Yaowadee “Yao” Chookong is a leading figure in Chiang Mai’s culinary world.
She is chef and co-founder of Maadae Slow Fish Kitchen, a Michelin-recognised restaurant that specialises in sustainable seafood sourced directly from fishermen in southern Thailand. She is also leader of Slow Food Community: Food for Change – Chiang Mai, an organisation that aims to promote a back-to-basics, community-oriented way of eating to promote sustainability and localised food systems.
Yao also runs small-group Thai cooking classes rooted in healthy, local and natural ingredients. Outside of these roles, she has authored one cookbook, “The Yao of Cooking”, and is now writing a second: “Bring Me Curry When I’m Gone”.
To find out more about Yao, her ethos, her cookbooks, her restaurant and her cooking classes, visit cookingwithyao.com.
