OUR STORY

    When Chai Siriyarn opened his celebrated Marnee Thai restaurant in San Francisco in 1986, he hoped to give his patrons a
  taste of Thai cuisine and culture so   transporting  that they could enjoy the country’s wonders without ever having to leave the
  neighborhood.

    His plan worked. And yet more than twenty years on, Chef Chai’s artistry and balanced hand with Thailand’s inimitable cuisine
  may in fact have sent just as many newly minted Thai-food enthusiasts to his homeland as they’ve brought through his
  restaurant door.

    Perhaps that’s because of Chef Chai’s infectious enthusiasm for Thai cooking, both in its simplest home style, as well as in the
  tradition of its royal courts. Marnee Thai is a very personal operation, a labor of love that’s a capstone to a life lived in
  celebration of food.

    Bangkok born and bred, Chef Chai grew up in a culinary family and spent his childhood steeped in the restaurant business.
  Having learned to cook at his mother’s knee–herself a master chef of Central Thai cuisine–Chef Chai determined not only to
  continue in his family’s craft, but to extend its reach to the United States.

    Thus was born Marnee Thai. At the time of its opening in 1986, Thai food was just a blip on the radar screen of most diners.
  But in short order–and in no small part  thanks to Marnee’s regional Thai interpretations–the city’s denizens developed a love
  for Thai flavors that reflects Marnee’s rank as one of the premier places to savor Thai cuisine outside the country itself.

    Even in San Francisco’s crowded restaurant field, Marnee Thai continues to stand out. Its “secret ingredients” are the forty-plus
  years’ of culinary experience that Chef Chai has collected. That experience has given him an instinctual feel for balancing
  aromas and flavors. They’ve taught him there’s no such thing as a minor detail. And most importantly, they’ve kindled in him a
  heartfelt passion that translates into everything he puts on his menu.

    Chef Chai’s accolades include winning the Superchef contests both in Los Angeles and in Thailand. He was also named
  International Chef of the Year at the Awards of the Americas at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Chef Chai had the supreme
  honor of serving as guest chef to the Royal Thai Embassy at a United States-Thailand Amity for Charity Foundation tsunami
  relief benefit. Among the guests at the gala dinner were celebrities, U.S. senators, and the prince and princess of Thailand.

    Chef Chai has appeared as a guest chef and educator at the Culinary Institute of America, CA. He also received the Master
  Chef award from the American Academy of Taste in Las Vegas. As Thailand Superchef, he’s taken on an ambassadorial role,
  bringing Thai culture to audiences around the world. He is now the author of the cookbook Thai Cuisine Beyond Curry, which
  includes traditional recipes as well as updated classics.