Bobby Chinn is an American international chef, television presenter, restaurateur and cookbook author.[1] He is a culinary celebrity across Asia and the Middle East, thanks to his role as host of Discovery TLC's World Cafe,[2] and as a judge on MBC's Top Chef Middle East.[3] He opened two award-winning restaurants in Vietnam – Restaurant Bobby Chinn in Hanoi (2001) and Bobby Chinn Saigon in Ho Chi Minh (2011), then relocated to London in 2014 and opened the House of Ho Vietnamese restaurant.[4]
Chinn was educated at St. George's College in Cairo[7] and Millfield in England[8] before graduating from the Urban School of San Francisco.[9] Chinn then graduated from Richmond College in London in 1986, where he earned a BA in finance and economics.[10] In 2020 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Liberal Arts from Richmond College.[11]
Chinn's culinary career began at the Elka Restaurant in the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco,[13] working under notable chefs Elka Gilmore and Traci Des Jardins. His big break came from Hubert KellerofFleur de Lys, where he worked the pantry for a year.[14] He was part of the opening team at the Coconut Grove on Van Ness Avenue, where he became the saucier, but succumbed to a back injury. He work-staged in France, then returned to San Francisco for back surgery.
In 1995, Chinn moved to Ho Chi Minh City[15] and worked at La Camargue restaurant. Within six months, he had opened his own restaurant, Saigon Joe's, and moved to Hanoi to open another restaurant, Miro. In 1997, he opened the Red Onion, overlooking the infamous "Hanoi Hilton".[16] The success of the restaurant gave him the opportunity to open his eponymous restaurant in 2001, Restaurant Bobby Chinn.[17]
In 2014, Chinn moved to London and launched a modern Vietnamese concept at the House of Ho, which occupies the former site of the 2i's Coffee Bar, Soho.[18]
Chinn's television career was launched with his first solo TV show, World Café Asia, on TLC[19][2] – also known as Planet Food on the Discovery Channel – presenting a taste of Asia through traditional street stalls, hawker centres, acclaimed restaurants and hot spots. The second season, World Café Middle East, had equal success and the franchise has been widely celebrated through multiple entertainment awards including ‘Best Entertainment Presenter’ - World Café Asia (Asia Television Awards 2007),[20]and ‘ Best Entertainment Program’ - World Café Middle East (Asia Television Awards, 2010).The show was re-cut and sold to Globe Trekker. He hosted Globe Trekker Food Hour: Ireland in 2014, and Globe Trekker Food Hour: Sicily in 2015. Following the success of his first show, Chinn hosted a second show with Discovery Network, called Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia, a travel cookery series which highlights Asian recipes laced with local history and culture. Over the last decade, Bobby has established himself as a mainstay of the global food-channel networks including Discovery TLC, MBC, Globe Trekker, Food Network, CNN, BBC, Channel 4 UK and UKTV, and in addition to World Café and Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia he has solo hosted Detox and Restaurant Bobby Chinn, the latter for which he was nominated for ‘Best Reality Show - Executive Producer’ (Asia Television Awards, 2012 ).
Chin's cookbook, Wild Wild East: Recipes & Stories from Vietnam was released in 2007. It is both a guide to Vietnamese food and a diary of Chinn's adventures in Vietnam. In the foreword, Anthony Bourdain claims that "what Bobby doesn’t know about Southeast Asian food is not worth knowing".[23]
In 2012, he was appointed WWF Ambassador for Sustainable Seafood.[24] As WWF's Sustainable Seafood Ambassador for the Coral Triangle, he helped WWF raise awareness on the importance of responsible seafood consumption, particularly in the Coral Triangle region, to help alleviate pressures on coastal and marine environments and dwindling fish populations.
In 2014, he was appointed Tourism Ambassador for Vietnam in Europe.[25]
In 2021, he was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Naomi Tami Memorial Fund.[26]
^Sesser, Stan (October 27, 2000). "Hanoi's Red Onion Bistro Has the Heart of San Francisco". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved March 8, 2021. ...Mr. Chinn is...[a]n American citizen...born in New Zealand...
