of Iron Chef America in 2005; Tsai defeated Flay.

Ming Tsai was a contestant in The Next Iron Chef in 2010, where he was eliminated in the seventh week.

The year that the restaurant opened, Ming Tsai was named "Chef of the Year" by Esquire Magazine.

On March 30,2010 Ming Tsai opened Blue Ginger Noodle Bar, a mini-restaurant, inside Blue Ginger.

In June 2017, Ming Tsai closed Blue Ginger after 19 years of business.

The reason was due to the end of a lease and Ming Tsai's focus on a new fast-casual stir-fry concept restaurant, ChowStirs, scheduled to open in Boston during the early part of 2018.

In 2020, Ming Tsai opened BaBa at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana as chef and partner.

Ming Tsai won the Daytime Emmy award in 1999, in the category Outstanding Service Show Host.

In 2000, Ming Tsai was on the 50 Most Beautiful People list published by People magazine.

Ming 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.

In 2004, Ming Tsai played a celebrity squash match against professional golfer Brad Faxon at a Boston squash club.

One of Ming Tsai's sons has food allergies, and Ming Tsai has become a food allergy advocate who promotes awareness of food allergens.

Ming Tsai is currently the President of the National Advisory Board for Family Reach, an organization that provides a financial lifeline to families fighting cancer.