Overview
Born and raised in Bangkok, Pim took a circuitous route through the world of food–from writing to jam making–before finding her way back home to the food she grew up with. Longing for Thai food of richer quality and variety in the U.S. Pim is now on a mission to liberate her beloved Thai cuisine from the tyranny of peanut sauce. Kin Khao is her first restaurant project.
Kin Khao received its first Michelin star 18 months after opening, and remains the only Thai restaurant with a Michelin star in America. Pim has since opened her second successful San Francisco restaurant, Nari, at Hotel Kabuki in Japantown. In 2018, she took over Nahm at the Como Metropolitan in Bangkok as the executive chef. Nahm also has a Michelin star.
It was discovering “damn good” Thai food at a mom-n-pop Thai restaurant in El Cerrito that inspired Houton-born Jimi Slagle to work as a line cook at Kin Khao in 2017. Despite originally moving West in 2007 to study sculpture at Pacific Northwest College of Art, Jimi has found synchronicity between playing with fire – glass blowing + pottery – and taming it through cooking.
Media
Awards & Press
- Michelin 1 Star