Celebrity Chef Mai Pham visits Olin College and Concord Academy

On March 8, Celebrity Chef Mai Pham presented a VIP event at Olin College to share her story, authentic food, and to judge the Street Food Fest event where three Olin College culinarians competed for the popular vote.

Chef Pham then hosted a dinner event at Concord Academy featuring an authentic Korean Menu.

"It was perfect! We loved the dinner and it was such a nice treat," said Concord Academy faculty member Wenjun Kuai who teaches Mandarin Chinese.

The visits were coordinated through Sodexo, dining services partner to both schools.

A respected national authority on Asian cuisine, Chef Pham has worked closely with Sodexo to bring fresh Southeast Asian flavors of her campus-based concept, Star Ginger Asian Grill & Noodle Bar to Sodexo operations across the country.

Chef Pham created Star Ginger based on the flavors and culinary insights she gathered and crafted while operating restaurants, writing cookbooks, teaching, consulting, and conducting research in Asia over the last 20 years.

Beyond her restaurants, Chef Mai Pham has authored several cookbooks including Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table, which received a James Beard Award nomination and was named among the best cookbooks of 2001 by The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times; and The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking, which was featured on NPR's Fresh Air and Martha Stewart Living magazine and television show.

Chef Pham is a frequent speaker and guest chef at national culinary conferences, including those of The Culinary Institute of America where she is a member of the college's Asian Cuisines Advisory Council.