PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philly chef who has taken the fine dining industry by storm has been named to TIME’s list of 100 Most Influential People.
Chef Nok Suntaranon owns Kalaya, a traditional Thai cuisine restaurant in Fishtown. In November, the James Beard Award winner was featured in the first episode of season seven’s “Chef’s Table,” which highlights chefs from all around the world.
A reservation to her restaurant was already one of the hottest tickets in town, and demand for Nok’s spicy, family-style dishes has only increased since the Netflix documentary.
Nok spends time in Kalaya daily, getting to know patrons in the dining room and training staff members in the kitchen
“Between wok and curry station,” Nok said, “I’m sharing my knowledge with my team all the time, and I think that’s part of the mission.”
Nok says the outpouring of love she receives from Philadelphia is more special than any accolades.
Her success story “is the real testimonial about our community — about how Philly embraced the immigrant and the new culture and any newcomer who is trying to do good things for the city,” she said.
In addition to being a chef and starring in a Netflix series, she’s also an author.
In 2024, Nok published “Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen,” a cookbook for at-home cooks.
She is also an avid gardener and says there are some Thai ingredients you can grow at home now that the weather is warming, like basil, garlic and Thai chilies.
Also on the list is Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who helped bring the team a Super Bowl victory this year.