Ming Tsai

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.[12] He hosted East Meets West on the Food Network from 1998 to 2003.[13] He hosts Simply Ming food show on PBS.[13]

In 2005, he was a judge on the PBS show Cooking Under Fire.[14] Ming Tsai challenged Iron Chef Bobby Flay in the sixth episode of Season One of Iron Chef America in 2005; Tsai defeated Flay. Tsai was a contestant in The Next Iron Chef in 2010, where he was eliminated in the seventh week.[3][2] Tsai appeared on an episode of Top Chef in 2014.[15]

His other television appearances include participation in a Zoom Out on Zoom, a show distributed by PBS, in 2005[16] and on the PBS children's television show Arthur episode in 2005 about food allergies.[17]

In 1998, Tsai and Polly Talbott opened his first restaurant, Blue Ginger, in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Blue Ginger, an Asian Fusian restaurant,[13] has become a Zagat[18] and James Beard-recognised establishment,[19][20] winning many other regional awards as well.[21] The year that the restaurant opened, Tsai was named "Chef of the Year" by Esquire Magazine.[22] In March 30, 2010 Tsai opened Blue Ginger Noodle Bar, a mini-restaurant, inside Blue Ginger.[23] In June 2017, Tsai closed Blue Ginger after 19 years of business. The reason was due to the end of a lease and Tsai's focus on a new fast-casual stir-fry concept restaurant, ChowStirs, scheduled to open in Boston during the early part of 2018.[21]

Tsai opened Blue Dragon in 2013 in the Fort Point Channel area of Boston, an East-West tapas-style gastropub that has become a Zagat's recognized restaurant,[24] which was named an Esquire Magazine "Best New Restaurant" in its opening year.[25]

Tsai is the author of five cookbooks: Blue Ginger, Simply Ming, Ming's Master Recipes, Simply Ming: One-Pot Meals,[20] and Simply Ming in Your Kitchen.[19]

Tsai won the Daytime Emmy award in 1999, in the category Outstanding Service Show Host.[26] Tsai's Blue Ginger Restaurant was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame in 2012.[27] In 2000, Ming was on the 50 Most Beautiful People list published by People magazine.[28]

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.[31] While attending culinary school in France, Tsai played professionally on the European circuit.[32] In 2004, Tsai played a celebrity squash match against professional golfer Brad Faxon at a Boston squash club.[33] In 2005, he played against Mark Talbott in a charity match at a squash club in San Francisco.

One of Tsai's sons has food allergies, and Tsai has become a food allergy advocate who promotes awareness of food allergens.[21] By 2005,[17] he has been a national spokesman for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and in December 2012 was awarded a lifetime achievement award for his advocacy work from the organization, including his work on the state of Massachusetts food safety bill.[34] Tsai is currently the President of the National Advisory Board for Family Reach, an organization that provides a financial lifeline to families fighting cancer.